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Jerry Murad's Harmonicats were an American harmonica-based group.
The band was founded in 1947. Originally they were named The Harmonica Madcaps and the group consisted of Jerry Murad (chromatic lead harmonica), Bob Hadamik (bass harmonica), Pete Pedersen (chromatic harmonica), and Al Fiore (chord harmonica). In 1947, the group consisted of Murad, Fiore, Don Les on bass harmonica, and Cappy Lafell on Polyphonia. Around 1948 they became a trio, with Murad, Fiore and Les.[ citation needed ]
In 1947, during the record ban, the group recorded the hit song "Peg o' My Heart" for Vitacoustic Records, which spent 21 weeks on the Billboard magazine chart (peaking at No. 1) and sold more than two million copies the first year. It was the first record in history to use artificial reverb.[ citation needed ]
Pedersen and Gail Wallace remained contributors to the group throughout its existence, working on arrangements and occasionally recording.[ citation needed ]
During 1949, when Don Les' father died, the band asked Johnny Thompson to fill in for Les on bass harmonica for a couple of weeks. Thompson went on to play with them at their residency gig at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas in the early 1950s. In the mid-1950s, Les suffered from a detached retina, and Thompson once again took his place until Les was able to return full time later in the decade.[ citation needed ] In 1958, Al Fiore suffered his first heart attack and Bob Herndon filled in for him for several months.[ citation needed ]
In the early 1970s, Don Les left the group and was replaced by Dick Gardner, who stayed with the group for more than 20 years. Other members of the group included the following:
Jerry Murad (1918–1996) (chromatic harmonica) was an Armenian born in Istanbul, Turkey in 1918, and moved to America at the age of 2. He played diatonic harmonicas at first, and took up chromatic soon after. Murad played Hohner 270s and 64s, as well as the Musette, a harmonica made especially for him that replicates the sound qualities of a French accordion. It is featured on their 1960s recording of "Parisienne Fantasy". Murad also played the Hohner Polyphonia (a type of orchestral melodic harmonica).[ citation needed ] He died of a heart attack in 1996. [1]
Don Les (Dominic Leshinski) (1914–1994) (bass harmonica) was born in Lorain, Ohio, [2] with congenital cataracts. He was able to see again at the age of twelve after a "couple of operations," but even as an adult his vision was only about 30% of normal. [3] At one point, he formed his own version of the Harmonicats. The Don Les Harmonicats, which featured Mildred Mulcay (of the harmonica duo the Mulcays) and Lenny Leavitt. They released a Christmas album entitled Christmas with the Don Les Harmonicats.[ citation needed ]
Al Fiore (chord harmonica) was born in Chicago and started experimenting with chord harmonicas at the age of 13. Fiore played the rare old style layout or "reverse layout" Hohner Chord harmonica. He recorded the band's No. 1 hit, "Peg o' My Heart", on this harmonica.[ citation needed ]
Bob Hadamik played the bass harmonica prior to 1946.[ citation needed ]
Leon "Cappy" Laffel (1913–2002) was the Polyphonia player for the Harmonicats in 1947 and 1948. He left before 1950. He can be heard on songs such as "Ritual Fire Dance" and "Always in My Heart". Cappy often played the number 261, 262/263, No. 6 and No. 7 Polyphonia and Chromatica harmonicas.[ citation needed ]
In the late 1950s, Bob Herndon substituted for Al Fiore on chord harmonica while Al recovered from a heart attack. He can be seen with the Harmonicats playing "Peg O' My Heart" and "12th Street Rag", in 1958. As a side note, when Don Les left the group, Bob became Don's chord and harmonetta player with The New Don Les Harmonicats as well as The New Tennessee Philharmonicas with Mildred Mulcay.[ citation needed ]
Hugh "Stagg" or "Pud" McMann briefly toured with the Harmonicats 1967 to 1969. Stagg, being a expert harmonicist, played both Harmonetta and 2nd chromatic for the quartet during this time. Stagg played the Harmonetta solo on "Parisienne Fantaisie" during the group's tour in Canada.[ citation needed ]
Johnny Thompson joined The Harmonicats in 1951 on bass harmonica, but left after a short time.[ citation needed ]
Dick Gardner (bass harmonica) took over for Don Les in 1970 and remained with the Cats for over 20 years. Gardner was the last member of the group that was with the group over a decade.[ citation needed ]
Bob Bauer (chord harmonica) took over for George Miklas in 1985 and after Al Fiore left the group.[ citation needed ]
George Miklas was originally a chord player for the group before leaving the group and returning later to play bass with the group.[ citation needed ]
Al Data played chord with the group in its final days, until Murad's death in 1996.[ citation needed ]
Joe Mass Junior (1953–2018) played chord for the Harmonicats one year, while on tour in California. He was a short-time member, but recorded audio tracks with Murad, and was featured on the Harmonicats' first DVD video performance and the re-release of "Collector's Item", with his brother, J.R. Mass.[ citation needed ]
Brother to Joe Mass Jr., Jerry "J.R." Mass played the bass harmonica for the Harmonicats one year, while on tour in California.[ citation needed ]
Danny Wilson left his job at General Motors to work with Murad around 1971. A bass harmonica player and longtime member of the SPAH organization, Wilson toured with the Harmonicats. However, he left shortly after joining. He, according to his archived website, was also with the Harmonicats for a stint in 1978.[ citation needed ]
Charles "Buddy" Boblink played chord with the group throughout the 1990s and until Murad's death in 1996. Buddy Boblink died in 2023, just months before the annual SPAH Convention - of which he was a member.[ citation needed ]
Pete Pedersen was the main arranger for the group and remained the second chromatic player for many albums over the band's nearly 50 years of recording.[ citation needed ]
Frank Warner filled in at times playing the bass harmonica.[ citation needed ]
Despite never being an official member of the Jerry Murad Harmonicats, Chris Bauer performed on stage with the Harmonicats with his father, Bob, and Dick Gardner on bass. He also appeared on the Jerry Murad's Harmonicats Magic album, as the second chromatic player. On the 50th anniversary of "Peg O' My Heart", Dick Gardner, Bob Bauer, and Chris Bauer recorded a small six-song album.[ citation needed ]
Their 1947 recording of the song "Peg o' My Heart" (Mercury Records, originally on Bill Putnam's Universal Records and then reissued on Vitacoustic Records, catalog number 1) [4] brought them public attention and sold over one million copies by 1950, reaching No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard chart. [5] When recording engineer Bill Putnam recorded the song, he utilized the bathroom of Universal Recording as an echo chamber and became the first person to use artificial reverberation creatively on a pop recording. [6] [7]
Other charted hits for the group included "Hair of Gold, Eyes of Blue" (No. 15) in 1948, "Charmaine" (No. 21) in 1952, and "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White" (No. 56) in 1961. Jerry Murad, accompanied by Richard Hayman's Orchestra, had a solo hit with "The Story of Three Loves" (No. 14) in 1953.[ citation needed ]
The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica include diatonic, chromatic, tremolo, octave, orchestral, and bass versions. A harmonica is played by using the mouth to direct air into or out of one holes along a mouthpiece. Behind each hole is a chamber containing at least one reed. The most common is the diatonic Richter-tuned with ten air passages and twenty reeds, often called the blues harp. A harmonica reed is a flat, elongated spring typically made of brass, stainless steel, or bronze, which is secured at one end over a slot that serves as an airway. When the free end is made to vibrate by the player's air, it alternately blocks and unblocks the airway to produce sound.
"Peg o' My Heart" is a popular song written by Alfred Bryan (words) and Fred Fisher (music). It was published on March 15, 1913 and it featured in the 1913 musical Ziegfeld Follies.
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