Following the death of his grandparents, and while still a teenager, Floyd began working as a clown and musician on the carnival and medicine show circuits. His circus skills are said to have included fire-eating, hypnotism and make-up artistry. He performed as a bogus Hawaiian, and specialised in nonsense talk and farmyard noises, leading to some 30 years of hoboing that would generate his frequent boasts that he never spent two nights in the same place.
He learned many types of folk music and became a mimic, effortlessly switching from humorous hillbilly ballads to deep country blues. With his self-taught harmonica technique, he was a one-man band, able to play the instrument without his hands or the need for a neck brace. While also playing guitar, he perfected a technique of manipulating the harmonica with his mouth while he sang out of the other side. He could also play harmonica with his nose and thus play two harmonicas at once, a skill he shared with blues harp players Walter Horton and Gus Cannon's partner Noah Lewis.
He began working in radio in 1932, and cut a few sides for Chess Records in 1951, the most notable of which was "Swamp Root." He cut the ultra-primitive "Rockin' Chair Daddy" for Sam Phillips' Sun Records in 1954, becoming the first white musician to record at the studio. "Rockin' Chair Daddy" sounded like a song and recording straight out of the country blues era of the 1920s, but it had just a tinge of what would eventually be called rockabilly, and one can imagine Phillips wondering what would happen if he could find a young, good looking white guy who could sing this kind of stuff -- enter Elvis.
Harmonica Frank's songs appeared on many all-black blues compilations in the 1960s and 1970s, collectors being unable to distinguish his race. In 1972 he was "rediscovered" by Stephen C. LaVere and in the following years recorded two albums for the Adelphi and Barrelhouse labels, including a compilation of the early material. Additional full albums were recorded before his death in 1984, many of which have become available on CD, though his vintage recordings (1951–59) remain mostly out of print and unavailable aside from occasional tracks on compilations.In his 1975 book Mystery Train: Images of America in Rock 'n' Roll Music, author Greil Marcus presented a unique vision of America and music, and how they relate by using (as metaphors) six musicians, one of whom was Harmonica Frank.
Floyd never abandoned his archaic, medicine show-derived style, and when the folk revival hit, he found himself in demand again. He continued to perform and record occasionally right up until his death in Blanchester, OhioH, on August 7, 1984 due to complications from Type II diabetes (which had previously cost him his leg) and lung cancer.
An American original, his life linked the medicine show tradition to early rock & roll, and there are precious few who could ever make that claim.
(Edited from Wikipedia, AllMusic & Mustrad.org)
For “Harmonica Frank Floyd – Rock A Little Baby (2009 Cactus)” go here:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.imagenetz.de/iS7Q7
1 Rock A Little Baby
2 Rockin' Chair Daddy
3 Swamp Root
4 Step It Up & Go
5 Howlin' Tomcat
6 The Great Medical Menagerlst
7 She Done Moved
8 Goin' Away Walkin'
9 Shampoo
10 Mosquito Bar Britches
11 Blue Yodel #6
12 Movement Like An Elgin
13 Knothole Blues
14 Tour De Floyd
15 Blue Yodel #1
16 Moonshiner's Daughter
17 Shoop-A-Boop-A-Doodler
18 What Are You Squawkin' About
19 Deep Elem Blues
20 Sittin' On Top Of The World
21 From Memphis To New Orleans
22 It Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo'
23 Sweet Farm Girl
24 You Don't Know My Mind
All recordings taken from Sun, Chess and F&L sides
For “Harmonica Frank – The Great Original Recordings Of Harmonica Frank (1951-58) (1974 Puritamn)”go here:
https://www.imagenetz.de/cXzJa
1. Rock A Little Baby 02:36
2. Swamp Rat 02:30
3. Howlin' Tom Cat 02:46
4. Goin' Away Walking 02:33
5. Step It Up And Go 02:15
6. Great Medical Menagerist 03:03
7. She Done Moved 02:46
8. Monkey Love 02:21
9. Rockin' Chair 02:58
10. Howlin' Tom Cat (Version 2) 02:43
Above compilation LP was reissued as an mp3 album by Mississippi Records in 2016 and found on the usual streamers.
Thanks! Although I happen to have these two albums already , since I'm a pretty big Harmonica Frank fan, I'm pleased to see you've chosen to feature this wonderfully idiosyncratic exemplar of American "roots" music.
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