[Harp-L] Beatles Harmonica

[Ian Osborn]

One of the greatest of all harmonica players, Mickey Raphael has said the majority of his solos is taking the melody or the lines sung by the vocalist and turning them into solos. 

And Stones vs Beatles on harmonica is apples and oranges in my opinion. They are trying to accomplish different objectives.



Ian

> On Sep 5, 2022, at 1:35 PM, Ken H in Ohio <airmojoken at xxxxx> wrote:
> 
> Michael Rubin said.. << Lennon could play a melody.  He could play single
> notes and double stops
> well.  He could play chromatic on Love Me Do (If that was him) well enough
> to fool generations of diatonic players.>>
> 
> I think it is very important to be able to play melodies... not just blues
> licks.
> When someone finds out that I'm a harmonica player, they often ask me to
> play something,
> I will play a medley of a few melodies, and yeah, there could be some blues
> licks in there too,
> but a recognizable melody always entertains someone more than just rattling
> off a few blues licks and riffs.
> 
> Of course it helps to be able to sing when playing blues licks--that's a
> BIG plus !
> But if you can play a melody, the harmonica is doing the singing... you can
> sing too if you choose.
> 
> I enjoy learning melodies... have spent more time lately learning Irish
> songs,
> and playing around with my new Seydel 1847 Fiddle Tuning in D.
> 
> Ken H in OH
> 
> 
> 
>> On Mon, Sep 5, 2022 at 12:58 PM Michael Rubin <
>> michaelrubinharmonica at xxxxx> wrote:
>> 
>> Lennon could play a melody.  He could play single notes and double stops
>> well.  He could play chromatic on Love Me Do (If that was him) well enough
>> to fool generations of diatonic players.
>> 
>> But I agree, their harp playing abilities are low.
>> 
>>> On Mon, Sep 5, 2022 at 11:52 AM <meagher at xxxxx> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Different strokes for different folks!
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> IMHO, they are both **trash**. As harmonica players I mean. They’re both
>>> so talented as to be from another species. But if we’re talkin harmonica…
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Jagger played a reasonably proficient blues, and deserves some marginal
>>> credit for extending that limited skillset into adjacent genres, as he
>> did
>>> in “Might As Well Get Juiced.” On a logarithmic scale, he’s maybe a 5/10.
>>> At best.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Lennon, to me, is a 3/10, where someone like Alanis Morisette is a 1/10
>>> and Little Walter is a 10/10. I’m not hearing the technical advancement
>> you
>>> do, though. He was an EPICALLY good songwriter that used harmonica
>> cleverly
>>> to advance his (world class) melodies, but I’ve never heard him do
>> anything
>>> I couldn’t train a newbie to do in six weeks (or less), whereas at least
>>> Mick is out there bending notes and making blues licks happen.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> My unpopular opinion is that John Lennon was an incredibly talented
>>> songwriter and a terrible harmonica player and most efforts to recast
>> that
>>> are just boomer bullshit whitewashing of their heroes. Mick, at least,
>>> played the blues, if weakly.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Have at me!
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Ev, aka The Tree
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> *From:* Michael Rubin <michaelrubinharmonica at xxxxx>
>>> *Sent:* Monday, September 5, 2022 11:48 AM
>>> *To:* meagher at xxxxx
>>> *Cc:* Gary Lehmann <gnarlyheman at xxxxx>; harp-l at xxxxx
>>> *Subject:* Re: [Harp-L] Beatles Harmonica
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> I completely disagree.  Jagger is a poor imitation of blues players,
>>> Lennon is a fine example of originality in pop music.  IMO Lennon is the
>>> far more technically advanced player and more important to the progress
>> of
>>> the instrument.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> On Mon, Sep 5, 2022 at 10:44 AM <meagher at xxxxx> wrote:
>>> 
>>> For Stones fans?
>>> 
>>> It's always a contest.
>>> 
>>> The Stones always win.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> What was the question?
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Gary Lehmann <gnarlyheman at xxxxx>
>>> Sent: Monday, September 5, 2022 11:43 AM
>>> To: Evan Meagher <meagher at xxxxx>
>>> Cc: harp-l at xxxxx
>>> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Beatles Harmonica
>>> 
>>> Like it’s a contest?
>>> 
>>> Sent from my iPad
>>> 
>>>> On Sep 5, 2022, at 8:51 AM, Evan Meagher <meagher at xxxxx> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> Harmonica is one of the places where the Stones kick the tar out of
>> the
>>> Beatles. Mick won’t make anyone forget about Sonny Boy Williamson but his
>>> (and before him Brian Jones’) harp playing exceeds that of Lennon by a
>>> million miles.
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>