Ricky Cool interview

Ricky Cool joins me on episode 70.

Ricky hails from the Birmingham area of the UK, and drew great inspiration asa teenager from the American folk festivals which brought some harmonica greats to the city. Under his alter ego Ricky Cool, he went on to lead several successful rhythm and blues band, with Jamaican music also brought into the set. He also played harmonica in a band with Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant! 

Ricky played harmonica and saxophone in most of these bands and this combination of instruments has led to his recent series of excellent YouTube videos called ‘Mississippi Saxophone’. In these videos he picks out some great horn lines and shows how to play them on harmonica.    

Links:

Ricky Cool and the In Crowd:
https://www.rickycoolandtheincrowd.co.uk/

Videos:

Mississippi saxophone YouTube series of tutorial videos:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-ssuQxsIvn_NJy1A12hVyiq4Xb09ZXPj

Ricky’s YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/rickycool100

Ricky Cool and The Icebergs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX4akPiV0Wo

Playing at NHL festival in 1988:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-Wf6X-erO4

Podcast website:
https://www.harmonicahappyhour.com

Donations:
If you want to make a voluntary donation to help support the running costs of the podcast then please use this link (or visit the podcast website link above):
https://paypal.me/harmonicahappyhour?locale.x=en_GB

Spotify Playlist:
Also check out the Spotify Playlist, which contains most of the songs discussed in the podcast:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5QC6RF2VTfs4iPuasJBqwT?si=M-j3IkiISeefhR7ybm9qIQ

Podcast sponsors:
This podcast is sponsored by SEYDEL harmonicas - visit the oldest harmonica factory in the world at www.seydel1847.com  or on Facebook or Instagram at SEYDEL HARMONICAS
and Blows Me Away Productions: http://www.blowsmeaway.com/

Chapters

• 1:30 Cool is a stage name
• 1:40 Ricky is from Birmingham in the UK
• 1:56 Became interested in blues music through the Rolling Stones and Heartbreak Hotel by Elvis and rock ’n roll
• 3:00 Discovered the original blues musicians of the songs the Rolling Stones were covering
• 3:47 Started playing guitar at 13, and harmonica at 15
• 3:57 American Blues Festivals came to Birmingham, allowing Ricky to see some of the blues greats, including Walter Horton
• 4:27 Sonny Terry was the first harmonica player to influence Ricky
• 5:12 Sonny Boy Williamson II was another big influence, who Ricky has a shrine to
• 6:28 Hoodoo Man Blues album by Junior Wells
• 6:44 Mick Jagger’s harmonica playing wasn’t the inspiration to start playing harp, it was the American artists
• 7:20 Jazz concerts were held in Birmingham in the 1960s too
• 8:04 Ricky was compere at Colne Blues Festival
• 8:34 Played harp and guitar on a rack at local folk clubs
• 9:13 Started playing saxophone age 27 but harmonica still Ricky’s main axe
• 10:08 Ricky Cool and The Icebergs was first band with whom enjoyed success
• 12:32 The Ricky Cool alter ego and confidence this gave him to perform
• 15:21 Ricky Cool and the Rialtos, which led to Ricky playing in a band called Honeydrippers with Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant in 1981
• 17:42 Robert Plant was the one who got Ricky started on amplified harmonica, giving him a JT30
• 18:08 Didn’t play any Led Zeppelin songs in band with Robert Plant
• 18:56 Ricky’s next band was The Big Town Playboys, which were influenced by The Fabulous Thunderbirds
• 20:13 Ricky is a teacher in his day job
• 21:43 Harmonica became less included in Big Town Playboys as saxophones took prominence
• 22:20 Top Rankin band, playing some reggae
• 23:25 Current band is Ricky Cool and The In Crowd which plays a combination of rhythm and blues and Jamaican (ska, bluebeat and reggae)
• 23:50 Bringing more harmonica into the songs as one of sax players left the band
• 24:41 Decided to concentrate on harmonica again during pandemic and feature it more in the band
• 25:44 Story behind the line ‘How does the milk get into a coconut?’
• 27:02 Songs using different harmonica, including a Seydel Fanfare tremolo
• 27:55 Solo tuned harmonica used on some State I’m In
• 28:35 Mississippi saxophone series of YouTube tutorials
• 29:27 Where Ricky took inspiration to make this series of videos
• 30:11 Little Walter was influenced by horn players and trying to emulate their sound
• 30:42 Ricky’s road trip to Memphis in 2008
• 31:23 Stayed in a hotel in same room Sonny Boy Williamson II stayed
• 33:36 Back to the Mississippi saxophone series of YouTube tutorials
• 34:05 Lee Morgan’s trumpet part on Moanin’ is the latest video
• 34:38 What is difference between learning from horn lines and from other harmonica players?
• 36:36 What made Little Walter sound like a horn
• 38:50 Hip Couple sax line
• 39:51 Kidney Stew song on alto sax
• 40:21 Blue Gene sax song
• 41:47 The sax series is a good way to discover different saxophone players
• 42:10 Louis Jordan sax solo on Early In The Morning
• 43:14 Horace Silver song Jody Grind and why in third position
• 43:39 Sax solos are typically in unusual keys for harmonica, so Ricky plays them on more common harp keys
• 44:19 Saxes you can only blow so creates natural gaps in the lines, which isn’t always the case on harmonica
• 45:10 Learning to play phrases from sax players
• 45:47 Lucille sax solo
• 45:57 Ricky’s favourite sax solo from the series so far
• 47:17 Ricky’s YouTube channel has other tutorial material besides the Mississippi saxophone range
• 47:30 Has Mississippi Saxophone study videos changed the way Ricky plays the harmonica now?
• 47:39 Playing more Jamaican music at the moment and blues in a duo
• 48:13 10 minute question
• 49:24 Applying licks to backing track is good practise
• 49:52 Ricky is a singer
• 50:44 Re-arranging harmonicas is a trick Brownie McGhee used to play on Sonny Terry
• 51:07 Ricky has often appeared at UK NHL festivals
• 51:23 Harmonicas of choice
• 51:48 Been playing some custom harmonicas recently from Andrew Zajac
• 52:13 Does some self maintenance but customised harmonicas are worth it
• 53:15 Overblows
• 53:46 Different tunings and Reggae on Lee Oskar Melody Maker
• 54:46 Mainly plays 2nd position and some 3rd when playing sax licks
• 55:13 Chromatic
• 55:41 Uses diatonic for sax lines and not the more typical chromatic for jazz playing
• 56:11 Embouchre
• 56:51 Amps
• 57:24 Plays through an Ultimate 58 mic
• 57:51 Effects
• 58:15 Upcoming gigs and more Mississippi saxophone (and trumpet videos to come)