[Harp-L] re: pathetic

[Jonathan Ross <jross38@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

In deference to fjm, let's leave the specific Wikipedia out of this  
and just think about which players should be in a general-knowledge  
encyclopedia under the harmonica header.

First, I'll answer one thing.

JP wrote:

"the rest is
kinda debatable. is Michalek acid? dunno. "

That is not at all the point I was trying to make.  Perhaps the part  
about Dylan confused matters--I probably should have omitted that.   
What I was trying to point out was not so much the categories (which  
really were odd) of genres listed, but rather the choices.  It looks  
like a who's who of the harp-l inner-circle.  The problem with that  
is that it is not at all a reflection of reality in any way shape or  
form.  I like Chris, and I like his playing.  I don't mean to pick on  
him, and the following should NOT be read as a value judgement.  But,  
if you were to list the top hundred selling albums by harmonica  
players, Chris wouldn't be there.  Even if you limited it by saying  
an artist is only represented once (ie, all of Little Walter's  
playing is included in toto, not each album individually) I can  
pretty safely say Chris isn't there.

Is Chris an excellent harmonica player and do I enjoy listening to  
his playing?  Yes on both.  Is Chris someone I like?  Yes, I consider  
him a friend (even though I'm probably pissing him off right now).   
Would it be nice if he were on that list?  Of course.  Same with many  
others (Wade Schumman, Carlos DelJunco, Richard Hunter all come to  
mind).  But let's have some reality here: an encyclopedia should give  
a broad, big-picture overview, and half the people named just cannot  
even begin to be considered that.

So, who should be included in the broadest overview of a general  
encyclopedia (in this case, if you want to make a list of all "Folk  
Harmonica" players you could--but according to even Wikipedia's own  
rules you should start a new stub-page for "Folk Harmonica" in  
specific and not continue to clutter the main overview page)?  Well,  
that is a bit subjective, but only a bit.

What are the criteria for inclusion?  I'd say impact on the music  
world as a whole should count--and by that I don't mean someone who  
just plays harp once but is otherwise a major figure.  Impact  
indicates someone who is noted as a harmonica player or for their  
harmonica playing.  I'd also say that historic importance should play  
a role.  How important was this person to the development of their  
genre or the specific development of the instrument.  Now, in both  
cases sales is a decent, though not exclusive, way of viewing this.   
Other measures of popularity should also be considered, such as  
influence amongst peers and those who came later.  But, if all else  
is essentially equal, than sales is a damn good indicator.

So, in alphabetical order by genre, here is a first attempt.  A lot  
of people who should be listed in each genre's sub-page are omitted.   
This is only the broadest of the broad for those who know nothing  
about the subject to get a quick look.  Nothing more and nothing  
less.  Something along the lines of the following--note, items in  
[ brackets] are comments, not in the main text:

"The harmonica has been used in many genres, the following is a list  
of genres and prominent harmonica players in those fields:

Blues: Little Walter, ne Marion Walter Jacobs.  Sonny Boy Williamson  
#2, ne Rice Miller.  [Cases could be made for others, particularly  
Junior Wells  and John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson, but again--broad  
view.]

Classial:  Larry Adler.  [Cases could be made for John Sebastian Sr.  
and Tommy Reilly, in that order IMO--but Adler stands head and  
shoulders above everyone else when it comes to broad-based impact--he  
was actually quite famous.]

Country:  Charlie McCoy.  [There are many very good country players,  
but McCoy is _the_ one, and that's what should go here.]

Folk:  Sonny Terry.  [Yes, I know, Dylan--see below; same for DeFord  
Bailey.]

Funk:  Stevie Wonder, ne Steveland Morris [IIRC].  Lee Oskar, with  
the band "War".

Jazz:  Jean "Toots" Theileman(sp).  Howard Levy.  [In that order-- 
Levy is great, but Toots is jazz harmonica and has been for fifty  
years.]

Rock:  John Popper, with the band "Blues Traveller".  Magic Dick, ne  
Mark Salwitz [IIRC--fortunately this isn't an actual article] of "The  
J. Geils Band".

Many musicians primarily known for other skills (singing,  
songwriting, guitar playing, etc...) have also regularly used the  
harmonica.  Bob Dylan is perhaps the one most associated with this  
group, usually playing harmonica in a special holding device (rack)  
around his neck which leaves his hands free to play guitar.

Also, the harmonica's popularity through the years can be shown by  
those who do not fit in any genre, yet were still very successful.   
The best two examples of this are DeFord Bailey, one of the first  
stars of the Grand Ole Opry and The Harmonicats, a harmonica trio who  
had a #1 pop-chart hit in the 1940's with the song "Peg O' My Heart"."



There, that's it.  A broad overview which gives a brief look at those  
who are both most representative of their genres and also most  
important in them with regards to the harmonica.  Completely  
uncomprehensive, but that's what an encyclopedia should be.  If you  
want more, the particular one we were talking about allows for  
greater detail, but preferably not on the main page, where it will  
only confuse novices and skew perceptions.  There's no need to talk  
about Acid or Hip-Hop or anything else and all the two people playing  
harp in those genres who have never actually recorded.  That is _not_  
what the first page on an encyclopedia is for.  It's also not for up- 
ann-comers who haven't been around long enough to judge their  
impact.  What it is for is the most broad overview possible without  
major errors (such as listing Stevie as "folk" rather than "funk").

That was the main point I was trying to make about the specific  
inclusions.  The point about Wikipedia is pretty much made by the  
fact this egregious inclusion was there in the first place.






 ()()    JR "Bulldogge" Ross
()  ()   & Snuffy, too:)
`----'