To the toppermost of the poppermost Further to our harmonica study of Love Me Do, we should now take a further look at John Lennon’s harmonica recordings with the Beatles. Not including the harmonica quartet on Sergeant Pepper’s For The Benefit Of Mr.Kite, we have identified at least a dozen Beatles tracks that feature harmonica. To be [...]
Read more..I’ll always be true, so please, love me do [We are delighted to re-publish our most popular post with some helpful new learning features]. Much has been written about John Lennon’s harmonica playing with The Beatles. He started playing at a time in the 1960′s when American blues music was taking the UK by storm. [...]
Read more..Little bitty pretty one, come on and talk to me In a previous post we had the good fortune of reviewing Rod Piazza & The Mighty Flyers live in Las Vegas. It was a welcome treat as the Harp Surgery has always been a fan of his work. Little Bitty Pretty One (Rockin’ Robin) brought [...]
Read more..I knew it was a G harp, but is it a high G harp? Regular visitors will remember we recently ran a post about Paolo Nutini’s priapic UK No.1 hit Pencil Full Of Lead from his chart topping album Sunny Side Up. When the song first hit breakfast radio, the Harp Surgery resembled a madhouse [...]
Read more..In Culture Club Harmonica part 1, we studied Judd Lander‘s harp playing on the band’s top 10 hit, Church Of The Poison Mind. Their follow up single, Karma Chameleon, went flying to the top of the charts worldwide, where it stayed for several weeks. To this day it remains a classic of 1980′s pop. Culture [...]
Read more..The Harp Surgery has had a number of enquiries regarding the harp riffs used in Culture Club’s hits and who was responsible for them. The culprit was Judd Lander, a harp player from Liverpool who managed to ingratiate himself with Sonny Boy II before moving to London as a session musician and co-founding the Charisma [...]
Read more..Don’t start me talking, I’ll tell you everything I know Elwood reminded folks at the Harp Surgery it’s the anniversary of Sonny Boy II’s birthday this week. How about we tab out one of his monster tracks? he suggested. The Doc stroked his goatee and lifted his bowler down from the coat stand. No need [...]
Read more..Groovy baby – yeah! Otis stopped by this morning for a nice cup of tea and a sit down and brought us a lovely letter from Stuart Willowgate. Been blowin’ since Christmas ’08 – or trying to, and loving it! I heard the song Groovin’ with Mr Bloe as the out music to Oz and [...]
Read more..Hark, what peaceful music rings! [This post is dedicated to the Memory of the great Herbert Harris, Bajan choirmaster and organist of All Saints Church, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, UK]. Welcome to the Harp Surgery, home of all things harmonica, where one minute we’re honking the blues and next minute we’re power harping to heavy metal. This [...]
Read more..If I leave my love behind, nobody’s fault but mine And so to the wonderful world of heavy metal harmonica. Use of the humble harp in big time rock’n’roll should not really be a surprise. It’s no secret the likes of Led Zeppelin, Cream, Aerosmith, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and their peers drew inspiration directly [...]
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