Other web Sites
Harmonica Blues  Harmonica Amps
Harmonica Links Harmonica Pages
• Archives Home
• Years
 · 1992
 · 1993
 · 1994
 · 1995
 · 1996
 · 1997 		 · 1998
 · 1999
 · 2000
 · 2001
 · 2002
 · 2003
 
Web HarpL
Ebay Searches:
Amps:
Microphones:
Effects:
Harmonicas and Gear:
Harmonica Music and Instruction:

 

 

Harp-L Archives

[Previous Message] [Next Message]
[Previous in Thread] [Next in Thread]
[Start of Thread] [End of Thread]

Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2001 10:40:08 -0700
From: Tom Ball
Subject: RE: John Lee Williamson Amplified?

Chris asked:
I have seen at least one pic of who I believe to be John Lee Williamson
cupping a bullet mic. I've gone through the two major Sonny Boy I sites and
have found
no reference to his ever having recorded amplified. Any info?
___________________
You're right, Chris, there are a couple of photos like that. Intriguing,
eh? But John Lee Williamson had been dead for over three years before the
first recordings were made by anyone playing in the "new" amplified manner
- -- Little Walter on Muddy Waters' recording session of July 11, 1951,
which
produced the songs "Country Boy," "She Moves Me," "My Fault," and "Still A
Fool," (the latter featuring Walter on guitar.) One can only speculate as
to whether Williamson might've made the transition to the amplified style
or whether he would've stuck with an acoustic style. According to Billy
Boy Arnold, Williamson was just beginning to use such amplification at club
dates when he died in '48.

In the photo of Sonny Boy I on the cover of Document DOCD5057, he is
plainly cupping a bullet mic, and what appears to be either an amp or a
small PA speaker is visable just behind him. Of course it is impossible to
guess what his playing sounded like that way, but it certainly appears as
though he's playing in the 'new amplified style'...

It's unknown what might have constituted that amplification -- was it an
amp or a PA system? One thing to remember is that early PA systems were
significantly different than they are today - even movie theaters typically
used 5-watt McIntosh amps to power (efficient) speakers. The vocal mics
may have been crystal bullets, the systems themselves would've been
tube-driven, and the cabinets probably consisted of a couple of 8" or 10"
speakers. In other words an ideal set-up for harp, if terrible for vocal.

What's more, during those early years some singers and harmonica players
simply played and sang through small guitar amps rather than through a PA
system. Amps were more portable and cheaper, I guess. If the only
consideration was to get louder, an amp would've been a more economical and
convenient choice. But the resultant tonality of the harp (and of the
vocal) would've become more distorted and nasty, even if the player was
actually striving for a clean tone...

Re: the mics, John Lee Williamson died in 1948, and during his era there
was little difference from one PA/performance microphone to the next --
certainly nothing like the situation that exists today. In that performance
photo, he's cupping what appears to be an Astatic bullet, and there is at
least one other (different) photo of him playing into a different bullet
mic on a stand. I wouldn't bet my life on it (in fact I'm not even sure if
they made them yet,) but the mic on the stand in that second photo looks
very much like an ElectroVoice 630.

Bottom line: none of John Lee Williamson's recordings featured harp blown
through an amp; but he was evidently playing that way at live gigs -- at
least sometimes.

- -Tom Ball
Santa Barbara