Re: [Harp-L] Michalek Blues

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Rick Dempster <rick.dempster@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Bears witness to what people generally observed about Chris; that his true
> nature belied the rather belicose exterior he often displayed.

Chris's "rather bellicose exterior" was his "true nature," as much as, or more than, any other aspect of his personality.  His arrogance and narcissism were prominent parts of his demeanor, not a clever disguise. How many people choose a nickname that designates them as a god?  Chris did. He loudly and frequently anointed himself the most important harmonica player of his generation, and made a point of denigrating his peers and contemporaries--anybody remember Chris's casual assertions to the effect that chromatic harmonica players all sucked?--but in the end he didn't produce much to back up his claims.  I can't think of any harmonica-related innovation, technical or compositional, that originated with Chris, and his recorded output is astonishingly meager for a professional who came of age in the last two decades of the 20th century.

Music is a personal relationship business, and I have no doubt that Chris's narcissism and general abrasiveness damaged his career in music significantly.  Nobody likes to be stuck in a windowless studio for hours on end with a guy who comes on like Napolean.  It's difficult otherwise for me to explain why a player with such strong skills and obvious commitment produced so little recorded output in his 40-plus years, and almost all of that self-produced.   

Chris played well. But the idea that his "true nature" was angelic is flatly ridiculous.  To put it as concisely as possible, he was a jerk--a talented jerk, but a jerk nonetheless.  And he paid for it with a drastically limited career.  That's the lesson.

Regards, Richard Hunter

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