Inexpensive archtop, priceless music

[Howard Emerson]

Written in 1932 by Thomas A Dorsey after the death of his wife in childbirth, "Take My Hand Precious Lord", just flowed out his despair.

Here is one of the most amazing examples of overcoming hardship, and doing it on a budget.

It's also a great example of how loud these painted, pressed archtops could easily hang with a huge voice.

Blind Connie Williams, live c.1961



HE

[L50EF15]

Compelling. And a further demonstration that all kinds of music can be played on archtops. I have read that some people believe Robert Johnson used a Kalamazoo archtop for at least some of his recordings.

Is that a Harmony? I have had a couple of them, the H-950 Monterey. One was a mess, but still had an interesting sound. I part traded it for another one of the same model that was mint. Nice instruments if you can find them in good condition.

[upsidedown]

Fingers on his left hand must have been hard as polished stone! Unless I need 3 pairs of glasses, he's not using a slide.

[Howard Emerson]

Originally Posted by upsidedown

Fingers on his left hand must have been hard as polished stone! Unless I need 3 pairs of glasses, he's not using a slide.

Actually he is using a slide, but it's a ring on one of his fingers. It's easier to see on the black and white Youtube video, although it's not really obvious either way.

HE

[ericwall]

Forget the left hand. The right hand is amazing (even if out of sync). No fingerpicks! I can only imaging how bad the action was. Amazing display of virtuosity. Reminds me a lot of Rev Gary Davis.

[PineMarten]

Originally Posted by L50EF15

Compelling. And a further demonstration that all kinds of music can be played on archtops. I have read that some people believe Robert Johnson used a Kalamazoo archtop for at least some of his recordings.

Is that a Harmony? I have had a couple of them, the H-950 Monterey. One was a mess, but still had an interesting sound. I part traded it for another one of the same model that was mint. Nice instruments if you can find them in good condition.

I think there's a little guesswork as to what Johnson played on the recordings - Johnny Shines who travelled with him recalled him owning an archtop Kalamazoo, and one session in particular sounds like it could be that.

[cayuga red]

Originally Posted by Howard Emerson

Written in 1932 by Thomas A Dorsey after the death of his wife in childbirth, "Take My Hand Precious Lord", just flowed out his despair.

Here is one of the most amazing examples of overcoming hardship, and doing it on a budget.

It's also a great example of how loud these painted, pressed archtops could easily hang with a huge voice.

Blind Connie Williams, live c.1961



HE

One of the greatest live recordings. Magnificent!

[Keith Lee]

That was great, thanks for posting

Ought to be used in one of those "What I sound like in my mind" vs "What I really sound like" comparisons