[Harp-L] Famous "Harmonica players"

[Ian Osborn]

For 2018/2019, Perhaps now people know a bit more about Mickey Raphael because of the popularity of Chris Stapleton and his exposure through him but that’s the only harp person I can think of who would have that notoriety.



Ian 

> On Jan 20, 2019, at 12:05 PM, Ronnie Schreiber <autothreads at xxxxx> wrote:
> 
> " I always felt that Lennon, Jagger, Young, Dyllan, and several more played appropriate harp for the music they did. Some primitive to be sure."
> 
> Their playing serves their music well, that's true. Rudimentary playing can be very effective.
> 
> However, if you asked 100 people who a good guitar player is/was, they'd name someone like Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Slash, or John Mayer, actually good guitar players. If you asked 100 people who a good harmonica player is/was, they'd mention the names above, musicians who use the harmonica as a secondary instrument and play styles that aren't generally highly regarded by actual harmonica players and enthusiasts. Even musicians don't know about harp players. I know one guitar player who knows who Jason Ricci is because he was on a blues cruise where Jason played. Some might know of Musselwhite because he played on a lot of seminal Chicago stuff, otherwise they know the old Chicago guys like the Walters and then Butterfield, but current or recent harp virtuosos? Not likely. Around here, the Detroit area, a few might know about Peter Ruth since Madcat lives in Ann Arbor. If I mentioned George Smith or William Clarke, I'd get a blank response.
>