Mouth Organ Blues

I’ve wanted to play harmonica since I was a child. Not enough to actually learn it, mind you, but the desire is buried somewhere in me. 

From the time I started taking piano lessons from Eleanor Oxley in the basement of Flesher House of Music I wanted a harmonica of my own. I would ogle the mouth organs in the display case at the front of the store while I waited my turn under the tutelage of Mrs. Oxley, whose name indicates she was about 108 back in 1974.

I wish I had pictures of that shop to share — it was my candy store. There were horns of every description, drums, pianos, electric organs, sheet music and musical accoutrements galore. But what captured my imagination most was the Hohner harmonica display case, from the tiny Hohner Mini Harp to the classic Hohner Marine Band model all the way up to the double-sided Echo Harp. I wasn’t so interested in the Melodicas in the bottom of the case back then, but I’m rather fascinated now that my memory is jogged.

Anyway, it was around that time that my cousins offered to give me one of their harmonicas. But some sense of pride prevented me accepting the proffered gift — I’ll save and buy my own, I told them. Alas, it never happened. My interest waned.

Years later I came into possession of several of the instruments, all of which linger lonely in a box in the attic, longing to be played. First I was given a couple by my friend Keith Flesher when I helped empty his parents’ music store when they closed up shop in 1996. Then I inherited a couple more when my grandfather died. I have one in G, a couple in C, an Echo Harmonium. I think I passed along a chromatic (the kind with the push-button slide to change the key) to my now ex-father-in-law. 

All this has nothing to do with today’s run, during which I found nothing on the road or in the ditch worth salvaging. But a couple weeks back I did happen upon an inspirational find while biking to work. There in the road lay a record album. The cardboard jacket was face-down on the pavement and at first I ignored it. Curiosity slapped the back of my head and I wheeled around to check it out.

There for future listening pleasure — for the disc is in fine condition — was the Columbia stereo recording of “Peg O’ My Heart” by Jerry Murad’s Harmonicats. The title song was the 1947 hit that catapulted the group to stardom.

“In the late Forties, the Harmonicats created a world-wide sensation with their infectious performance of this beloved old song,” reads the album sleeve. The trio of Jerry Murad, Don Les and Al Fiore must have been a big deal in their day — at least with aficionados of harmonica music: “They were the first harmonica players to be admitted to the American Federation of Musicians.”

Anyway, you can find their music on YouTube and iTunes.

I am pretty sure this resembles the display case at
Flesher House of Music back in my piano days.

Today's Stats (May 27, 2015)
Temp: 79 degrees F
Distance: 2.53 miles
Weekly Total: 2.53 miles
Treasure: Nothing.

iPod Playlist (Melissa’s Mix):
The Grand Illusion - Styx
More Than This - Roxy Music
The Lie - Matthew West
Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own - U2
You’re Only Human (Second Wind) - Billy Joel
Let Your Light Shine - Keb’ Mo’
Against the Grain - Garth Brooks