Re: [Harp-L] Taj Mahal & Ry Cooder in "Rising Sons" Band

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Jim Fitting wrote:
<Taj Mahal is an outstanding harmonica player; his version of Leaving Trunk recorded a couple years later with a lot of the same <personnel is fantastic.

Taj Mahal was one of my first and most important influences.  I studied his record "Giant Step" for years, and played "You Gonna Need Somebody on Your Bond" and especially "Give Your Woman What She Wants" for years with different bands.  "She Caught the Katy" was a staple for bands in Boston when I was there in the 1970s, as was Taj's version of "Six Days on the Road."

Taj combined blues and 60s R&B in a very convincing way.  His bands always had big groove going on, and he explored lots of different ensembles (remember the band with the tubas?).  Taj's harp playing was simple, direct, and full of surprises. He used different textures--single notes, chords, octaves--brilliantly, and his amped tone was big, not overly distorted. He didn't play a lot of notes, but everything had that big tone, and you never knew what he was going to do next.  The simplicity is reminiscent of Howlin' Wolf's harp playing, but he plays more like a horn section than Wolf did, and uses more of the harp. A lot of what I do with octaves now began with learning the stuff that Mahal did.

"Giant Step" is a brilliant record.  He gives you an LP's worth of deep roots, all the way back to the fields, often just him playing and singing, or even just singing.  Then he gives you another LP where he shows you those roots all amped-up, with sharp chunky rhythms everywhere and a lot of R&B shouting and tough harp playing.  This is Taj Mahal as Wilson Pickett, or rather what Picket would have sounded like if he was Taj Mahal.  

I'm reminded as well of the harp he supplied on Bonny Raitt's version of Mose Allison's "Everybody's Cryin' Mercy."  It's got all the economy of his earlier work and then some, and it's equally surprising.  

What can I say?  Love Taj.  Everybody should hear him, and everybody should hear "Giant Step," which is certainly one of his greatest records, and a treasure trove of blues harp.

Regards, Richard Hunter

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