"Do you feel more comfortable in a small club like this or do you prefer the big concert scene?"
"This is where the music is supposed to be played. The other way it`s an event. It`s not really very musical. You`ve got a guy up there running a PA that`s playing you like his instrument. And you`re not getting the true sound. Now there is a time and a place for it if you`ve got enough people that want to come see you, but if you want to hear the real thing and you want to hear that music the way it`s supposed to be heard you`ve got to go into a joint to hear it. And that`s just the way it is. Now the object is just to make a little bit of money in these joints. You keep doing them. And you know that can be difficult, but it can be done. You`ve just got to be at the top of the food chain to do it. That`s all there is, you just have to make sure you`re at the top of the food chain."
He adds, "I work with the T-Birds many, many nights a year and I make my living doing other things, too, musically. Movies, commercials and stuff like that."
"Do you teach?"
"No. I used to try to teach a little bit, but, no, I don`t have the patience or the time to be a teacher. And besides that, the harmonica`s not something you teach, anyway. Now Jerry Portnoy, my friend up in Boston, he`s got really the definitive thing as far as an instructional thing. I would recommend that. But me, I just got it from the guys. When I started playing and I wanted to do certain things and I wanted to go a certain position on the harmonica that I didn`t know before, I`d hear somebody playing it off a record, like James Cotton, Little Walter or somebody like that. I`d go (with a chuckle), 'You know I don`t have those notes on my harmonica.` So I figured out that if I went to another harmonica and played it differently, then those notes were there. So, I figured it all out myself. And by the time I got to playing with Eddie Taylor and all those great guys that I played with, I pretty much knew my way around the instrument. But those guys refined me and they taught me how to accompany people. They taught me a lot of things. I grew up playing with the greatest musicians that ever lived. I know what this music sounds like. I know that some day if I`m true to myself and I stick to my guns that people will recognize me for that. I have a very strong audience that may not be huge in numbers but there are a lot of them."
"You had an army of local musicians here to see you tonight."
"That`s great. That`s great and I love that."
"When we started having those records that we got on Columbia and Epic and Sony we went for something to pretty much prove that we could do it and we did it. But it wasn`t that enjoyable to be in that circle of people in the business. It just wasn`t enjoyable. It was all about money and it was all about whatever. Not for the right reasons. Corporate and people not knowledgeable or respectful and they are telling you what they want. They don`t know what it is; they are not schooled. If you are a cab driver in London, you gotta go to school for years and know every street, every little alley in that city before you can get in the cab and drive."
"When I worked with Sony, those people, when I first got there, who were really responsible for that Tuff Enuff record, those people were real cool. Tony Martell was real cool. There were a lot of people in that big, big, big company at that time that were cool. Really cool, nice people, and music people. They believed in things. And then, you know, the turn over is so huge and a lot of young kids get into the business who had been interns. So, things change. I think if I live a little longer, if I live long enough, that shit could turn around again. I`m sure I could have a hit record again. I mean, I know I have the goods to do it."
He paused a moment, then went on, "You know. That`s just the way it is. In the old days, you didn`t have to worry. Everything was right. We had our share of bullshit but we had our share of great shit, too. Back then you had, you`re talking about late '50`s early '60`s, late '60`s, you had people with style. You also had all the stack stuff. And you know what? Every time those people opened their mouths, you knew who it was, in one note. It`ll never be that good again because there`s not enough people who have it. All I`m trying to do is hold on to what that was, what I grew up with. When I come to a place like this, I get that feeling and I give everybody else that feeling, too. So, maybe like with these kids [his guitar players] other kids will see these kids playing and say, 'You know, this is a lot better than that shit I listen to. I think I kinda like that.` These two right here are exceptions. They are really the only two like that in existence. Rusty was like that when he was a kid, but I don`t know if he was quite at these guys` level that young. I can`t remember back that far but I`ll tell you he was awfully good and he sure had a great feel. I know some good kids that have the desire to play and I hope they get there. And I will be the first one to help them out when they do. You can have a natural talent in this music but it takes a lot of time and a lot of playing and a lot of on the planks playing to get a feel for it. And it takes playing with the right people and that`s a problem because it`s not their fault they don`t have the right people to play with. I always have had the right people to play with, my whole life. I`ve had the best teachers. Man, I had Muddy Waters, I had Jimmy Reed, I had Ed Taylor, I had James Cotton. They hand it to you and it`s up to you to make your own niche. Everybody got it from somebody. At some point it went from rags to smaller rags to blues. I love Little Walter, I love Muddy Waters, I love Big Walter. I could name so many people. That`s the thing about playing this music, you have so many influences. It makes it a lot easier to make it your own when you borrow from all of them. Don`t just dwell on one guy. That`s what I`ve done, on the vocals, too. The low down stuff is the hardest stuff to sing, really. It`s all hard to sing. Singing is the hardest part. That`s where people have fallen short."
"This is where the music is supposed to be played. The other way it`s an event. It`s not really very musical. You`ve got a guy up there running a PA that`s playing you like his instrument. And you`re not getting the true sound. Now there is a time and a place for it if you`ve got enough people that want to come see you, but if you want to hear the real thing and you want to hear that music the way it`s supposed to be heard you`ve got to go into a joint to hear it. And that`s just the way it is. Now the object is just to make a little bit of money in these joints. You keep doing them. And you know that can be difficult, but it can be done. You`ve just got to be at the top of the food chain to do it. That`s all there is, you just have to make sure you`re at the top of the food chain."
He adds, "I work with the T-
"Do you teach?"
"No. I used to try to teach a little bit, but, no, I don`t have the patience or the time to be a teacher. And besides that, the harmonica`s not something you teach, anyway. Now Jerry Portnoy, my friend up in Boston, he`s got really the definitive thing as far as an instructional thing. I would recommend that. But me, I just got it from the guys. When I started playing and I wanted to do certain things and I wanted to go a certain position on the harmonica that I didn`t know before, I`d hear somebody playing it off a record, like James Cotton, Little Walter or somebody like that. I`d go (with a chuckle), 'You know I don`t have those notes on my harmonica.` So I figured out that if I went to another harmonica and played it differently, then those notes were there. So, I figured it all out myself. And by the time I got to playing with Eddie Taylor and all those great guys that I played with, I pretty much knew my way around the instrument. But those guys refined me and they taught me how to accompany people. They taught me a lot of things. I grew up playing with the greatest musicians that ever lived. I know what this music sounds like. I know that some day if I`m true to myself and I stick to my guns that people will recognize me for that. I have a very strong audience that may not be huge in numbers but there are a lot of them."
"You had an army of local musicians here to see you tonight."
"That`s great. That`s great and I love that."
"When we started having those records that we got on Columbia and Epic and Sony we went for something to pretty much prove that we could do it and we did it. But it wasn`t that enjoyable to be in that circle of people in the business. It just wasn`t enjoyable. It was all about money and it was all about whatever. Not for the right reasons. Corporate and people not knowledgeable or respectful and they are telling you what they want. They don`t know what it is; they are not schooled. If you are a cab driver in London, you gotta go to school for years and know every street, every little alley in that city before you can get in the cab and drive."
"When I worked with Sony, those people, when I first got there, who were really responsible for that Tuff Enuff record, those people were real cool. Tony Martell was real cool. There were a lot of people in that big, big, big company at that time that were cool. Really cool, nice people, and music people. They believed in things. And then, you know, the turn over is so huge and a lot of young kids get into the business who had been interns. So, things change. I think if I live a little longer, if I live long enough, that shit could turn around again. I`m sure I could have a hit record again. I mean, I know I have the goods to do it."
He paused a moment, then went on, "You know. That`s just the way it is. In the old days, you didn`t have to worry. Everything was right. We had our share of bullshit but we had our share of great shit, too. Back then you had, you`re talking about late '50`s early '60`s, late '60`s, you had people with style. You also had all the stack stuff. And you know what? Every time those people opened their mouths, you knew who it was, in one note. It`ll never be that good again because there`s not enough people who have it. All I`m trying to do is hold on to what that was, what I grew up with. When I come to a place like this, I get that feeling and I give everybody else that feeling, too. So, maybe like with these kids [his guitar players] other kids will see these kids playing and say, 'You know, this is a lot better than that shit I listen to. I think I kinda like that.` These two right here are exceptions. They are really the only two like that in existence. Rusty was like that when he was a kid, but I don`t know if he was quite at these guys` level that young. I can`t remember back that far but I`ll tell you he was awfully good and he sure had a great feel. I know some good kids that have the desire to play and I hope they get there. And I will be the first one to help them out when they do. You can have a natural talent in this music but it takes a lot of time and a lot of playing and a lot of on the planks playing to get a feel for it. And it takes playing with the right people and that`s a problem because it`s not their fault they don`t have the right people to play with. I always have had the right people to play with, my whole life. I`ve had the best teachers. Man, I had Muddy Waters, I had Jimmy Reed, I had Ed Taylor, I had James Cotton. They hand it to you and it`s up to you to make your own niche. Everybody got it from somebody. At some point it went from rags to smaller rags to blues. I love Little Walter, I love Muddy Waters, I love Big Walter. I could name so many people. That`s the thing about playing this music, you have so many influences. It makes it a lot easier to make it your own when you borrow from all of them. Don`t just dwell on one guy. That`s what I`ve done, on the vocals, too. The low down stuff is the hardest stuff to sing, really. It`s all hard to sing. Singing is the hardest part. That`s where people have fallen short."
