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A true double whammy
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A view from the reedsMickey Raphael’s harmonica odyssey with Willie Nelson and FamilyBy S.D. Henderson
It’s not hyperbole to frame Raphael’s career in the context of epic mythology, especially in Texas, and especially given the figures that set the wheels in motion almost fifty years ago. You see, Mickey Raphael grew up in Dallas hanging out at folk club’s like the Rubaiyat off Maple Avenue seeing local luminaries like Ray Wylie’s Three Faces West and Michael Martin Murphey in the formative parts of each of their careers. At this point, the harmonica was still just something to carry around in your pocket, as Raphael relates, “When I was a kid, I always had one, I just kind of carried it around just doodling with it, I wasn’t playing with anyone, but I always carried one.” The moment
To be fair, the cold and stormy night was just artistic license, but all the other facts check out. Mickey buckled down, and really taught himself to play and started sitting in with bands and musicians around town. He was working with B.W. Stephenson playing gigs and refining his skills across the state. Raphael’s reputation as a harmonica player grew out of those circles eventually leading to the ear of another titan of Texas history and mythology. You have to understand a little about Texas history in the 1970s to get the full magnitude of the following events. Both Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston were by this time, quite dead. Nolan Ryan had only thrown two no hitters and was still playing in California. Darrell Royal closed out the sixties and opened the seventies with football championships at UT, enshrining him in the pantheon next to, or just ahead of both Houston and Austin. Willie was then, and remains to this day, Willie Nelson. One-night Darrell Royal, a huge music fan himself, called Raphael and asked him to come to the team hotel after a game in Dallas for a “little picking party” with some friends. Raphael recalls, “Coach asked me to bring my harmonica and said ‘I’d like to meet you’ so I get there and it’s Willie Nelson and Charlie Pride and other guys passing the guitar and singing songs.” After playing around the room, and meeting Willie formally, Nelson extended an invitation to Raphael to sit in with him whenever he was in town. Sitting in settled in to playing together for the next forty-five years. The family has changed over the years, some passing away others stepping aside, but Raphael has been a steady original presence from the beginning of the longest chapter of Nelson’s music. It’s an interesting footnote in liner note history that the two most prolific figures in outlaw country recruited their harmonica players from Dallas. Mickey Raphael has played on almost every single project and tour Willie has undertaken for the past four decades. Don Brooks’ stint with Waylon Jennings, both on tour and in the studio, was shorter, but both players were at the epicenter of the movement from inception to zenith.
As an instrument, the harmonica is different from almost any other. At first glance, it seems limited, confined to one key and generally possessing a more limited range than other instruments, but in the hands of a masterful player and with a small box of other pieces it’s almost limitless. Raphael was attracted early to the lure of his instrument. He added, “It’s something you can carry in your pocket. It’s portable, and it becomes a part of you. It’s such a personal and expressive instrument.” The harmonica has been employed most dramatically in two lines of American music tradition. It’s been a powerful voice in both blues music and folk music, two distinctly American music forms; each requiring a depth and personal connection to the song. Blues players get more attention, painting with much broader strokes; but folk players use the instrument to create a plaintive environment for expression. Raphael definitely comes from the folk tradition, influenced by an amazing lineage of players before him; by session legends like Charlie McCoy and folk and crossover artists like Jimmie Fadden of original incarnation of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
Signature styleHis signature style is tailor made for expression and evoking a mood within the context of the song and has always matched Nelson’s wide exploration of mood and tone. To play with Willie you have to be able to stretch beyond genre and make it your own, and that requires a deft hand and equally dexterous musicianship. You can hear Raphael’s unobtrusive accompaniment tie many of Nelson’s works together throughout his discography. When pressed, Raphael picked some albums to highlight some of his historic collaborations. He said, “Teatro, definitely, and I didn’t play much harmonica on that one, is one of my favorites. Across the Borderline and of course, Stardust. And I really love My Way, I loved working on that album.” People with an ear for the elements that hold roots music and country music can appreciate the sensibility and virtuosity that Raphael brings into the studio and on the road. It’s no surprise that artists on the vanguard of traditional music and songwriting have sought Raphael out during downtime touring with Nelson. Raphael chooses his projects and collaborates around touring and session commitments, for which there is no shortage. Raphael said, “Now I’m doing some dates and records with Chris Stapleton” who mines from a very similar vein of traditional song craft. The next time you listen to a Willie Nelson album, or see him play live, pay close attention to the interplay between Mickey Raphael and Willie Nelson. Note how effortless it seems to breathe out the music, even as breath becomes a challenge for the elder statesman. When you listen, close your eyes and listen for the backdrop of the harmonica subtly setting the tone in a world increasingly devoid of subtlety. Things like that don’t occur by accident, they are forged in the mythology of Texas. The opportunity to see it in person, like all other things, is limited, but the body of work endures. This particular chapter hasn’t been fully written. Although Darrell Royal has joined Sam Houston and Stephen Austin; and University of Texas football is now but a sad shadow and afterthought, there’s one remaining legacy that Royal sparked away from the gridiron, and it might be my favorite. Picking up the phone and calling Mickey Raphael over to play with Willie Nelson is a lasting contribution in the annals of Texas music history. Back To Top |
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Tenth Annual Harmonica BlowoutBy Brian “Hash Brown” Calway I feel the harmonica is just as “vital to the blues as the guitar, yet it does not get enough attention,” declared KNON DJ Mark Pieczynski, better known as “Sonnyboy Mark.” “This has been my project since the beginning,” he elaborated. “This annual event started as a relatively modest affair, using only local blues artists. Since then, it has grown into one of KNON’s top-selling shows each year, either selling out completely or close to it. “We are mighty pleased to be hosting the tenth anniversary of this event. Some of the past headliners have been swamp blues star Lazy Lester, Muddy Waters sideman Paul Oscher, West Coast blues harp giants James Harman and R. J. Mischo, and Texas blues kings Mike Morgan and the Crawl featuring Lee McBee. All world-class harmonica stars.”
A cheap affordable instrument that can be carried in one’s pocket, the harmonica has had many nicknames “mouth harp,” “tin sandwich,” “tin whistle,” and “mouth organ,” just to name a few. No one knows for certain who actually invented the harmonica. The roots of the harmonica go back to ancient China. The sheng featured bamboo reeds that you blow into, and it became prominent in Asian traditional music. The modern harmonica was invented and developed in the early 19th century in Europe by Johannes Richter. It used brass reed plates, and he also added a draw note plate below the blow note plate. In the late 19th century, Mathias Hohner further refined the instrument into today’s 10-hole diatonic harmonica. With the advent of mass production in the 1870’s, the Hohner company started an aggressive overseas marketing campaign. In a short space of time, Hohner was shipping millions of harmonicas to America. By 1900, half of the harmonicas made in Germany were sold in the United States. The harmonica became very popular in blues and popular music in the 1930s and 1940s, through players such as Deford Bailey, Noah Lewis, Jazz Gillum, and John ‘Sonny Boy’ Will-iamson. The popularity of the blues harmonica continued to grow throughout the first half of the 20th century. After WWII, Chicago became a major center for blues, with such great harmonica players as Snooky Prior, Walter Horton, Rice Miller, Junior Wells, and the great ‘Little’ Walter Jacobs. Since then, the popularity of the harmonica has remained steadfast in blues music. “This will be our 10th annual harmonica blowout show,” Sonnyboy Mark continued, “and we are looking forward to it.”” This year’s show features the E-flat Porch Band (duo), the Super Kings, the Harrington-Clark band (featuring Grammy winner Paul Harrington), Houston’s Texas Johnny Boy with Christian Dozzler (duo), the Dallas Blues All-Stars (featuring Mike Morgan and Hash Brown, both of whom have appeared at every blowout) and New Orleans’ favorite son, Johnny Samson. Back To Top |
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A talented collaborative effortThe South Austin Moonlighers’ new Travel Light, a collection of compelling story songsBy Jan Sikes Inside the acoustic room at The Guitar Sanctuary in McKinney, ready to conduct a quiet interview with The South Austin Moonlighters, the first band member comes through the door. Daniel James oohs and aahs over the vast collection of guitars hanging on the wall, grabs one, plays a sizzling riff, then puts it back on the wall, turns around and says, “I’m just the drummer.”” This set the tone for a lively interview with The South Austin Moonlighters.
“We were playing at South by Southwest eight years ago, and someone just mentioned that we should get together and jam sometime,” recalled Lonnie Trevino. “So we agreed, thinking nothing would ever come of it, but it did. Then I booked some gigs at the Saxon Pub, and those were pure practice sessions. Three years later, when we brought Chris Beall in, it really legitimized the band. We decided this was something serious and really, really good, and it took off from there.” And where did they come up with the band name? Phil Hurley answered. “We were all working in other bands at the time. So with a new project, we’d be moonlighting.” Their new album, Travel Light, was produced by New Orleans songwriter Anders Osborne and recorded at a destination studio in Maurice, Louisiana. When I listen to any new record, there are certain tracks that stand out to me, and it always has to do with the words. That is very much the case with Travel Light, a collection of compelling story songs. Chris Beall, along with Amy Hooper, composed the title track. “I’ve never been very good at writing fiction. I have to have a personal connection with the things I’m describing,” explained Chris. “So with “Travel Light,” Amy and I sat down and essentially wrote what was happening in our lives.” “I think one of the things that Chris is so good at,” Phil added, “is the ability to tell something extremely personal and yet somehow give it a universal meaning that anyone can relate to.” That describes almost every song on this album. I knew there had to be a story to go along with “Machine Gun Kelly.” “Danny Kortchmar (famed L.A. session guitarist, songwriter and producer) wrote that song,” said Chris. “I wish I had written it. Our record label president heard us playing the song live and wanted us to include it on this album.” One song that Chris did write is the compelling “Dug Down Deep.” “It’s about my dad. He was a motorcycle racer, and he was badly injured in an accident when I was three. The doctor came out to tell my mom that he was deceased when they suddenly got a pulse. So it was this progression every step of the way. They said he’d probably never come out of the coma, but he did. Then they said he’d never be able to walk again, and he did. So it’s all about digging down deep and finding that well of strength to overcome anything.” “Daylight Again” closes out Travel Light with a fusion of harmony that the South Austin Moonlighters are well known for. “This is a song that Crosby, Stills, & Nash closed each set with back in the day,” said Phil Hurley. “We loved it, so Lonnie looked around and found a version with more verses. It is very provocative, kind of a civil war story that we knew we had to approach differently. It was early one morning in the studio. Chris picked up this beautiful little parlor guitar that belongs to Anders Osborne, and I grabbed something else, and we started playing and singing, and it came together on such an incredible level.” I had the pleasure of watching the South Austin Moonlighters perform inside the beautiful venue that is Guitar Sanctuary. While it was a joy to meet and interview this talented group of men, witnessing the magic they make on stage climaxed the entire experience. If you have a chance to catch a live show, I highly recommend it. If not, pick up this new album, Travel Light, and be prepared for pure entertainment. Back To Top |
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Record ReviewWillie Nelson
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