Sit back and listen to Joe Filisko introducing 31 solo harmonica recordings from the 1920-30s. The recordings include many examples of train imitations, fox chases and early blues tunes. Joe mentions which harp and key he thinks is the correct one so maybe you will be inspired to play along. Part 2 is now available here – Rare Early Blues Harp Recordings by Singers and Sidemen introduced by Joe Filisko.
You may have heard of some of the performers but there will probably be others that are new to you. Most of the recordings are from rare 78rpm shellac records, so be ready for the surface noise. In most cases there are no master recordings and for some of the performances only one or two 78s are known to have survived intact.
This video is dedicated to Joe Filisko for sharing his awesome knowledge of the early blues harmonica players and the techniques they developed to play the instrument, and also to Ben Hewlett for contacting me when the recording had been taken offline and explaining how valuable this resource is for teaching blues harmonica. This is an updated version as a video with subtitles to help people with difficulties in understanding the speech.
Over to Joe…
Rare Early Solo Instrumental Blues Harp Recordings introduced by Joe Filisko.
Introduction , Joe Filisko, 0:00
1 Cracker Cops , Sonny Terry, 0:30
2 McAbee’s Railroad Piece , Palmer McAbee, 4:15
3 Fox Chase , DeFord Bailey, 8:00
4 Middling Blues , George “Bullet” Williams, 11:30
5 Fast Train , Lonnie Glosson , 15:00
6 Rain Crow Bill Blues , Henry Whitter : 19:00
7 Train , Salty Holmes , 22:40
8 Red Pig , Kyle Wooten , 22:20
9 Train Imitations and the Fox Chase , William McCoy , 28:15
10 Up Country Blues , DeFord Bailey , 32:24
11 The Fox Chase , Wayne Raney , 36:21
12 Frisco Leaving Birmingham #3 , George “Bullet” Williams , 39:15
13 Mocking the Dogs , Edward Hazelton , 42:55
14 The Fox end the Hounds , Roger Mathis , 44:30
15 The Alcoholic Blues , DeFord Bailey , 47:4616
16 Mama Blues , William McCoy , 50:30
17 Train and Model-T Race , Curly Fox , 54:45
18 The Old Time Fox Chase , Henry Whitter , 57:40
19 Riding the Blinds , Eddie Mapp , 60:40
20 Dixie Flyer Blues , DeFord Bailey , 64:40
21 C & N.W Blues , D.H Bert Bilbro , 68:25
22 Fox Chase , Salty Holmes, 72:30
23 Devil in the Woodpile , Noah Lewis, 74:20
24 Lost John , Lonnie Glosson , 77:50
25 Pan-American Blues , DeFord Bailey , 81:35
26 Lost John , Walter “Red” Parham , 85:15
27 Mocking the Train , Edward Hazelton , 87:05
28 Lost John , Oliver Sims , 88:25
29 Muscle Shoals Blues , DeFord Bailey , 92:15
30 When the Saints Go Marching In , Jesse Stroller, 95:55
31 Poor Little June Bug , Sonny Terry , 97.15
You can buy the original double CD without Joe’s added information from – Bluebeat Music