[Harp-L] Tommy Morgan's news

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

Got home last night to find a voice message from Tommy Morgan. I called him back, and he gave me some news that he asked me to relay to the harmonica community.

Now, you may be wondering who Iâm talking about. Ever hear harmonica on records by the Beach Boys, or Linda Ronstadt or the Carpenters? What about TV show themes like Sanford & Son or the Rockford Files, or the occasional harmonica in the underscore to the Twilight Zone? Thatâs pretty much all Tommy (he even composed some of the Twilight Zone scores). Heâs not a household name because he mostly stays in the background and offscreen â though he did show up at the Oscars once to play âThe Man Who Shot Liberty Valanceâ as part of a Burt Bacharach tribute, and even had an onscreen turn as a busker on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He reckons he's played on more than 7,000 recording sessions.

In other words, Tommy is a huge part of the sound of the harmonica in popular entertainment, and in the harmonica world heâs one of the really big guys.

So Tommy relayed to me that in November 2014, he suffered a stroke. It was pretty serious, and initially took out his lower left side. Heâs recovered most of his motor skills, but as for playing, he says itâs been a struggle to âwork my way back up to mediocre.â As an aside, he said that anyone greeting this news with dreams of moving to LA to replace him in the recording scene should know that thereâs no there there anymore; the work has dried up. He feels that the main part of his career occurred during a golden age thatâs now passed.

Tommy remains active making music for Sunday services at his church, as heâs done for many years. He seemed to be in good spirits when we spoke, and Iâm sure we call wish him the best.

 
Winslow Yerxa
President, SPAH, the Society for the Preservation and Advancement of the Harmonica
Producer, the Harmonica Collective
Author, Harmonica For Dummies, ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5
            Harmonica Basics For Dummies, ASIN B005KIYPFS
            Blues Harmonica For Dummies, ISBN 978-1-1182-5269-7
Resident Expert, bluesharmonica.com
Instructor, Jazzschool Community Music School