Jeff Carp, the harmonica maestro - Part 2

Jeff Carp during the recording session for Earl Hooker's album Don't Have To Worry, 1969

My previous post about Jeff Carp can be found here.

The point of this second post on Jeff is due to the fact that recently I have come across more of his recorded output and wanted to share it with the internet so people can appreciate him more.

Updated, complete, discography (to my knowledge) -

1966 - Goin' To Chicago (compilation)

Jeff recorded 3 songs with Sam Lay's band - Tell Me Mama (Originally done by Little Walter), Walking By Myself (Jimmy Rogers) and I Can't Be Satisfied (Muddy Waters).
The band -
Sam Lay - vocals
Paul Asbell - guitar
Jeff Carp - harmonica
Boots Hamilton - piano
Geno Scaggs - bass
Billy Davenport - drums

Jeff's playing is great on all three of these tracks, even more so considering he was only 18 years old at most and it would have been the first time he was in a recording studio. On Walking By Myself, he recreates Walter Horton's harmonica solo from the original record pretty much note for note which shows his incredible skill at such a young age.

April 1969 - Fathers and Sons (Muddy Waters)
Mentioned in previous post.

1969 - String Fever (The Soulful Strings)
Mentioned in previous post.

May 1969 - Mammoth recording session with Earl Hooker's band resulting in the albums I Got 'Im If You Miss 'Im (with John Lee Hooker, already mentioned in previous post), Don't Have To Worry (With Andrew Odom as a featured vocalist) and Funk - The Last of the Great Earl Hooker.
The band -
Earl Hooker - guitar and vocals
Andrew Odom - vocals
Johnny 'Big Moose' Walker - piano, organ, vocals
Paul Asbell - guitar
Jeff Carp - harmonica, vocals
Geno Scaggs - bass
Roosevelt Shaw - drums

This band had such a great groove.

Don't Have To Worry is a brilliant album with some great tracks on it. It's an album which shows that Jeff knew how to be an excellent accompanying player as well as highlighting his skills on chromatic harmonica on three of the tracks - Blue Guitar, Moanin' and Groanin' and Come To Me Right Away, Baby.
Even on the diatonic, his skill is shown on tracks such as The Sky is Crying where he provides rhythmic fills and trills to add to the overall sound of the song. In fact, he keeps this up throughout all the songs he appears on - all apart from Hookin', You Got To Lose, Universal Rock and Don't Have To Worry.
Overall, this album is great!

Funk is exactly what the title says - the last songs Earl Hooker recorded. He was backed by the same band as the previous album but Andrew Odom doesn't contribute vocals.
Even though it is pretty much straight ahead blues, as opposed to the funk the title suggests, it is a showcase of the guitar genius of Earl Hooker. The fact that Jeff plays harmonica on it is just an added bonus!
It isn't just Jeff's playing which is great - on Ball Game on a Rainy Day, Jeff sings, the only time he was recorded doing so, as far as I'm aware. His singing voice is reminiscent of another young white blues harmonica player from around the same generation of Jeff - Paul Butterfield, a legend in his own right. Had Jeff not died in the boat accident detailed in my previous post then who knows where he could have got to, not only as a harmonica player but as a frontman and vocalist?

EDIT - MORE STUFF JEFF PLAYED ON!

1969 - Wild Is Love (Patti Drew)
Jeff also played on a few songs on pop/soul singer Patti Drew's 1969 album Wild Is Love, contributing blues harp to a surrounding similar to his work with the Soulful Strings earlier in the year. Both songs I heard Jeff play on are where he does so while playing amplified.
On Beggar For The Blues Jeff's amped harp is busy behind the vocals but not over the top, showing skill in all three octaves.
On Hundreds and Thousands Of Guys the entire song is cool and funky, helped a lot by Jeff's harp playing. This song shows his individuality playing behind the funky main riffs of the song, proving harp and sax can mesh, not only in blues.

These are the only songs YouTube allowed me to listen to - it is a real shame that much of what Jeff played on is so obscure!

1969 - The Spice Of Life (Marlena Shaw)
Jeff played harmonica on the first five tracks on Marlena Shaw's album The Spice Of Life, decidedly adding some blues spice to the funky soul tracks.
Woman of the Ghetto is the first song Jeff appears on. He enters the scene at around around 3.50, with some high, piercing first position to announce his arrival. He plays acoustic harp on this song, as he does on the next three tracks. With the use of some hand wah-wah effects while playing low end first position he displays his influence - he sounds remarkably like Walter Horton!
Call It Stormy Weather is an adaptation of T-Bone Walker's Call It Stormy Monday, and Jeff's acoustic harp is in the spotlight on this track. It is probably the most he has contributed to a song on this session and he acquits himself very well, adding trills and his own unmistakable sound.
Where Can I Go is a Latin-tinged funky tune where Jeff bubbles under the main body of the song. The song itself, to me at least, has a Tom Jones feel to it, not too dissimilar to songs like Delilah. Jeff's harp contrasts with the electric organ to create an interesting mix.
The final song Jeff plays acoustically on is I'm Satisfied. At 53 seconds, Jeff plays some high end first position notes, then at 1 minutes 40, he goes down to the low end. At this point, he's adding little fills when Marlena stops singing. Then towards, the end, he sounds like Walter Horton again, while his playing is the forefront of the song while it fades.
I Wish I Knew (How It Would Feel To Be Free) is a gospel inspired number and the final song Jeff plays on. It is the only one that he uses a mic and amplifier on. He plays at the very start of the song, announcing himself. The rhythm is inspired by gospel arrangements and interestingly Jeff's mournful harp contrasts very well with the joyous rhythm and subject. Again, he's displaying excellent accompaniment while letting his own sound shine through. This final song is an interesting mix of blues, funk and gospel which comes together perfectly.

Jeff's session work on this album, and indeed Patti Drew's album as mentioned earlier, show his incredible ability to fit traditional blues harmonica sounds to a different setting and still manage to stand out with his own individual sound.

1970 - The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions
Mentioned in previous post.


There are other sessions that I am aware Jeff played on, with Lightnin' Hopkins. However, I've not heard anything from and I can't seem to buy them anywhere. If anyone has information on these sessions and material, let me know!

Most of this material is pretty rare and hard to find. I was lucky enough to find what I did through the website discogs.com where you can find almost any record, cassette or CD. I'm not on any form of commission to say that, it's just a great website! I'd urge you to give it a go if you want to find any of the material I've referenced here - although, be warned. Because this stuff is so rare and obscure don't be surprised if it's pretty much impossible to find.

Selected links

Here's Jeff's vocal with Earl Hooker, Ball Game on a Rainy Day -

An example of Jeff's chromatic playing, with Andrew Odom on vocals, Come To Me, Right Away Baby -

Is You Ever Seen A One-Eyed Woman Cry and Look On Yonder's Wall (Big Moose on vocals on both) -

The Sky Is Crying and Moanin' and Groanin' (Andrew Odom on vocals on both, the second number has Jeff playing chromatic) -

Jeff playing with Patti Drew on Beggar For The Blues -

Jeff accompanying Marlena Shaw on the gospel-inspired song I Wish I Knew -

Here is a YouTube playlist of all of Jeff's playing that I could find.

I hope all who read this think the same way about Jeff as I do - that he is a lost genius in blues harmonica circles. I also hope that post goes some way to fill in some gaps in terms of his recorded output.

See you next time!