Now You Can Talk About Me

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Now You Can Talk About Me album cover
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Total Tracks: 14   Total Length: 45:37

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John Morthland

eMusic Contributor

John Morthland has been writing about music since the days of electronically rechanneled stereo and duophonic sound. His name has darkened the mastheads of Roll...more »

04.22.11
Harmonica innovator’s jumping sides from the ‘60s and ‘80s.
1998 | Label: Blind Pig Records / IODA

This shamefully undervalued harmonica whiz and (briefly) Muddy Waters sideman, is another Delta refugee who spent most of his career in L.A. Playing the more complex chromatic harp favored by jazz and classical musicians, Smith took Little Walter a giant step further; instead of blowing horn lines, he emulated a whole horn section by playing two notes at once but an octave apart. Thus, he's arguably the last man to advance the blues harmonica sound. His impassioned baritone voice complements his metallic, vibrato-laden harp on these jumping sides from the ’60s and ’80s.

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Outstanding!

Greested

Smith says it all on Blowin' the Blues: "Now you can talk about ME." The things this man does with a harmonica are not to be believed. Download Now!

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They Say All Music Guide

Now You Can Talk About Me collects mid- and late-period Smith, with the harmonica genius’ ’60s sides for the microscopic imprint Sotoplay sampled on the first five cuts. The remainder of the album is from a 1982 session for the Murray Brothers label with Rod Piazza behind the board, which produced the Boogie’n with George album. Also included are the previously unreleased “Last Chance” and a powerful instrumental slow-burner. Junior Watson shines on guitar on these tracks and Smith’s tone is big, fat, rich, and full of ideas galore on tunes like “Bad Start,” “Astatic Stomp,” “Sunbird,” and the title track. But Smith’s use of a chromatic harp will strike most blues mavens as something unique and out of the ordinary, as he tackles such standards as “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” and “Peg o’ My Heart” with considerable élan, imparting both with a bluesy feel that Jerry Murad & the Harmonicats could only envision. If you like great blues harmonica playing, you’re going to love Now You Can Talk About Me. Add Smith’s name to the list of all-time greats near the top with this one. – Cub Koda

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