Musical Episode #053 : Shimmy Shimmy Harp, An Hour of Harmonica 45s

The great Slim Harpo one of the many great harmonica players featured on today’s mix of 45s – soul, funk, blues, R&B and even a girl group track- with a harmonica in the mix.

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Listen to this podcast as a Spotify playlist here (though note, spotify doesn’t have all / many of the songs featured on the site so some playlists may be incomplete or feature slightly different versions than the original 45s I’m referring to here.
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Hey all,

Happy to be back with another podcast this week. This is one I’ve been slowly working on for a while- a whole mix of tracks featuring the harmonica. My friend Miguel who is a harmonica player used to request Slim Harpo whenever he’d come out or would play it if we dj’ed together and it became a footnote in my brain to bring tracks with a prominent (or otherwise!) harmonica in the mix to play when he’d be in the room. After that I began to make note of tracks that had a harmonica. I think it was finally the Harmonica Fats side “Funky Drop” that made me decide to make it a full hour.

It’s a fun mix and shows the versatility of an instrument that is often overlooked, there are times where it plays subtly, almost like a muted horn, and other times where it’s front and center as a stand-in for a guitar solo. Then there are truly transcendent pieces like the Baby Washington and Stevie Wonder side that are truly overwhelming and moving listens.

I also want to take a moment to mention the passing of the great bassist BB Dickerson most famously from the band War. He’s a co-writer on the Senor Soul 45 in todays Mix. Senor Soul was the group that preceded War with basically the same lineup included harmonica player Lee Oskar.

Hope you enjoy this mix of 45s. It’s tough out there and I hope that you’re all holding up in your mind and body.

Peace,

-George / Snack Attack

Tracklist:
Juke Boy Bonner – They Call Me Juke Boy (Goldband, 1960)
Brownie McGhee – Stranger Here (Prestige, 1960)
Little Walter – I Don’t Play (Checker, 1961)
Buster Brown – The Madison Shuffle (Fire, 1960)
Koko Taylor – I Got What It Takes (Checker, 1964)
Megatons – Shimmy Shimmy Shake (Dodge, 1962)
Slim Harpo – Te Ni Nee Ni Nu (Excello, 1968)
BJ and The Geminis – Scratch My Back Part 2 (Atco, 1965)
James Ray – If You Gotta Make A Fool Of Someone (Caprice, 1961)
Gladys Knight – Come See About Me (Fury, 1963)
Baby Washington – It’ll Never Be Over For Me (Sue, 1964)
The Chiffons – I’m Gonna Dry My Eyes (Laurie, 1963)
Bruce Channel – Hey! Baby (Smash, 1962)
Pat Lundy – Only Mama That’ll Walk The Line (DeLuxe, 1970)
Linda Hopkins – Shake A Hand (RCA, 1972)
Patti Williams – Satan’s Daughter (Rocky Ridge, 1971)
Senor Soul – I Ain’t Got No Soul Today (What It Is, Y’all) (Whiz, 1970)
Bobby Womack – Take Me (Minit, 1968)
Marilyn Haywood – Mama’s Baby (Ain’t A Baby No More) (Silver Fox, 1970)
Harmonica Fats – Funky Drop (Normar, 196?)
Billy Butler and Infinity – Free Yourself (Memphis, 1971)
Stevie Wonder – Big Brother (Tamla, 1974)
The Chi-Lites – Oh Girl (Brunswick, 1972)

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