[Harp-L] Charlie McCoy's first recording session as a harmonica player

[Arthur Jennings]

I think people are forgetting that Charlie is a university-trained musician and multi-instrumentalist.

As to whether he conceived of Am on an F harp as “fifth position” or as simply “relative minor of the cross-harp key,” as guess you’d have to ask him. Either way, he knew what he was doing.

> On Jun 26, 2020, at 10:53 AM, JOSEPH LEONE <3n037 at xxxxx> wrote:
> 
> Fairly simple repetitious riff. And I'm not convinced that McCoy knew what positions were. Not at 20 at least. Hey, I could be dead wrong. 
> Many people have played harmonicas in off the wall positions and didn't know that they WERE positions. And probably couldn't tell you WHAT they were doing except that they 'found' a harp that worked. 
> I DO know that the few times I have seen/heard Charlie play chromatic, he used one tuned TO the tune he was playing. I recall that we were playing once and using Bb diatonics in the second position for F, and I even did a solo on chro martic.
> He asked me if I was using an F chromo. and I showed him that I was using a C.
> AND in the huge compendium of tunes that he had played on vinyl over the years, he always seemed to use second position.
> 
> Charlie used to use 2 or more diatonics for some tunes. Example: 'Londonderry Aire (Oh Danny Boy). He used a D crossed for the head, then an A straight for the bridge, than back to a D. Then he would go up one sharp, use an Eb crossed for the head, a Bb straight, and back to an Eb crossed. Four harps. 
> 
> I only used two. But I had changed one reed. Something he discovered many years later. 
> 
> smo-joe   
> 
>> On 06/26/2020 6:51 AM Ken H in Ohio <airmojoken at xxxxx> wrote:
>> 
>> 
>> That's a great song and excellent playing by Charlie McCoy.
>> I wonder if Charlie knew he was playing in what we now call "5th position"
>> back then ?
>> Probably did, but I still wonder about it.
>> 
>> Ken H in OH
>> 
>> 
>>> On Thu, Jun 25, 2020 at 8:54 PM Peter Madcat Ruth <madcat at xxxxx>
>>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Charlie McCoy's first recording session as a harmonica player was in 1961
>>> when Charlie was 20 years old.
>>> 
>>> The song was "I Just Don't Understand", by Ann-Margret.
>>> 
>>> The song was in the key of Am and Charlie was playing an F harmonica  -
>>> that’s fifth position!
>>> 
>>> check it out:
>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDagZECOhJc
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Peter Madcat Ruth
>>>