Let's talk Harp players !!!

Well,, OK,, hang on now,,,
I was thinking more along the lines of HARP Players !! John Popper, Elwood Blues (aka Dan Akroyd), etc,,,



I am reminded - just recently - that there are Players, and then there are players,,,, I need to list out several that I have had the pleasure of hearing over the years,,,,along with Popper, and Ackroyd,,there is,, James Montgomery, South Side Johnny Lyon, Delbert McClinton, John Sebastian (who knew), Robbie Dupree, And as these gentlemen are difficult to separate,,, others like Arlo Guthrie, Dylan, Neil Young play the harp to accompany their music,,, there are IMHO a few that are GODS in this category,,,, I have had the privilege to hear BOTH James Cotton, and Richard "Magic Dick" Salwitz.

Magic Dick played for years with one of My favorite bands,,, J. Geils Band,,, and to this day , I have all of "FULL HOUSE" and "BLOW YOUR FACE OUT" on my I-pod,,, even though my wife says "hey that's old music !" ,, "we had that on a Record - 30 years ago, and you would play it on the T-bird's 8 track player when we were dating"... well then call me an old man that still plays the music too Freakin loud and sings along with the band. That "Blow your Face" Record had a footnote actually pressed into the Vinyl at the center "MADE LOUD TO PLAY LOUD".. So Magic Dick's version of "WHAMMER JAMMER" rocks to this day,,, if you listen to that and do not tap your feet, or bob your head , or get up and dance..- call the paramedics- you must have passed away !!

Now,, the Master, James "Super Harp" Cotton, this man , now 73 years old is still rockin - you can catch him at BB King's in NYC on Jan 17th ! http://www.jamescottonsuperharp.com/

I have seen James play at "The Chance" and met him back stage there many years ago,. At Dutchess college where James Montgomery opened for him,, and then Cotton came out and just blew the roof off the building for 2 hours.,,, and then years later in Pawling - at the Town Crier..He has no voice,,, a problem , possibly Cancer , took most of that,,, However, none of that seems to have slowed him down. He is a legend in the Blues community, Played with Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson, Howlin Wolf,, and received a Grammy for his work on HARD AGAIN , a 1977 recording by Muddy Waters that was produced by Johnny Winter, who played on the recording with Pine Top Perkins, and BIG EYES Willie Smith.

These men - Magic Dick, James Cotton - were instrumental in forming the basis of this young white man's music background,, The Blues - at least played the way way these guy play it is the greatest music in the world, and the Basis for what we all know today to be Rock & Roll Music,, I have included Videos below of Both,,,and I hope you will use the WEB and YOUTUBE to explore more of their music, as this is real Genius