Jeffrey Carp
American harmonica player

Jeffrey Carp
Carp c. early 1970s
Carp c. early 1970s
Background information
Born(1948-07-06)July 6, 1948
New York City, U.S.
DiedJanuary 1973 (aged 24)
OccupationMusician
InstrumentHarmonica
Years active1960s–1973
Musical artist

Jeffrey M. Carp (July 6, 1948 – January 1973)[1] was an American blues harmonica player. He was best known for his work with Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, and Howlin' Wolf. He played harmonica on numerous charting blues albums. He was also for a period of time, a side man in Earl Hooker's band.

Early life

Carp was born in New York City.[1] As a teenager, he led the Jeff Carp Blues Band, a group that included violinist Joel Smirnoff.[2][3]

Career

Carp joined Sam Lay's band[4][5] with guitarist Paul Asbell and the group recorded three songs for the LP Goin' To Chicago, released in 1966 on Testament Records.[6]

Among the artists recorded with were Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf. He played on albums If You Miss 'Im ... I Got 'Im by John Lee Hooker and The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions by Howlin' Wolf.[7][8] A prodigy, he was said to have played beyond his years.[9][10]

He also recorded with Muddy Waters, Earl Hooker,[4] John Lee Hooker,[11] The Soulful Strings,[12] Patti Drew, and Marlena Shaw.[citation needed]

He appeared on the 1969 Muddy Waters album, Fathers and Sons.[8][13]

In April 1969, he was at the recording session for Fathers and Sons by Muddy Waters. Other musicians present were Paul Butterfield, Mike Bloomfield, Paul Asbell, Otis Spann and Donald "Duck" Dunn.[14][5] In May, 1969, he played on the Lightnin' album by Lightnin' Hopkins which was produced by Chris Strachwitz.[15][16] Also that month, he played on Earl Hooker's Funk album. Carp also contributed vocals to the album.[17] Carp had actually been sitting in with Hooker for while from late 1968 to early 1969. After some of Hooker's side men left, Carp and guitarist Paul Asbell were brought in as band members. Carp filled in the missing ingredient for the group that had come about due to Carey Bell's departure.[18]

In May 1970, along with Howlin' Wolf, Hubert Sumlin and Chess Records producer Norman Dayron, Carp travelled to London for a recording session.[19] He was playing at London's Olympic Studio, in the recording session that took place between the 2nd and 7th of that month which would result in Howlin' Wolf's London Sessions.[8][20]

Critics and producers described him in superlative terms. A reviewer of the reissued London Howlin' Wolf Sessions said "the late Jeffrey Carp provided fireballs of musical punctuation via his blistering shots on harmonica."[8] Norman Dayron described him as "the most important talent I've worked with".[21] Writing about a live concert by Earl Hooker in San Francisco in 1969, a reviewer said, "Mouth harpist Jeff Carp ... is magnificent - for my money better than Paul Butterfield (more musical, more inventive)".[4] Rolling Stone wrote of Fathers and Sons "talking about harmonica playing, there’s superlative chromatic work by Jeff Carp ... he does a hell of a job".[5]

Carp is also credited as the composer of "Bring Me Home", sung by Tracy Nelson as the title track of the 1971 Mother Earth, Bring Me Home album, on Reprise Records.[22][23]

Death

There are only two people alive today who actually know what happened. I am one. Jeff and his wife Scarlet and her daughter Natasha and Jeff's best friend Steve Klee were living in Key Caulker with a little boat called the Lion R. A Pacific Ocean racer called the Escudero stopped there and agreed to let them to join and head out with them into the Pacific Ocean. From Key Caulker they went in the Escudero to the Panama Canal. The two separate groups did not get along well. A drug dealer from Panama came aboard the boat for a New Year's Eve party. Unfortunately, a more important boat arrived for New Year's Eve and the Escudero was moved to the edge of the canal. Whatever drugs they were consuming caused one of the girls on the boat to die from convulsions and one of the other sailors stabbed Steve . Everyone except Jeff jumped overboard and swam to a nearby boat which refused to allow them to board. They then swam to another boat which allowed them to come aboard. The captain of the Escudero helped Jeff climb into a small boat behind the Escudero. One can assume that Jeff hoped to get in the small boat and row to where his family and friends were. The owner let go of the rope holding the boat. Unfortunately, the boat only had one oar and it could not be rowed. It was swept out to see by the current and Jeff was never seen again. January 1 found Jeff dead, Steve in jail and Scarlett and Natasha being followed everywhere by the Panama police. Some kindly British sailors helped Scarlet and Natasha sneak out of Panama and eventually Steve got out of jail. He came back to Chicago and became a multimillionaire with a seat on the stock market. Unfortunately, he died high with a needle in his arm. Scarlet founded a firm which consulted in building better prisons. She later passed from cancer. Jeff was 24 years old.[24][21]

Discography

References

  1. ^ a b "Jeffrey Carp". Allmusic. Retrieved January 1, 2024. Born: July 6, 1948 in New York, NY; Died: January 1973.
  2. ^ The Library of Congress Presents a Season of Chamber Music at the National Academy of Sciences - Page 5 JOEL SMIRNOFF
  3. ^ The Guinness encyclopedia of popular music, Volume 1 - Page 86
  4. ^ a b c Elwood, Philip (May 15, 1969). "Blues on Hooker's Guitar". San Francisco Examiner. San Francisco, California. p. 30. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
  5. ^ a b c d Rolling Stone, May 24, 2001 - Album Reviews, Fathers and Sons By Pete Welding
  6. ^ Thoughts on the Blues, Tuesday, 22 August 2017 - Jeff Carp, the harmonica maestro - Part 2
  7. ^ The Encyclopedia of the Harmonica, By Peter Krampert - Page 33 Carp, Jeff
  8. ^ a b c d e North, Peter (March 22, 2003). "Reissued London sessions something to howl about". Edmonton Journal. Edmonton, Alberta. p. E3. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
  9. ^ The OC Weekly, March 12, 2013 - How Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf Gave England the Blues
  10. ^ 50 Licks: Myths and Stories from Half a Century of the Rolling Stones, By Peter Fornatale - Page 137
  11. ^ Bush, Ricky (February 5, 2010). "Back In The Day: Don't Mess With The Hookers".
  12. ^ a b Macaulay, Allen (January 25, 1970). "Record Roundup - The Soulful Strings". The Record. Hackensack, New Jersey. p. 24. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
  13. ^ "Howlin' Wolf: The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions". Thebluecafe.co.uk. January 24, 2016. Archived from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
  14. ^ Michael Bloomfield: The Rise and Fall of an American Guitar Hero, By Ed Ward, Billy Gibbons - Date: April 22, 1969
  15. ^ Lightnin' Hopkins: His Life and Blues, By Alan B. Govenar - Page 281 Discography
  16. ^ Mojo Hand: The Life and Music of Lightnin' Hopkins, By Timothy J. O'Brien, David Ensminger - Page 207
  17. ^ Earl Hooker, Blues Master, By Sebastian Danchin - Page 361
  18. ^ Earl Hooker, Blues Master, By Sebastian Danchin - Page 270
  19. ^ Sun Records - Howlin’ Wolf, Biography
  20. ^ Moanin' at Midnight: The Life and Times of Howlin' Wolf, James Segrest, Mark Hoffman - Page 373
  21. ^ a b c d Selvin, Joel (August 22, 1976). "A Producer Recalls Recording in An 'Intense, Frightening Scene'". San Francisco Examiner. San Francisco, California. p. 39. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
  22. ^ "Bring Me Home - Mother Earth | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
  23. ^ "Vinyl Album: Mother Earth - Bring Me Home (1971)". 45worlds.com. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
  24. ^ Black, Johnny (July 16, 2020). "What happened when Howlin' Wolf hooked up with rock royalty to make an album". Louder Sound. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
  25. ^ Wagner, David F (September 14, 1969). "Idea great, album just very good". The Post-Crescent. Appleton, Wisconsin. p. S4. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
  26. ^ Rudis, Al (May 29, 1970). "Where You Been So Long, Earl Hooker?". Press and Sun-Bulletin. Binghamton, New York. The Press-Chicago Sun-Times. p. 44. Retrieved March 27, 2019.

Further reading

  • Article mentioning Carp's mysterious death
  • Review of If You Miss 'Im... I Got 'Im with reminiscences from Carp's music teacher and fellow students
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