Re: [Harp-L] Re: Harmonica Mexican
Thanks for that informative response, Rick.
Yet the harmonica survived and developed as a 'folk' instrument in the USA, and in white rural music (read 'country' if you want) it hung in there, not necessarily replaced by the accordion, which never became a defining sound in that area, but stayed alive in the form of the 'Lost John' players, 'fox chasers' etc. (eg Henry Whitter, Kyle Whooten, Wayne Raney, Lonnie Glosson, Palmer McAbee) The latter stuff is out of the black tradition of course (Sonny Terry being a prime example of early black tradition) and so I conclude that the technique of pitch-bending, not possible on the accordion, was the reason the instrument prospered.
With the exception of this tradition, and some early recording artists like Humphrey Bate and Herman Crook, playing largely non-bent first position fiddle tunes, the harmonica didn't get much of a look in with 'country' till Charlie McCoy upped it's profile from the 'sixties onward.
In the hands of the bluesman it was the ideal 'poor man's horn', the pitch changes distinguishing it from the accordion while it retained possibillities for simple but rhythmic chording that obviously made the former instrument so useful for accompanying dancers.
But what bothers me is that there is very little recorded harmonica music from places where you would think it would catch on. Where are the examples of recordings from African countries? Just how widely was the harmonica marketed? Did it not sell well in some places? Very little from Carribbean cultures too, where you might expect to find it.
In South Africa, it was the penny-whistle that was the 'poor man's horn', not the harmonica (but not accordion either, as far as I can hear)
In the southern USA, the button accordion is found in Tex-Mex and Cajun, both cultures having a connections with 'European' cultures (which always seem attracted to that instrument) via French, Spanish, German or Czech connections.
Maybe it has something to do with inherited musical tastes. I also suspect that in a lot of places, the harp was strictly for 'domestic entertainment', and just didn't cut it with the commercial recording interests.
The accordion never really became a part of traditional white rural music in the southern US (Cajun, Tex-Mex etc aside) where the fiddle, banjo and (later) guitar were king. I know there was some use of PIANO accordion (as opposed to diatonic/button accordion)particularly in 'western' music (as opposed to 'country - or 'eastern') like Pee Wee King's band, and, yes , I know, Bill Monroe gave it a whirl for a short while.
The 'pop' world was a holdout for harmonica of course, though pretty much dominated by the more sophisticated chromatic players, and particularly by the novelty all harmonica trios etc.
Sorry to rave on here, but I listen to a lot of old ethnic music, and continue to wonder about the lack of harmonica (and particularly diatonic harmonica) in recordings from places other than the USA, UK, (Canada too, I know now thanks to info on harp-l) and my own country, Australia, where it was extremely popular, though always played in the old 'vamping' style you speak of ( and no bent notes!)
A research project for someone doing their Phd, maybe.
Cheers,
Rick Dempster
>>> "Rick Epping" <rickepping@xxxxxxxxx> 21/06/08 6:53 PM >>>
The harmonica in Mexico suffered the same fate as that in many countries
around the world with the introduction of the diatonic accordion. Some
years ago I met a couple of Mexican tremolo players at the Smithsonian
Folklife Festival, the elder of which told me how the harmonica was taken
over by the accordion in the early 20th century; a story similar to ones
I've heard here in Ireland where, like in Mexico, traditional harmonica
players are today few and far between. The two instruments are similar in
tonality and in the manner in which they're played, but the accordion is
much louder, making it more suitable for playing for dances, and thus making
it a more financially attractive instrument for musicians in the
pre-amplification era.
Last year at the Willie Clancy Week, Mick Kinsella and I gave a lecture on
the history of the harmonica in Ireland, in preparation for which I
contacted the curator of the German Harmonica Museum, who confirmed my
theory that this phenomenon was worldwide. The diatonic button accordion
really started taking off in the 1920s, when worldwide harmonica sales were
at their peak. During the 'teens and 20s, German harmonica exports to Great
Britain (including Ireland) were over 1.3 million per year, Russia 1.1
million per year, Argentina 800,000 per year, and Brazil 700,000 per year.
In 1913, 3.4 million were exported to the USA, with over 7 million in 1929.
These sales started dropping off as accordion sales rose.
One can, however, look to the playing style in early diatonic accordion
recordings to get a notion as to the playing style of the pre-accordion
harmonica, as many of these early accordion players were likely to have
started out as harmonica players. The tongue-block vamping technique used
on the various diatonic harmonica models is very similar to the left hand
technique of the diatonic accordion.
Best regards,
Rick
>
> Message: 5
> Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 15:23:43 +1000
> From: "Rick Dempster" <rick.dempster@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Harmonica Mexican
> To: "harp-l" <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>, "victorio montes silva"
> <silvaharp@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> Message-ID: <485BCB7F.7C8A.0066.0@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
>
> Victorio;
> Enjoyed looking at the pictures of these interesting old harps.
> What I'd be even more interested in would be archival recordings of these
> instruments being played.
> As you say, the tremolo harp is the harmonica " most
> representative in the past " of Mexican harmonica playing.
> I have quite a few recordings of Mexican music, and like it
> very much, but there is no harmonica on any of it.
> I'm not interested in present day people playing blues, jazz
> etc etc; only in traditional Mexican music, and the older the better.
> Do you have any suggestions, sound files etc. you could send
> me?
> Regards,
> Rick Dempster,
> Melbourne,
> Australia
>
> >>> victorio montes silva <silvaharp@xxxxxxxxxxx> 18/06/2008 3:30 >>>
>
>
> Hello everyone
>
>
> Today I share with you the blogspot a good friend of mine.
>
> http://armonicademexico.blogspot.com/
>
>
> Together we are rescuing the tradition of harmonica tremolo in Mexico
>
> They may see photographs of the harmonic most representative in the past
> Mexican.
>
> Besides adding new information on an ongoing basis.
>
>
> To enjoy it and hope your comments.
>
>
>
> Atte.
> Victorio Montes Silva
> 04455 1681-5162
>
>
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