DATE: Fri, 30 Sep 1994 21:27:56 CDT From: Winslow Yerxa <76450.32~ompuserve.com> Subject: Gary Primich Discography, David Harp, Dy
Harvey mentions a cassette on Crossharp called Westward Vision. This is not by Gary Primich, but by Jon Gindick. I reviewed it a couple of issues ago.
Richard Owen says:
The point is, as a beginner, you think: 'I could do that!'. Hearing a Gary Primich tape I would have thought: 'I may never learn that'. Teaching beginners is a tricky business. The transition from not playing at all to playing is a big one.
I agree fully. I saw several people make that transition when I attended one of David Harp's classes a couple of months ago. And not once did anyone seem dazzled (or intimidated) by his playing ability. I think that in Bob's case, he was ready for Gary's material by the time he started working with it.
I won't step into the Dylan controversy, but I found it odd that Amy Appleby's written music to Bob Dylan songs is mostly lead sheets of the song melodies, with arrow&number harp tab - in other words, the same old dodge that's been used for years to sell sheet music to harmonica players. Tart it up with some laudatory blurbs about a popular artist who happens to play a little harp, and voila - a product. This is not to impugn the sincerity of Ms. Appleby, who seems to believe in Mr. Dylan's value as an exceptional harmonica artist, but whoever made the editorial decisions on this book didn't see fit to concentrate on the subject of the book's title - the actual harmonica playing recorded by the immortal Bahhwb (Don't follow leaders, watch the parking meters).
Has anyone ever tried transcribing a Bob Dylan harp solo, then arranging it for, say saxophone, or maybe a string section, or even setting words to it, like people do with great jazz solos? I think the point of his homely little harmonica interludes is not to provide melody or a solo, but more like some wordless invocation that punctuates and relieves his his long, verbose vocal lines and helps create an atmosphere of poetic (as opposed to ordinary) reality. This is a device used by bards since time immemorial. Besides, his harps solos are usually more tuneful than his singing.
