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Date: Wed, 3 Apr 2002 21:47:31 -0500
From: "Chris Stovall Brown"
Subject: Re:4th Position/Little Walter

Hi all,

This is my second post tonight to harp-l but I gotta jump in here on
this thread! I've listened to a fair amount of Little Walter in my days.

Glenn W. writes
big snip here

>I don't believe Little Walter ever recorded in any other postion but the
first
>three. Had he done so I would have figured it out. If you think he recorded
in a
>fourth postion, tell me what the cut is. I suspect the position he used
would
>have been what is now known as 5th position, but that's just a hunch.

Well, Glenn, let me offer for your aural examination a song I've
explained/defended to more than one harp player-"That's It".
In this tune by Little Walter, which is played predominantly in the
"approved nomenclature" of 3rd position, at 1:48 Walter switches from the Bb
diatonic he's been playing to a 64 Chromatic with the button pushed in. The
song is in C and Walter is playing in what is called, once again in the
"approved name/circle of fifths nomenclature", 6th position. Now most harp
players I've spoken with that are familiar with this tune think that Walter
just grabbed the wrong key harp and I'll admit that his note choice in this
position is a little questionable, but he's definitely playing a fourth
position, as opposed to the 3 positions that you claim are the only ones
you've heard. By way of further explanation to defend my position, take a
listen to "Monkey on a Limb" by George Smith, whom I've always considered
Walter's superior when it comes to blues chromatic. The tune is in B minor
and George is using a C chromatic in what's now called "popularily" 6th
position. Obviously George had the benefit of 15+ years of time in making
his recording and his note choice on that tune is tastefully eloquent, but I
maintain that this is what Walter was trying to do in his one chromatic
chorus (in 6th position-which he probably considered a fourth position?) on
"That's It"!
"And that's the other half of the story".

Best,

Chris Stovall Brown

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