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to my mind, one of the most interesting improvisers ever...you can hear bechet, louie & even bird....
he was also tonewise smart..played his harmonica thru an amp..with a dedicated harmonica mic...really incorporated all those textures...used amps made by local chicago companies like-valco..with strange small speakers and electronics..and blew masterfully
here's alt take of blue midnight....you can hear the way he plays along with the amp distortion and reverb....a master...a great ear (what it always comes down to!)
cheers
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01-15-2021 10:20 PM
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that was great !
i love the way you can bend downwards
on a blues harp .... great sound
difficult on a guitar
you can pre bend and release but
i like 13 TI jazz swings with a wound
3rd so this it hard work
i’ve noticed ....
Metheny glisses down a fair bit at the end of phrases , which sounds great
to me
Mclaughlin sometimes does this effect using a bigsby (not crazy on that sound)
anyone use a digital whammy pedal to achieve this i wonder ?
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john abercrombie used to play a lot of the pre-bend and release notes to great effect
the digital whammy pedal requires it's own different skill set..and doesn't really sound quite the same
if you have a few guitars, string one up with lighter strings and (pre)bend to your hearts content
cheers
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Originally Posted by neatomic
It has been daid that Duane Allman listened a lot to Little Walter to pick up ideas for slide.
BTW: Little Walter fan here!
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I heard him on Maxwell St. in Chicago in the 60's before he died. Many blues bands played on the street on the weekends during the Summer where you could buy a Chicago Polish/Italian sausage cooked on an open barrel grill and listen to some great Blues. . . those WERE the days!
Play live . . . Marinero
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Love Little Walter. Great sound.
This video of "Juke" shows several good photos.
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Originally Posted by Marinero
But then every harp player I've ever worked with considered Walter the high priest of blues harp and for good reason
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the aforementioned Maxwell St from the Blues Brothers movie. a few friends of mine were working there regularly around this time. that's Big Walter on harp @ 1:05 w/Hooker, another great player.
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the only known video of Nighthawk, too bad they didn't film the slide playing, or if they did, they cut it!
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Originally Posted by wintermoon
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Tampa Red - > Robert Nighthawk - > Earl Hooker - > Muddy Waters (when he started playing slide in standard tuning) : There's always been a clear stylistic lineage to my ears.
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Originally Posted by TOMMO
Last edited by citizenk74; 01-17-2021 at 12:35 PM. Reason: clarity
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Little Walter deeply influenced Mick Jagger, also one of the best blues harp players around.
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an important fact- little walter died at the tender age of 37!...he was involved in a club fight during his break from a performance, and later died overnight!
cut so many classics in such a short time...like bird!
mean old world...indeed
(note this later day clip of walter has him playing thru the pa...not his classic dedicated harp mic thru amp tone...and he's still great!)
cheers
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Originally Posted by Rob MacKillop
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Originally Posted by MarkRhodes
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This is a great cut! I have casually listened to Little Walter over the years but never really paid attention before. I see what you mean about the amp being part of the instrument.
While we're on the subject of harmonica players, here's one of my favorite swinging solos by a modern, under-the-radar chromatic harmonica player, William Gallison (he comes in at 1:29):
Last edited by AndyV; 01-17-2021 at 03:04 PM.
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Great solo ! I like esp the George sheering type block chords ....
Hello from Chicago from big Mike
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