John-- JWfH
John Harrelson
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www.johnharrelson.com
Male
58 years old
United States
Last Login: 7/10/2009
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Mood:
discontent
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John-- JWfH's Interests
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| General | Military history, the Algebra of Emotion, Fate--
Gigs, Girls, and Guitars-- | | Music | From the Committed, the Communicators, the Commentarians--Look through my Picture Gallery--Wolf, Butter, Dolphy, Taj, Sam Lay, and, of course JWfH. Read my Blog... I'm about Music--the sound, the meaning, the truth. | | Movies | An Affair To Remember, Oh, Lucky Man, Casablanca, Pulp Fiction | | Television | news and trash | | Books | Faulkner, Carver, Shakespeare | | Heroes | Paul Butterfield, Howlin' Wolf, Erwin Rommel, Heinrich Schliemann |
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Apogee Gallery
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John-- JWfH's Details
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| Status: | Single | | Zodiac Sign: | Libra |
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John-- JWfH in your extended network
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John-- JWfH's Latest Blog Entry
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KING OF ROCK, KING OF POP Some more Context-- Part II
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A COUPLE OF FOLKS ASKED-- I'M HONORED TO DELIVER
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I KNOW I'M SLIPPING-- XXX w/Confessing Heart
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ANOTHER UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIAL -- Yeah, it really matters to me
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New CD "Doc H & the Rio Laudanum Cowboys-- and a GIG
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John-- JWfH's Blurbs |
About me:
I ran into someone who is wrapped around that which is/was Howlin' Wolf...we of that pack sniff each other out -- and always with suspicion...fucking limp poseur crapdoodle wimps are wasted time, even as they say "oh yeah, that old, black dude...". Fuck them. And fuck you if you don't get it.
You would be so lucky if, in your lifetime, someone, once, makes love to you with the passion that Wolf bled out in the performance of one song -- "Smokestack Lightnin'", "How Many More Years", "I Asked For Water, She Gave Me Gasoline", "Killing Floor".
I ran into another Wolf howler and he asks me "how do you know all those songs?"
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ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO The Circle knows No End --
E-MAIL EXCHANGE-- 3/4/08
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Mar 4, 2008 7:52 AM
Subject:
RE: Yes and Thank you
John,
Thank you for getting back to me.I saw you and your band play a couple times, once at UCI [May 1rst, '69 w/Led Zepplin] and at the San Andreas Boogie? [Actually the Palm Springs Pop Festival, April 1rst, '69] The experience has never worn thin on my consciousness. Your recent album sounds down and dirty in the best of ways. Are there any film clips of Hard Luck Boy?
Good Luck on all your endeavors and i hope this communique
finds you healthy and smiling. Alejandro Escovedo
*****@***.com
----------------- Original Message -----------------
From: John-- JWfH
Date: Mar 4, 2008 1:34 AM
Indeed, I was the vocalist for Hard Luck Boy-- Send me
your e-mail address and I'll forward you some stuff--
Thank you for the enthusiasm-- I looked at your page
and hope to hear from you-- Where? When? Etc. -- JH
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An Excerpt from John Hiatt interviewing Ben Harper
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BEN HARPER: No. No. It's not. It's light years away. But it's a
very special place in that there is a very strong music scene.
JOHN HIATT: Really?
BEN HARPER: Yeah. There is a huge music scene in the Inland
Empire and Claremont. And so when we speak of influence I
definitely need to bring up those people whose names wouldn't be recognizable but are extraordinary players like Bruce Bishop, John Harrelson, Larry Jackson, Don Gasalicks [sic].
JOHN HIATT: Are these guys still playing?
BEN HARPER: Yeah, they are still playing and they are amazing players and they are some of the first people I was able to see and say this is something very special.
JOHN HIATT: Did some of these guys introduce you to some
more traditional forms of music?
BEN HARPER: The traditional forms of music I was first
introduced to by my family because my mom plays guitar and sings beautifully...
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FROM THE PAUL BUTTERFIELD MISSISSIPPI SOJOURN- 9/07
John Harrelson (www.johnharrelson.com) a real surprise
and treat. John came all the way from CA and we had
met on myspace, having communicated for so long it
was really no big deal seeing him as it felt like seeing
a real old friend……he was a surprise to all…a man filled
with talent and a great voice!!! You must get his CD.
We had the sense we had always known John.
John can really wail on stage, check him out at http://www.myspace.com/john_harrelson
We felt really bad as ones greatest fear in orchestrating
any event is that you will forget to mention someone
or include someone and John was one of those fears
as he had gotten overlooked on Saturday’s jam
but really shined on stage at the Depot Blues Club.
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STILL IN OBSCURITY-- BUT MAKING SOME IMPACT 12/22/07
The candle trick
Tonight you can see Ontario bluesman John Harrelson at The Press in Claremont, no cover charge. (Actually, you can see John Harrelson at The Press plenty of nights, seated at the bar, for no cover charge, but tonight he'll be on stage performing. Capeesh?)
Harrelson, the subject of a column of mine a couple of years back, always puts on a fun show. As he promotes it in his e-mail announcement of the show: "Hear true stories about people you know -- See the 'candle trick.'"
Ah, yes, the candle trick. What Harrelson does is finish his first set with some crowd-pleasing antics on guitar. He plays behind his head. He plays behind his back. And he lays his guitar on the nearest table, using a candle holder as a capo to play slide guitar. It must be seen to be believed.
In fact, you can see it on YouTube.
That's John Harrelson and His Fantastic Band at The Press, 129 Harvard Ave., Claremont, starting at 10 p.m.
Posted by David Allen on December 22, 2007 6:35 AM | Permalink
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FROM THE BLOG OF TIM NAPALM 3/29/08
I defy you to find a better visual definition of rock ’n’ roll. I told the photo’s subject, "Now, THIS photo IS rock ’n’ roll!" It’s my friend John Harrelson, now a much-more seasoned musician and musicologist, with one of his first bands back in the ’60s. As he put it in reply: "Yes, I’m Rock’n’Roll, I’m the rill thang. I was pouring my guts out at that moment, I had a harmonica, a hard-on and something to say-- Thanks for recognizing that." My longtime friend and mentor Alejandro Escovedo bore witness to the man’s powers at the time of this photo, and swears John’s band of the day could have rivalled The Stooges. Which just proves that occasionally, some of the music’s most potent talents fall through the cracks. It ain’t about the fame, baby. It’s about what you can do.
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NEWSPAPER ARTICLE from JANUARY, '06
The legend of John Harrelson continues
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Valley musician goes to extremes to play gig
By David Allen, Columnist
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
He had a show scheduled and his friends were coming, so musician John
Harrelson, a diabetic who'd been in the hospital for 10 days recovering
from the flu and bronchitis, did the only sensible thing.
He took the tubes out of his arms, checked himself out of the hospital after an argument with his doctor, went to the club and performed for two hours as promised.
"My doctor, a wonderful man," Harrelson tells me with a grin a few
days later. "We just didn't agree on the need for me to do this show."
Now that's rock 'n' roll.
Harrelson, a longtime Ontario resident, is a musician's musician. (He's sure not a doctor's ideal patient.)
He can play some 20 instruments. He's performed all around the Inland
Empire, and beyond, for 40 years. Rock, blues, jazz, zydeco, country and more, he can do it all.
A scholar, he has a Ph.D in music history and teaches the subject part time in Orange County. He expounds on likes and dislikes at johnharrelson.com, a lively, cranky forum.
"Pretty much every dime I've ever made has come from music," Harrelson says. "For me it's been subsistence farming, with an occasional good season."
The burly, grizzled Harrelson resembles a long-haul trucker except for the clip pinning back his shoulder-length hair. His voice is a raspy growl.
We meet for lunch in a corner booth at the Press, a Claremont bar and
restaurant and the site of his off-the-deathbed Jan. 28 engagement. A
standing room-only crowd had helped him celebrate the release of his
latest CD, "Streets of Heart and Lust."
If Harrelson has an office, it's the Press. A lot of regulars know him.
A businesswoman comes in for lunch, spots Harrelson and gives him a hug. "It's good to see you!" she says. "It's good to be seen," he admits. On her way out later, she gives him another hug.
The bar's booking agent happens by and asks if he'd like to open for Creedence Clearwater Revisited in a Riverside County casino the next night.
He tells me a solo acoustic blues set like that will probably pay $150. But it's work, so he takes it.
"I opened for Creedence Clearwater Revival three times in the '60s," Harrelson marvels, "and now Creedence Clearwater Revisited is coming
around."
Harrelson was a Chaffey High freshman when the Beatles hit. The would-be poet learned to write songs and play bass guitar.
His band The Southe opened for the Leaves ("Hey Joe") at the DES Hall
in Chino in 1966 and for the Electric Prunes ("I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night") at the Pacesetter in Ontario in 1967.
His next band, Hard Luck Boy, was signed by a booking service, warming up crowds for Janis Joplin, Iron Butterfly, Three Dog Night and, on its first tour, Led Zeppelin.
When Hard Luck Boy broke up in 1969, the hard luck boy turned to songwriting, sideman work, solo performances and producing. He's still at it.
"My hope now is to get more of my songs out," Harrelson says. "I'm 55 years old and pretty beat up."
He had a heart attack at 37, later had a quadruple bypass and says his diabetes is out of control. I notice he's still wearing his hospital bracelet, as well as a bandage on his hand.
As we talk, he occasionally stops to comment on a vintage jazz or pop song playing in the background, explaining its history or speculating on which piano player that might be.
I know a fair amount about music, but it's quickly clear that I know maybe 5 percent of what he does.
Asked his favorite song, Harrelson says it's an impossible question: "My first slot is probably occupied by 750 songs. The second probably has a thousand."
I decide not to ask for his Top 10.
Music is a blessing and a curse. He's never had much money. Relationships don't last because no woman can displace his first love. It's the life he chose, but it hasn't been easy.
"It's bad advice to follow your heart," he says wearily. "But if you're going to do it, do it."Another friend enters. "She's on my album cover," Harrelson tells
me. The photo depicts a guitar and two legs in fishnet stockings.
"Hey, baby," Harrelson greets her laconically, showing her the CD. "Them's your legs."
She yelps in delight and gives him a hug.
Three hugs from two women in one lunch? Now that's rock 'n' roll.
David Allen writes Sunday, Wednesday and Friday, three slaps. E-mail
d_allen@dailybulletin.com
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Who I'd like to meet:
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