Friday, February 24, 2006

James Harman- Motel King



















He's checked out.

James Harman is the single most underappreciated artist in roots music. It's criminal that only the niche blues audience is aware of his incredible harmonica playing, his rich Southern voice, his incredible band and their dynamic live performances. And as heard on this song from 1991, Harman's recordings just feel more alive than most blues documents. Harman's also a thinking man's bluesman. Most of his releases have a theme, such as gambling, eating, or in the case of the out-of-print Do Not Disturb, life on the road. Every traveler can appreciate the sentiment behind "Motel King." Fans of John Doe, the Blasters, and Los Lobos would be doing themselves a favor by jumping on the Harman bandwagon. There's plenty of elbow room on board.

2 comments:

bgo said...

I told you I would come knocking on the door to your mp3 blog and here I am. Glad to see you have James posted. I exchange emails with Harman now and then. He has always been real cool with me.

Hey Bill, email sometime (or telephone) if you want to go to Mike's Tavern for a pitcher of beer and some food. I need to get out more again.

Bill O

Happy In Bag said...

Moose! Ixnay on using my real name! Email me at happyinbag@gmail.com and we'll set something up soon.