#terry harmonica bean

[musiconspotify]

Super Chikan & Terry Harmonica Bean

From Hill Country (2020) … to Mississippi Delta Blues …

#SuperChikan #TerryBean

[dustedmagazine]

Jimmy “Duck” Holmes & Terry “Harmonica” Bean — Twice As Hard (Broke & Hungry)

In the taxonomy of blues partnerships, interpersonal volatility is often a sign of commensurate quality in output. Bluesmen Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee fought with each other frequently during their 40-odd years together as a stage duo. Hound Dog Taylor and Brewer Phillips regularly came to blows between and during gigs. Both duos produced some of the finest post-war blues available over the course their careers.

Mississippians Jimmy “Duck” Holmes and Terry “Harmonica” Bean fit right into this paradigm with an on-gain-off-again professional relationship that dates back seven or so years. Introduced to each other by producer and Broke & Hungry Records proprietor Jeff Konkel, the two haven’t always avoided acrimony, but the self-referential Twice as Hard reveals a durable compatibility when it comes to the business of rolling out their personal variations on hill country blues.  

The swaying rhythm to Paul “Wine” Jones’ “My Baby Got Drunk” forms the basis to Holmes’ “Wake Up, Woman,” and while the lyrics are minimal, Bean’s modulating harp is right on target gliding across another propulsive, protean beat by Vick. A cover of John Weston’s “Park Your Car” and the originals “Lonesome Church Bell” and “Raise That Window” give Holmes other opportunities to demonstrate his prowess on acoustic strings, with some extended picking on the first punctuated by harp commentary from Bean.

A nod to another Mississippi son comes on a spare rendering of Muddy Waters’ “She Moves Me,” where Bean channels his inner Little Walter, wailing on harp between verses while Holmes offers muted giggles and a tapping foot from the sideline. It’s back to amplified guitar and Vick behind the kit for the juke joint-ready “Broke and Hungry” and “Cheating and Lying Blues”.

Throughout the album, Holmes and Bean are unapologetically feeding from a familiar trough, but they’re also staying true to their idiom’s chief tenet: If you’re going to borrow, make it your own. On that score, they certainly succeed. And despite a few subjective missteps it’s a pleasure being privy to the results.  

Derek Taylor