HARMONICA NIGHTS

This is an easy-listening album of mostly well-known tunes, recorded in Auckland in 1990. I was asked to do it by James Moss as a condition of releasing my self-financed album of mostly original stuff, State of the Harp, on his label Jayrem Records. When James shopped SOTH around in the industry, people he spoke to liked it, but advised him that if he wanted to make any money out of me, I should record an album of hit song tunes. It was a style of music and a concept I hadn't thought of before, but with the carrot being the release of SOTH  (my labour of love), and a debt to pay off, I gladly accepted the deal.

As it turned out, it was fun to do, and I learned a lot - not least that James' commercial instincts were spot-on: SOTH  got the good reviews and kudos from musicians, but Harmonica Nights outsold it by a factor of 10-1! It was licensed to Disky Records in Europe and Festival in Australia/NZ.

TRACKS: Download Single MP3s (instant!) or Buy CD

CD

^{Buy ALL Tracks}

^{1. I Know Him So Well}

^{2. Baby Can I Hold You}

^{3. Stand By Me}

^{4. Cavatina}

^{5. That's What Friends Are For}

^{6. I Just Called To Say I Love You}

^{7. Hepburn Days}

^{8. Shenandoah}

^{9. Dawn to Dusk}

^{10. I'll Be Right Here Waiting For You}

^{11. What a Wonderful World}

^{12. The Music of the Night}

^{13. Three Irish Tunes}

^{14. How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You}

^{15. Albatross}

H A R P S

All the tunes except Albatross are played on customised chromatics, retuned Hohner 270s in different keys with Lexan bodies that I routed out from solid blocks in about '86. They lasted till a house fire in London in 1992 destroyed most of them! I still have a few, but don't play them these days, preferring modified CX12's mostly. Albatross  was I think played on a retuned, half-valved Huang Silvertone. When it's well set up, the Silvertone is a tasty harp.