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My special thanks to Harry who gratiously gave me permission to, in his own words "use any of my files and include me on your site in any manner you choose." I hope you draw as much pleasure from this concert as I have had producing it.
Of course, as with every concert, we open up with the national anthem.
National Anthem
America the Beautiful.. (Don Carroll)
The American National Anthem
Ah ! Memories....... Shreveport, Louisiana. November '46. The State Fair was then in full swing and among the musicians performing with Harmie Smith's band was a young lad of 16 named Harry Todd.
How do you select 15 'top' numbers for this concert from a list of over 100 'top' numbers? Not an easy task. I would like to open this special concert with one of my favorites, as played by Harry. I have heard many versions of Kawliga. This one takes top honors!
What I appreciate most about Harry's music is the total lack of 'gimmicky, artificial sound'. It's pure. Just plain nice music as it comes out of the guitar, so to speak. If you are fortunate enough to hear this concert through a good stereo sound system, the following two numbers will prove my point. Plain good pickin'.
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A little black bird swooshes by........ Bye bye, blackbird...... !
An alltime favorite... Blue Moon. This nice number has it all. A little guitar here, a little trumpet there... and, most appropriate at this time of the year.... did I detect a few opening bars of a well known Christmas tune...( at 1min 20 sec into the tune, to be precise). Ah well... hear for yourself....
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What a nice beat! You have not reached the second bar yet and already, you're tapping the beat. You can't stop your feet .... Close your eyes.... you are part of the Jam Session. And the beat goes on... and on.... Guitar playing at it's best.
You have the beat.... don't lose it. Here's .. " I'm working on a building" and "Busted". Listen to that bass in the background. Now the head is keeping with the beat too! Oy!
Here's an old folk ballad Harry played with Harmie Smith and the Ozark Mountaineers in the forties, at about the time this concert was taking place.... cybertime, of course. Ah memories.....
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The next two numbers 'speak' for themselves. And eh! don't forget to dim the lights low...
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Visit Harry's page for more of his great music! right here and, please, take a minute and tell him how much you enjoyed his music.
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Next Concert
This concert would not have been possible without the gracious contribution of Harry Todd. Thank you Harry for making your music available to the Internet community.
Prior to making this concert public, several good cyberpals graciously agreed to 'critique' it and submit their ideas, correct my mistakes and offer suggestions. My sincere thanks to Mill, Joanne, Joyce, Sherri, Pogo, Hans and Robert for their help.
