Got to thinking about this the other day: when can it be said to have emerged? We all know Mick played blues harp virtually from the beginning. But what I mean is the electrified and melodic sound that fully revealed itself on Steel Wheels. The first glimpse was either Had It With You or Party Doll.

Did Mick devote attention to honing his harp chops in the ‘80s? Was it a technology thing? The only time I can recall him speaking much about it was in an interview in which he expressed a preference for Lee Oskar over Hohner.

He might have honed his harp chops in the late 80's. Mick rarely played harmonica on albums past EXILE until he picked it up again more so by STEEL WHEELS.

These were the only songs he played harmonica on between 1973 and 1987:

Silver Train
Black Limousine
Feel On Baby
Running Out of Luck (Solo)
Had It With You
Party Doll (Solo)

By 1978, he dropped playing harmonica altogether on stage for the guitar until the STEEL WHEELS Tour, although I'm not sure whether he played it during solo shows in '88.

Just like how Keith re-discovered the guitar with open tunings in 1967, Mick probably re-discovered the harmonica and picked up a new playing style by 1989.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2020-03-02 23:58 by JordyLicks96.

………………. RCA Studio Hollywood California September 1965 ……. photo Bob Bonis



ROCKMAN

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JordyLicks96
He might have honed his harp chops in the late 80's. Mick rarely played harmonica on albums past EXILE until he picked it up again more so by STEEL WHEELS.

These were the only songs he played harmonica on between 1973 and 1987:

Silver Train
Black Limousine
Feel On Baby
Running Out of Luck (Solo)
Had It With You
Party Doll (Solo)

By 1978, he dropped playing harmonica altogether on stage for the guitar until the STEEL WHEELS Tour, although I'm not sure whether he played it during solo shows in '88.

Just like how Keith re-discovered the guitar with open tunings in 1967, Mick probably re-discovered the harmonica and picked up a new playing style by 1989.

I forgot about Feel On Baby. That’s a good pull - and a better example of the first “modern” Mick harp. It’s kind of reminiscent of the squeezed-out Jimmy Reed sounds that we heard on Black Limousine. But there are some effects on top of it - maybe post-production.

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Rockman


………………. RCA Studio Hollywood California September 1965 ……. photo Bob Bonis

I wonder what song he was playing harmonica to considering he doesn't play any harmonica on DECEMBER'S CHILDREN.

I suppose that watching Sugar Blue in action might have inspired him to pursue a more modern sound

He switched to a five string open G harmonica.

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Koen
He switched to a five string open G harmonica.

Worked only for the songs in D

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JordyLicks96

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Rockman


………………. RCA Studio Hollywood California September 1965 ……. photo Bob Bonis

I wonder what song he was playing harmonica to considering he doesn't play any harmonica on DECEMBER'S CHILDREN.

It's interesting that you take December's Children as example. In fact that album was a kind of "left over" selection (I love the album though). Out of Our Heads was THE 1965 album and you can find Mick playing the blues harp on Spider and the Fly. Brian was the ultimate (read: great) blues harp player, so obviously Mick's contribution was modest in those days. The Stones without, from time to time, a blues harp containing song would be a half filled glass. Mick created a very interesting style of playing the blues harp and it really gives the songs something special.

You can certainly hear Sugar Blue's influence on "Black Limousine," "Feel On, Baby," and "Running Out of Luck." I always thought of "Had It With You" as a nice throwback to their Chess days. I would say the modern sound of Mick's playing can first be heard in "Party Doll," but doesn't come to full blossom until "Deep Down Under" in 1988. [www.youtube.com]

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georgie48

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JordyLicks96

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Rockman


………………. RCA Studio Hollywood California September 1965 ……. photo Bob Bonis

I wonder what song he was playing harmonica to considering he doesn't play any harmonica on DECEMBER'S CHILDREN.

It's interesting that you take December's Children as example. In fact that album was a kind of "left over" selection (I love the album though). Out of Our Heads was THE 1965 album and you can find Mick playing the blues harp on Spider and the Fly. Brian was the ultimate (read: great) blues harp player, so obviously Mick's contribution was modest in those days. The Stones without, from time to time, a blues harp containing song would be a half filled glass. Mick created a very interesting style of playing the blues harp and it really gives the songs something special.

That one was a «selection», too, as Spider And The Fly wasn't featured on the «real» Out Of Our Heads

Mind you, Mick was blowing his harp on their debut album already. It was pretty 50/50 between him and Brian, wasn't it?

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MelBelli
Got to thinking about this the other day: when can it be said to have emerged? We all know Mick played blues harp virtually from the beginning. But what I mean is the electrified and melodic sound that fully revealed itself on Steel Wheels. The first glimpse was either Had It With You or Party Doll.

Did Mick devote attention to honing his harp chops in the ‘80s? Was it a technology thing? The only time I can recall him speaking much about it was in an interview in which he expressed a preference for Lee Oskar over Hohner.

The change in sound was due the use of running the harmonica through a Boogie amp instead of PA for the first time on the 1989 tour.

Mathijs

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Mathijs

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MelBelli
Got to thinking about this the other day: when can it be said to have emerged? We all know Mick played blues harp virtually from the beginning. But what I mean is the electrified and melodic sound that fully revealed itself on Steel Wheels. The first glimpse was either Had It With You or Party Doll.

Did Mick devote attention to honing his harp chops in the ‘80s? Was it a technology thing? The only time I can recall him speaking much about it was in an interview in which he expressed a preference for Lee Oskar over Hohner.

The change in sound was due the use of running the harmonica through a Boogie amp instead of PA for the first time on the 1989 tour.

Mathijs

Interesting. That definitely accounts for his comfort playing harp onstage. He said in a Steel Wheels promo interview with Kurt Loder that harmonica is difficult live because, while you can hear it just fine in the house, it’s hard to hear yourself on stage. The amp was probably a fix for that.

But it doesn’t account for how his *playing* changed. His vocabulary became more sophisticated. “Feel on Baby” was the beginning - the bluesy phrases were twisted, more experimental. The coda to “Hearts for Sale”: in addition to the amplification, Mick’s note-choice is way more interesting than how he would’ve approached it 10-20 years earlier.

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DandelionPowderman

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georgie48

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JordyLicks96

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Rockman


………………. RCA Studio Hollywood California September 1965 ……. photo Bob Bonis

I wonder what song he was playing harmonica to considering he doesn't play any harmonica on DECEMBER'S CHILDREN.

It's interesting that you take December's Children as example. In fact that album was a kind of "left over" selection (I love the album though). Out of Our Heads was THE 1965 album and you can find Mick playing the blues harp on Spider and the Fly. Brian was the ultimate (read: great) blues harp player, so obviously Mick's contribution was modest in those days. The Stones without, from time to time, a blues harp containing song would be a half filled glass. Mick created a very interesting style of playing the blues harp and it really gives the songs something special.

That one was a «selection», too, as Spider And The Fly wasn't featured on the «real» Out Of Our Heads

Mind you, Mick was blowing his harp on their debut album already. It was pretty 50/50 between him and Brian, wasn't it?

Yeah, the "real" Out Of Our Heads
There will always be the discussion between the Old World and the New World. I'm from the Old World, so everything from the USA was "import" anyway (no offence though, because some USA releases were badly missed in the Old World in the very beginning (12x5, "Now"). Luckily the catching up went fairly quick ... (although in those years a year was a long, long time ).
About the 50/50 between Brian and Mick? I'll have to do some homework .

I wish he played that haunting sounding harp on live versions of Gimme Shelter.

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Rocky Dijon
You can certainly hear Sugar Blue's influence on "Black Limousine," "Feel On, Baby," and "Running Out of Luck." I always thought of "Had It With You" as a nice throwback to their Chess days. I would say the modern sound of Mick's playing can first be heard in "Party Doll," but doesn't come to full blossom until "Deep Down Under" in 1988. [www.youtube.com]

I had never seen or heard this before. Amazing. The “Hearts for Sale” outro lives right in there — the tone, the nasty extended trill. Thanks, Rocky!

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Mathijs

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MelBelli
Got to thinking about this the other day: when can it be said to have emerged? We all know Mick played blues harp virtually from the beginning. But what I mean is the electrified and melodic sound that fully revealed itself on Steel Wheels. The first glimpse was either Had It With You or Party Doll.

Did Mick devote attention to honing his harp chops in the ‘80s? Was it a technology thing? The only time I can recall him speaking much about it was in an interview in which he expressed a preference for Lee Oskar over Hohner.

The change in sound was due the use of running the harmonica through a Boogie amp instead of PA for the first time on the 1989 tour.

Mathijs

I had a feeling this is what shaped his playing during the modern era. Before then his harmonica sound was rather thin but later it had gained some body and you can tell Mick started to play to it. I feel this allowed him to add more subtle details to his playing rather than the wild wailing he used to do.

Nipplegate 1975 ……….



ROCKMAN

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georgie48

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DandelionPowderman

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georgie48

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JordyLicks96

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Rockman


………………. RCA Studio Hollywood California September 1965 ……. photo Bob Bonis

I wonder what song he was playing harmonica to considering he doesn't play any harmonica on DECEMBER'S CHILDREN.

It's interesting that you take December's Children as example. In fact that album was a kind of "left over" selection (I love the album though). Out of Our Heads was THE 1965 album and you can find Mick playing the blues harp on Spider and the Fly. Brian was the ultimate (read: great) blues harp player, so obviously Mick's contribution was modest in those days. The Stones without, from time to time, a blues harp containing song would be a half filled glass. Mick created a very interesting style of playing the blues harp and it really gives the songs something special.

That one was a «selection», too, as Spider And The Fly wasn't featured on the «real» Out Of Our Heads

Mind you, Mick was blowing his harp on their debut album already. It was pretty 50/50 between him and Brian, wasn't it?

Yeah, the "real" Out Of Our Heads
There will always be the discussion between the Old World and the New World. I'm from the Old World, so everything from the USA was "import" anyway (no offence though, because some USA releases were badly missed in the Old World in the very beginning (12x5, "Now"). Luckily the catching up went fairly quick ... (although in those years a year was a long, long time ).
About the 50/50 between Brian and Mick? I'll have to do some homework .

Just pulling your leg a little, Georgie

Brian was the main harp player in the beginning. However, songs like Little By Little on their debut album show that Mick catched up rather quickly. Different style, though.

The harmonica is such a strong element of the blues music especially for musicians who started playing in the late 50's in England that to decide to use it oustside of that musical structure, and keep it as a cool and edgy musical addition to a song is not easy. An harmonica can sound like an accordion sometimes which evoques more country or traditonnal music.
In the SHine a Light movie there is a clip where Mick plays the melody of Wild Horses on the harmonica while the band plays the song. On can tell that Mick knows his way around the harp even on a song that is not a blues and a song with minor chords and many unusual chord changes.
Keith is a great fan of Mick-theharmonicaplayer; maybe that has motivated Mick to develop his technique even more. Richardsian compliments towards Mick are rare.
Rockandroll,
Mops

Is there any mystery ?

He just got back into it and became better with practice.

An interesting thread. Yeah, it was not just the sound but him learning new tricks as well - although like pointed out above, having an amp of its own probably helped Mick to play more properly - hearing what he is doing...

Funny to think that while trying to update his game to the 80's pop currents and 'following the trends' - as the common 'truth' goes - he at the same time was seemingly seriously rehearsing and updating his blues harmonica technique... That's Jagger - a man of contradictions, impossible to define...

Some years ago I was listening to Jagger's harmonica stuff with a friend of mine who happens to be a classical concert pianist but also a blues harmonica player and teacher - the best one I know in Finland. He really showed me the difference between the old Jagger and the new Jagger as a harmonica player. If a young Jagger basically just relied on his idiosyncratic 'feeling' with very basic, even raw technique (very impressive, though), the older Mick, since the 80's, has much more technical understanding, finesse and variance to the secrets of the instrument. My ears could also hear the difference, but the guy showed in practise how is to be done, and that really impressed me. Surely Mick is no any Little Walter (his biggest hero & influence I guess - listen original "Midnight Rambler"!), but still surprisingly good stuff for a 'willing amateur' (well, is there any other harmonica player in the world who has earned more than him...).

Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if Mick, at the same time as started having vocal coaching, might have taken some lessons in harmonica. Suits to the professionalism he really started taking seriously sometimes during the 80's.

- Doxa



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2020-03-04 15:12 by Doxa.