Re: [Harp-L] Archie? And the internationals.

["Robert Laughlin" <harmonicaman1968@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

That would be the late, great, Red Archibald (and the Internationals), a San 
Francisco-based artist, who passed away back in 2006.

I saw him play once, at a "Blues Harp Battle of the Bands", which is held 
yearly on Thanksgiving eve on PCH in Long Beach, at the Golden Sails 
Ballroom. He and his band conveyed a LOT of energy.

I asked him which harps he was playing, and he responded, a bit hesitantly, 
"Big River", which has always been one of Hohner's more "affordable" harps. 
Personally, I think they leak a lot of air.

(I think maybe he was just so strong a player that the brand or model of 
harp just wasn't such a factor as it is to the novice harpist. Beginners 
tend to gripe more and blame the harp. Pros just "get over it" and play. 
Nothing's perfect, though having a Filisko harp might make things that much 
better,,)

Maybe he had his worked on, or maybe he just had a lot of lung power, so the 
"leaky harp effect" wasn't as noticeable. It took me some time to develop 
enough wind to adequately blow one of those leaky harps, especially the 
lower keys. That's the lazy man's way of "fixing" a leaky harp,,"blow 
harder",,haha.

But then, if you just "blow harder" on a reed that's not gapped enough, 
it'll just up and quit on you, so, it's always best to have harps that don't 
require so much wind.

But he sure impressed the heck out of me, back then.

RIP, Red.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "tom cox" <tcslim@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Harp L Archives" <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, March 30, 2014 5:25 PM
Subject: [Harp-L] Archie? And the internationals.


> Hi, a guy recommended a harp player to listen to. I can't remember the 
> surname.
>
> Archie??? & the Internationals
>
> Any ideas ???
>
> Tom
>
> Sent from my Windows Phone