Yippee ki – yay!

A recent acquisition to the collection from a Brisbane second hand dealer was The Lone Star Rider Hohner Harmonica. Not really in my wheelhouse (except for the the price), but I was having withdrawal symptoms having not acquired any Aussie ‘Arps for some time.

I remember when I was young and the world had just begun having a cowboy outfit with six shooter in the holster, hat and sheriff’s star – may have even had a mouth organ. There’s a photograph somewhere. I always felt I should have been born back in the olden days. The Lone Ranger with his trusty horse Silver was a go to on the Telly as was Gene Autry too, but who was Steve Larrabee? It was the actor Roy Green.

Hate Pill – Kevin Borich with Ross Wilson

I can see from the old watchtower right from wrong in the wings of willpower. Don’t wanna lose myself, there lies the meaning in empathy to calm the tides for equality. Don’t wanna lose yourself, don’t swallow that hate pill getting lost in that overkill, love wins and it always will.

Hate Pill – Kevin Borich

Kevin Borich’s ‘Duets’ album has raced up the Aria charts. Kev sent me his duet with Ross the Boss, Mr Eagle Rock Wilson, Hate Pill for obvious reasons, and it rocks. I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiment, and I try to avoid the news media (have always avoided social media) as they’re detrimental to my mental health. Kev and I had a bit of to and fro on the tune and here’s a taste.

SD: On first listen the last breakdown sounds chromatic. Is there anything you can tell us about the session with Ross? Was it remote and anything about using the harp on it?

KB: I wasn’t there at the session, my producer went down to Ross in Melbourne and they did it at his place. I’d requested to Ross that he should play the harp in the breakdown and was knocked out to hear it done so well ..loved it – then in the solo where I’m playing over a maj7 that’s where in the background it sounds chromatic, but I think he just bent the right notes? Anyway great icing on da cake.

SD: Kev could you tell us about the penning of the tune and nabbing Ross for that one?

KB: Well… watching all the rioting on TV back then I thought, ‘They’ve all taken Hate Pills” administered via social media. Then lyrics came via it’s situation. I’d remembered jamming with Ross at Melbourne’s “Continental” show we did with Wendy Sadingtion, where Ross & I had fun jamming the blues stuff. He also presented a new song of his called “No Soul”, which had a strong political theme, and it was heavy in style, so I thought he may like Hate Pill. Funny ..years later when I went looking for another recorded version of Ross’s “No Soul” I found that it was treated in a very country music style… 🤔😳

On another listen and a bit of a blow it wasn’t chromatic and no there were no bent notes, but two high harps – first phrase is with an F# (cross) and the second is with an E in first position. If you want to hear the rocked up No Soul version head to KB’s store to buy the CD.

What profit it a man to seek wealth
To work from dawn to dusk to fill his moneybelt
To sell his life & labour for mere gold
What profit it a man to gain some wealth but lose his soul

No Soul – Ross Wilson

Mississippi – Mitch Grainger

Mitch Grainger has released another ripper single in both band and acoustic formats. Mississippi doesn’t fail to deliver on either and I can’t wait for his album’s release later this year. I hope there is a vinyl copy (or CD) available for Australia. The single launch for Mississippi was held appropriately at the famous Shack Up Inn in Clarksdale. You may remember Gary Young and Steve Williams honour this amazing venue in song on a previous Dawg Blawg.

Speaking about the upcoming release, Mitch Grainger expressed his excitement, saying, “I’ve always been fascinated by the way the blues transcends borders and connects people across different cultures. ‘Mississippi’ is my personal exploration of that connection and my way of paying homage to the rich blues tradition of the region. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to launch this single in Mississippi itself, where the blues was born.”

Too Old to be a Rockstar – Bohemian Rogue

Sunshine Coast duo ‘Bohemian Rogue’ are; award-winning songwriter Clive Carter on guitar and vocals and Gary Mears on mandolin, banjo and beats. On harmonica for their latest single Too Old to be a Rockstar, is Tamworth legend Lawrie Minson and does his tasty country licks make this tune pop. Clive informs us, “Too Old to be a Rockstar” is a light-hearted, humorous look at my music story, relating to my life of performing and song writing. Almost a nostalgic look, at the same time laughing at myself. Featuring the harmonica playing of Lawrie Minson to help drive the beat, lyrics that tell a true story. My sister said to me “You’re too old to be a Rockstar”, but that can’t be true you’re never too old to be a rockstar. This is an audience favourite at live performances. Most people can relate in one way or another. So, take a listen and a laugh at my expense”.

My Dream Girl – Don Morrison

Aussie troubadour (I think I can call him that) and fellow Royboy Don Morrison has dropped a single of his new album ‘Dirt’ titled My Dream Girl and it’s a cracker. This is back porch, indeed any porch, just how I like my music. I asked Don about the penning of the song and the tunes on the album. Hi Shep. It’s just a song that popped up when I was messing around with that guitar riff. One of those that seems to come out of nowhere and without much thinking about it and when it’s finished you think “where did that come from?”. There’s a lot of songs with harp on Dirt. It’s just me, my guitar and harmonica. Most songs are new and there are a few older songs but all are new (solo style) recordings.

The Westernport (San Remo) – Sunday 16th July

A short twenty minute drive to San Remo on a late Sunday arvo provided us the opportunity to see young gun Rory Phillips play an extended repertoire over three sets in front of a magnificent backdrop. As a former Islander (Cowes), when he was knee high to a grasshopper while his Dad worked on the Desal plant, Rory found himself at home and amongst friends. This environment enabled plenty of banter, especially as he played that Chinese tune (ing) a few times through the evening, which gave chance to taste his humour, wit and cheekiness.

Pam and I sat with two of his greatest fans, grandparents Dave and Carole and we learnt more about this young man’s (old at heart) development. A wise old man once said, “Do what you wanna do and be what you wanna be” (was that Jim Keays?) and Rory certainly is living this mantra.

A couple of encores including a request for his excellent original Because Boys. Earlier he performed a moving rendition of another original, Nothing We Can’t Fix a tune he co-wrote with legendary Allan Caswell paying homage to a long line of Phillips men who were all good with their hands. The kid didn’t let us down all night from Dylan to Powderfinger and all decades/genres in between and we can thoroughly recommend that if he’s in your neck of the woods to go see him live.

The Dargies

Wonny is the capital of Retro, Vintage and Antiques. There are emporiums galore and with it a feast of records. I’ve purchased two long plays (all in really good nick for well under a blue swimmer) – Tom T Hall’s The Storyteller (1972) and The Dargies’ Harmonica Favourites (1974). Tom T’s has the classic Old Dogs, Children & Watermelon Wine, which I’ve featured before on the blog and Charlie McCoy’s harp is all over the album. The other I’ve had my peepers out for some time as I recalled as a teenager viewing their version of Shaft on the Norman Gunston Show and being gobsmacked, and not just for the harmonica playing. A punter has posted the clip over on YouTube – you might see why.

Here’s a little, tasty sound byte below.

Dragon Harmonica?

I stumbled across a Dragon Harmonika (we now believe the I & C are connected) for sale in the antipodes during the fifties in an unrelated search. Thinking it might be a Japanese model I headed to John Whiteman’s Anthology, where a different, very plain Dragon model was sourced that was Deep Purple (Made in Japan). I may have initially sent Guru Pat down the wrong path. Here’s his take. “Never encountered this one. There were a whole bunch of Japanese companies making harmonicas after WWII, often with no maker’s name on them and no unique features that might help identify them. This looks fairly typical for one of those.

I tried a Japanese web search, but all I could find were Tombo harps – Tombo being Japanese for dragonfly. I wondered if we were dealing with two different brands. They look different and the one in the ad is described as “imported”, not specifically from Japan. So I searched for “dragon harmonica” in Chinese, as well as digging through my huge book of Chinese harmonicas. Still nothing.

Of course, “imported” doesn’t necessarily mean Chinese or Japanese. In fact, the one in the ad does resemble a German made harmonica more than a typical Asian design, as best I can tell from the pic.”

Late breaking news!

Just before going to print I received an email from Pat with new information on the Dragon. “Whilst digging around for something else, I found this: https://www.showagakki.jp/. They are mostly known for their “Miyata Band” models, but it seems they also made some with the name “Dragon” https://www.showagakki.jp/130418.html. They started just after WWII, which would put them in the right period for the ad you found, although I couldn’t find one of theirs that looked like the picture.

Locomotive Weave

Locomotive Weave is leaving the Wonthaggi Mine Station, Benoit’s ‘Mountain’ has hit the local charts and a follow up Ol’ Shep single is in the making.

I’ll keep you informed on the progress.

Oh No!

Apologies for some of the older posts recent presentation. I had no idea! They weren’t always like that. WordPress had made changes some time back that affected the template I use. Not happy Jan! There’s more to the story, but that’s for another time. I hope I’ve fixed them all, but if you come across any that have an extremely large picture with distorted paragraphing, give us a yell.

Next Month’s Feature

Next month’s feature is on Alf ‘Duck’ Fletcher a Crackajack endorser. If you missed last months on Ernest Hosking a Boomerang endorser, here’s a quick link – 🪃.