#blues harmonica

Jerry ‘Boogie’ McCain - “Honky-Tonk” Classic Blues, Volume 1 Song released in 1965. Compilation released in 1995. Harmonica Blues

Apparently, according to his obit in The Gadsden Times, there was a point in time in which you could call up Jerry ‘Boogie’ McCain at home, and if he didn’t answer, you’d be greeted with a comically boastful recording from his answering machine that said, “you've reached the blues man Jerry ‘Boogie' McCain, the baddest harmonica player in the world. Talk to me.” Just some real, memed-to-death Kanye-type shit, y’know? But it was undoubtedly tongue-in-cheek.

But the man wasn’t wrong either. He had one of the most prolific careers for a blues-harpist and was one of the style’s best and most unique players, too. But for whatever reason, he never received the just due that he was so clearly deserving of. While some of the most vaunted harmonica players were usually known for ripping off rapid-fire, crazed sets of notes, McCain tended to be more economical in his approach, delivering tunes that had smoother edges to them by utilizing his harmonica in a way that made it sound more like a saxophone. In a way, he was something like the harmonica blues embodiment of that cliched phrase that one uses to get the job in a job interview: he worked smart, not hard; and he managed to impress with less. 

Take, for instance, this instrumental country-blues soul-stirrer from 1965, “Honky-Tonk,” released by the Shreveport, Louisiana-based Jewel Records as the b-side for his 7-inch single, Sugar Baby. The swampy sound of McCain’s backing band doesn’t do much to enhance his overall contribution, but just listen to him ride atop his steady backers so freely and effortlessly. It’s like the soundtrack to a tranquilly warm, southern countryside sunrise. And he does in fact play his harp like a sax, appearing to be way more concerned with the length, clarity, and overall quality of his notes and phrases rather than any kind of frenzied speed at which he can play them. Could a player who can pack a song with tons of notes dazzle you too? Sure, but why bother doing that if you don’t have to? McCain’s style of playing was on a different end of the spectrum, but it was just as good, if not better, than that of his more flashy contemporaries.

Big Walter Horton - “Need My Baby” Chicago Piano Song released in 1956. Compilation released in 1991.