Re: [Harp-L] Speaking of Alan Wilson...

[<bfrain@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

new yrs eve...1970??? in frisco...and there on tv, in quad i believe...hot tuna!  great harp!!!!
---- tacopescado@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote: 
> How did Blind Owl, Little Walter, Butterfield, Norton Buffalo etc,  
> have harps that allowed them to do anything they wanted to do? Did  
> they know how to modify and trick up their harps ala Filisko, Sleigh,  
> Spiers etc? Did this become a lost (and then found again) art or is it  
> all about quality control?
> 
> One of my all-time favorite records is the original acoustic 'Hot  
> Tuna' with Will Scarlett who was over-blowing long before Howard.  
> Somehow he tricked up his harps but was mostly an auto mechanic.  
> Ahh... the profitable life of a musician.
> 
> Also, Blind Owl supposedly added windsavers to his diatonic for "On  
> The Road Again."
> 
> I've tried for decades to emulate Mad Cat on his tracks with Sky King  
> from the early 70's such as Looking Forward, Hot Mustard and Don't Be  
> Afraid (amongst others).
> 
> So, I ask you Peter, the Mad Cat, and I have nothing but the highest  
> respect and regard for you as a harmonica player and as a person. What  
> kind of harps did you play on the Sky King sessions and were they  
> tricked up? If so, did you trick 'em up. Those badass hole-3 bends  
> with vibrato! Where did that come from?
> 
> I just recently got some harmonicas from Joe Spiers that allow me to  
> play in cross on a low-F as if I was on a D. Most amazing.
> 
> So I ask again... how did these cats do it in the past?