Hello folks,

Information about this is available from the horse's mouth, in an interview on the Cyril Davis web page. find it here

http://www.cyrildavies.com/Barber.html

Roger Trower (who he?) says to Chris Barber: "I have the recordings you made in 53-56 with Ken Colyer and your own band which have been released on Lake. They included your harmonica blues solo with Lonnie Donegan. It was recorded at the same times as the Backstairs Session EP which came out on Nixa on 1955. What introduced you to the harmonica as something you wanted to play…was it from a visit to Chicago?"

Barber replied: "What interested me in the harmonica was the records I had of Sonny Terry, Sleepy John Estes, Jazz Gillum and Sonny Boy Williamson I, etc. We did not have anybody among the band who played harp so I had a go at it. Of course, I didn't know about the sucking to produce bent notes so it doesn't sound really bluesy - so I gave up the attempt."

My own copy of the "Backstairs Session" EP is long gone. I recall only one track on it featuring harmonica, the blues "In the Evening". It sounded as though the player was using a chromatic harp, and getting the blue notes with the slide, rather than by breath control, which tallies with what Chris says in the interview.

Mystery solved?

Wassail!