Re: [Harp-L] Treat Her Right

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Ross MacDonald wrote:
<Listening to the awesome Harp work by Jim Fitting this morning - from the pre-Morphine band Treat Her Right - CD is "Tied to the Tracks". 
<
<Really great stuff and tasty harp work. Some of it reminds me of another favorite - Lee McBee's harmonica work with Mike Morgan and the Crawl on "I <like the way you work it". 
<If you are a fan of Morphine and nasty harp, check out Treat Her Right! 

Treat Her Right was indeed a great band.  Jim Fitting sang lead on their first hit, "I Think She Likes Me," as well as blowing harp on nearly every tune.  Their unusual instrumentation--the bass function was handled by an electric guitar played through a pitch shifter, and the drummer played a 3-piece kit, as I remember--presaged Morphine's even more unusual instrumentation.  Deep roots ran through everything they played--they were Americana before Americana existed as a genre.

Jim later toured with The The, and there's a very nice video of a live TV performance on Jools Holland's show featuring Jim playing the hook for the band's "Dogs of Lust" here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krgxjpZG-dM

Jim's holding two harps in his hands in the vid.  His tone is very blue in the beginning, after which he's either playing through some kind of whacked-out rig, or doubling the line with a guitar or synth.  Either way, hellalotta good stuff.  The harp is really driving the band on this piece, pumping the emotion way way way up.  Dig.

Regards, Richard Hunter