Date: Thu, 16 Jan 2003 11:45:53 EST From: Hallerm~ol.com Subject: How about them Cowboys?
I mean the hard riding cow punching cowboys of the 1880’s and 1890’s. How many of them played the harmonic around the campfire in the evening, after a long day in the saddle?
If Hohner started shipping many more harmonicas to America starting in the 1880’s, we can imagine that many more cowboys were tooting on ‘em than those Blues and Grays of the Civil War.
In one of his books, David Harp mentioned that there is documentation showing a few specific songs were played around those campfires. I don’t recall all of the songs on that short list, but Buffalo Gals, Old Paint and Taps were on the list. (Where did I put that book?)
David suggested that Taps was a natural carry over from the War, as many of the cowboys had been soldiers. Some of those cowboys had sailed the Atlantic. What European folk songs could they have brought with them? How about songs of the sea they may have learned from sailors as they sailed westward?
An interesting part of harmonica history that I have read very little about.
