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From: Alec Drachman
Date: Tue, 13 Apr 1999 20:15:46 -0400
Subject: Re: Mick Jagger Harmonica: Who can resist? (LONG RETORT TO MANY REPLIES)

Richard W. Rinn wrote:

> I'm just a bit confused as to why Brian Jones and also Keith Relf of The
> Yardbirds seem to be remembered fondly for their harp playing, as to me they
> just sound...umm...slightly better than generic British Invasion harmonica.

Keith Relf is the guy who turned me on to harp. Listen to "New York City Blues",
recorded during the Beck era. I still love this solo. It is nothing fancy, but
contains great phrasing and perfectly captures the mood. He describes staring
down a big, black shiny shotgun in the hands of his girlfreind's dad and then
sings "This is how I was, Oh No,..." and then lays down the perfect harp track.
IMO, this is way better than "generic, British Invasion stuff".

> > Uh.......? I think we better remove Magic Dick from the "reasonbaly"
> >accomplished category, this man is a Professional Harmonica player
> >unlike the dabblers you mention him with. He deserves a better report
> >card,(Highly accomplished!) after all he's done his "Homework".
> >
>
> No, sorry, I don't think he's that great. By that I mean that he's great,
> but he's not the bee's knees for me. For me, soul is a more important
> element of harmonica playing than technique or speed. It's a hard thing to
> explain... Lester Butler's playing gets to me. Junior Wells. I'm
> personally very influenced by the production of the music also. I prefer
> more live, ambient sounding records, and detest polished stuff. I don't
> think 'Whammer Jammer' is better than 'Train Time' on Cream's 'Wheels Of
> Fire', a track that I dearly loved well before ever picking up a harp
> myself. I hope I'm not coming across as saying that Magic Dick has no soul,
> I just don't dig his playing more than Jack Bruce's - they're different
> styles, and do different things to me.

No offense to Jack Bruce (I am a huge Cream fan - love the harp on "From Four
Until Late" and "Train Time") but I can't put him in the same league as Magic
Dick. You want Soul? Have you heard the Bluestime albums? Jack Bruce is a
fabulous musician and his phrasing is great, but his harp playing (at least with
Cream) is fairly basic stuff. Magic Dick, on the other hand, is a true monster
on the harp - the extent to which I have only realized in recent years. He is
one of those guys that I couldn't fully appreciate until I really started
learning the subtleties of different embouchures and articulations.

As I start to push into middle age, I am learning a couple of things: As I get
older, my Dad gets smarter and smarter and as I learn more harp, Magic Dick gets
better and better.

Alec