Country Harmonica

Due to my early interest in country and bluegrass harmonica, I ended up playing on several albums by New Zealand country singers in the 80's (Patsy Riggir, Howard Morrison, Brendan Dugan etc).

As a result, in 1983 Erroll and Ginny Peters asked me to do a harmonica instrumental album of country tunes. They had been to Nashville, and bought a whole swag of pre-recorded backing tracks intended for singers to record over. The tracks had the lot: rhythm section, piano, guitars, pedal steel, solos - and even pre-recorded backing harmonies! The idea was to substitute the harmonica for the lead vocal, and release the result as an instrumental album. It was a chance to work on a solo album project in the studio for the first time, so I set to work learning a whole lot of country classics and arranging them to fit the backing tracks. I enjoyed the challenge, as it really stretched my technique and knowledge of the harp.

Everything would have been great except for those accursed backing vocals, as the songs were pre-mixed to-two track and they couldn't be removed. So the harmonica would be flying along in some flurry of notes, and then in came those Nashville chicks doing their oohs and aahs! Kind of distracting during the recording process, but they give the finished product an endearing kitsch quality all its own.

This album was only ever released in New Zealand in 1984, on cassette in a small batch, and no more were made. It's available from me on CDR (the cover is a scan of the original cassette artwork).

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1. Rocky Top 2. Elvira 3. San Antonio Rose 3. Hello Walls 4. Sunday Morning Coming Down 5. I'm Movin' On 6. My Shoes Keep Walkin' Back to You 7. I Believe in You 8. Candy Kisses 9. Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down 10. You Needed Me 11. Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line

All the harmonicas used on this album were custom-tuned 11 hole half-valved diatonics in my Power Regular-Breath Tuning.
The main element of the tuning (two sixth chords a tone apart) is also in my PowerChromatic and PowerBender tunings.

I first created Power Regular-Breath Tuning in about 1978, retuning normal 10 hole harps with files & solder.
The 11 hole harps as played on Country Harmonica were first made in 1980, and I used them for about 10 years.
(You can hear one on my State of the Harp album from 1990, on the Charlie McCoy tune New River Gorge.)

I made many variations of Regular-Breath, but here is the tuning I used most on the "Country harmonica" album:

I made the 11 hole harps up myself from two Hohner Special 20 bodies stuck together, with
various brand reedplates attached. They were roughly made but worked well (hear the clips!)

In addition to their unique tuning and size, these harps were the very first half-valved diatonics.
They also show the first use of Blu-Tac as a reversible retuning method, now commonly used.

POINTS OF INTEREST From the Photos Below
1. Primitive reedplate attachment method (I had yet to discover self tapping screws!)

2. The first use of Blu-Tac as a quick re-tuning method. You can see a reservoir on
the blow reedplate and bits on some of the reeds. It was good for fine tuning, and
allowed me to switch tunings quickly and easily (eg. lower/raise the 7 blow a tone)

3. Thin beads of Blu-Tac were also used to attach and seal the extra reedplate bits.

4. Use of the raised 5 and 9 draw (see light coloured ends from filing), to get the Maj7th
in Cross Harp. That variation of Regular Breath Tuning is the one used on the album.

5. Along with my other 10 hole harps and chromatics, these harps were half-valved
"Country harmonica" is the world's first recording with half-valved harmonicas.

My harp case from the early 1980s, with a full set of 11 Hole harps in Power Regular Breath Tuning.
Note the use of Half-Valving: it was pioneered on these harps and first recorded on this album.

Various covers on the 11 hole harps. Most were Hohner, and all combs were made from Special 20s,
but I made some using the early Suzuki Folkmaster reedplates with welded reeds (right).


The harps had some innovations common today: holes in the ends of the covers for a brighter sound, and flattening the backs of the coverplates for better projection. Of course, they're rather old and bent now!

To get the Power Regular-Breath Tuning, I sliced the Blow reedplate at hole 7 and inserted an extra reed (either
the same as blow 6 or a tone up). The draw reedplate stayed intact but had an extra reed added on hole 11.