Harmonica on “The Airport Song”?

[stephena]

Does anyone know what kind of harmonica Gene played on “The Airport Song”? The obvious answer (to this non-harp player, anyway) is that it is an E-harp, but a friend of ours says that it is easier to play the B-to-A bend on an A-harp. Then again, for all I know it might even be a chromatic. Can anyone help this Byrds tribute band?

[jimk]

I suppose that it's possible that it could be a chromatic harp....but I doubt it. After giving a listen, I'm not even sure he's playing in something other than first position. But on the other hand, I'm not much of a harp player, either.

[teb]

A to B (at least on a Blues Harp in the key of A) isn't really a bend, it's an exhale/inhale thing. However, if you inhale lightly on the B, you can pretty easily bend it down to B flat or a bit lower and then bring it back up by increasing the suction - which sounds very similar to the stuff he was doing on those long droning B notes. The parts that I could hear clearly were all accessable on the A harp, though on a couple of the more jazzy passages I couldn't hear the harp clearly enough to tell exactly what he was doing. It doesn't sound like a chromatic. Those things always have kind of a Stevie Wonder tone, that you don't get on this tune. I can't say for sure that it was an A Blues Harp, but for the parts of the tune where it's clearly audible, it would do the job with a little practice.

[vynesmusic]

Does anyone know what kind of harmonica Gene played on “The Airport Song”? The obvious answer (to this non-harp player, anyway) is that it is an E-harp, but a friend of ours says that it is easier to play the B-to-A bend on an A-harp. Then again, for all I know it might even be a chromatic. Can anyone help this Byrds tribute band?

This is an honest question from someone who sees alot of dead brain cells on his pillow when he wakes up

Can you tell me/remind me which album had "The Airport Song" on it?

Was it Gene's own album or a Byrd compilation?

Thanks

[godber]

Does anyone know what kind of harmonica Gene played on “The Airport Song”? The obvious answer (to this non-harp player, anyway) is that it is an E-harp, but a friend of ours says that it is easier to play the B-to-A bend on an A-harp. Then again, for all I know it might even be a chromatic. Can anyone help this Byrds tribute band?

This is an honest question from someone who sees alot of dead brain cells on his pillow when he wakes up

Can you tell me/remind me which album had "The Airport Song" on it?

Was it Gene's own album or a Byrd compilation?

Thanks

Nice little tune that.
The YT blurb says "The Airport Song is a pre-Tambourine Man demo from 1964 that eventually found inclusion on the Preflyte Album release at the end of the decade. Written by Crosby and McGuinn; David sings the lead while Gene Clark plays harmonica."

[stephena]

Thanks so much, everybody! Our percussionist had expressed interest in the harmonica* part to this song, and after what teb said, I went to The Texas Music Emporium in Houston (yes, it's a plug) and picked up a Lee Oskar A-Diatonic model. Of course, now Alison (our percussionist) wants to do more harmonica songs. My mind is kind of blank now (you are not the only one with dead brain cells, vynesmusic!) - did the Byrds ever again use a harmonica? Our band doesn't yet do anything later than "The Notorious Byrd Brothers".

* Somehow I cannot seem to call it a harp. It feels kind of pretentious when I'm not a blues player.

[janglebox]

My mind is kind of blank now (you are not the only one with dead brain cells, vynesmusic!) - did the Byrds ever again use a harmonica? Our band doesn't yet do anything later than "The Notorious Byrd Brothers".

Set You Free This Time, She Don't Care About Time (alt version), Captain Soul.

[stephena]

Of course! Thanks, janglebox! We're doing "She Don't Care About Time", but not the harmonicasized version... or at least, not yet. I've always wanted to do "Set You Free This Time", and I can't believe I forgot the great harmonica part. "Captain Soul"... well, I don't see us doing that, but who knows?