Jerry Portnoy, Steve Guyger and Louis Erlanger join the podcast for a retrospective on Paul Oscher
Jerry was the second white harmonica player in the Muddy Waters band, after Paul Oscher
Jerry and Steve knew Paul very well
Louis Erlanger knew Paul from New York and produced several of his albums
Louis is a non-harmonica playing guitarist who played with the band Mink DeVille, which Paul helped Louis join via an introduction
Paul was born in Brooklyn in 1947 and played various types of harmonica as well as piano and guitar
Paul first heard harmonica when he worked at a grocery store, from Jimmy Johnson, a southern medicine show harp player
Jerry first got to know Paul when he was playing in Muddy’s band
Paul was living at Muddy Waters house in Chicago
Steve first became aware of Paul from the album he recorded with Muddy Waters: Live At Mr Kellys and started seeing him around New York
Steve sat in with Paul and his band, where Paul played a lot of piano
Jerry was at the gig at Mr Kelly’s almost every night
Paul also played guitar at the gig Steve attended, with Paul playing guitar and harmonica when younger, attracting girls
Paul foretold that he would play with Muddy Waters
Paul’s first band was from age 15 with Little Jimmy Mae, and how the blues scene impressed him
Paul was the first white player to play in a major black blues band, and the first white harmonica player with Muddy Waters
Paul joined Muddy’s band after going to see Muddy at the Apollo Theatre in New York, sat in with the band when Big Walter didn’t show up
When asking to join his band, Muddy said to Paul: “Can you travel” (asking Jerry the same thing when Jerry later joined Muddy’s band)
First day touring with Muddy’s band there was guns and liquor and Paul knew he had arrived on the blues scene
As the first white harmonica player in the Muddy Water’s band made Paul a trailblazer for white harmonica players
Jerry says Paul was unique as a musician: with great touch, feel and time on every instrument he played
Picked up the real authentic Chicago blues from being in the Muddy Waters band
Time was a critical element to Paul, which is something he picked up from Otis Spann
Jerry talks of how he regretted never having played with Otis Spann, who trained the harmonica players in Muddy’s band
Joined Muddy’s band in 1967, age 19, stayed in Muddy’s basement in Chicago, sharing it with Otis Spann
Was in Muddy’s band from 1968-70, and then for another short stint
Paul and Jerry both went to Muddy’s funeral
Was on Board of Director’s working on turning Muddy’s Chicago South Side into a museum, The Muddy Water’s Mojo Museum
Paul did a concert later with Muddy, but as the piano player, and Bob Dylan showed up, with Muddy calling him John Dylan
Dylan asked Jerry to join his band for the Rolling Thunder tour but Jerry decided to stay with Muddy’s band
Paul left Muddy’s band due to ill health
Steve got to know Paul when he moved to New York after leaving Muddy’s band
Was playing under the name Brooklyn Slim when he moved back to New York, and played harmonica, guitar and piano, and even vibes. He could play any instrument and was a natural
Paul brought a white audience to the black clubs of the New York blues scene
Steve regularly drove from Philadelphia to New York to see Paul play
Toured Europe with Louisiana Red in 1976
Steve also did some shows with Louisiana Red
Through the 1980s and early 1990s Paul got a degree in Criminal Justice, got married and got a day job
Also had a degree in graphic design and created his own album covers, and was a good painter
Released an album in 1993: Rough Stuff, which Louis helped put together
Paul brought in Pinetop Perkins and Willie Smith for the Rough Stuff album
1995 released The Deep Blues of Paul Oscher album
Knockin’ On The Devil’s Door album came after Rough Stuff
1999 did an album with Big Bill Morganfield (Muddy’s Waters son)
Steve recorded with Paul, including the album from 2000: Deep In The Blues
Louis has some more recordings of Steve and Paul which he plans to release soon
Steve learnt how to play some songs from Jerry playing with Muddy
Have Mercy song has Steve and Paul playing harmonica together
Steve pays tribute to John Lee Williamson
In 2001 married Suzan-Lori Parks, who is a playwright, with Paul influencing one of her plays which went on to win a Pulitzer Prize
Paul knew some great card tricks
Louis was working on a book about Paul called Alone With The Blues, but it may not get finished
2003 album with Hubert Sumlin: About Them Shoes, was nominated for a Grammy
2004 album Alone With The Blues: a solo album, as was the 2005 Down In The Delta album
Was doing more one man shows at this time, and played Juke on a rack, and probably made his own mic for that
Also used a foot pedal and was very particular about his sound set-up
Paul was a big influence on a lot of musicians, including Steve and Jerry
Down In The Delta album won an Acoustic Artist of the Year award and an Acoustic Album of the Year award at the 2006 Blues Music Awards
The need to always leave the tape running during a recording session
Moved to Austin, Texas, in 2011, where he inadvertently became neighbours with James Cotton
Last album was Cool Cat in 2018, which was quite jazzy
Paul always had a strong interest in jazzy blues
Paul died in 2021 from the Coronavirus
2024 album release: Live At The Tombs Detention Center, NYC - from 1980s, which Louis released, really shows what Paul was all about live
Jerry had to leave the interview before the end, so final words about Paul from him, and how Paul will feature heavily in the book he has coming out in 2025
Paul didn’t consider himself a singer but kept on singing after trying it in a club once
Some of the awards Paul received for his music
Recorded plenty of chromatic harmonica, which he started early in his career
Co-wrote a tune with famous rapper Mos Def, and Paul thought rap music was modern equivalent of the blues
Paul claimed to have come up with the idea of the low F harmonica after suggesting it to Hohner
Gotta Go Now song which Steve and Paul recorded together
Embouchre was mainly tongue block
Amps and mics: had numerous, one of which was Gibson Skylark
Made extensive use of the bass harp
Every note he played was intended
Last thoughts on Paul from Steve and Louis
