[Harp-L] STEVE GUYGER's outstanding performance, Bill Lupkin

[Mick Zaklan <mzaklan@xxxxxxxxx>]

  Thanks for the post, Trip. Nice work from Steve, as usual.  I'm thinking
that this man has probably inspired and mentored plenty of East Coast
harpists over the decades.  Including Dennis Gruenling.
   I started in 1969 and, being under 21, I didn't have much live access to
the great blues players.  Most of them were mainly working bars.  The first
really good amplified player I was able to catch in person back then was a
gentleman seldom if ever mentioned on this list: Bill Lupkin.  Like Steve,
Bill put in a lot of time playing behind Jimmy Rogers.  Sadly, he is
uncredited on Jimmy's comeback album, "Gold Tailed Bird".
   Bill dropped out of the Chicago blues scene many decades ago.  I was
told that he moved to Indiana, learned the craft of stained glass and
supported his family by repairing church windows.  A quick scan of YouTube
shows that Bill is still occasionally blowing harp.  Can't say I'm crazy
about the quality of some of the vids but these two capture Bill's beefy
sound and "take no prisoners" chops:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjaKxFUCES4 and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6jsuLpsYJg.

Mick Zaklan