Magic Dick

Last updated
Magic Dick
MagicDPerforming.jpg
Background information
Birth nameRichard Salwitz
Also known asMagic Dick
Born (1945-05-13) May 13, 1945 (age 78)
New London, Connecticut, U.S.
Genres
  • Hard rock
  • blues
  • jazz
Occupation(s)Musician
Instrument(s)
  • Harmonica
  • trumpet
  • saxophone
Years active1968–present
Labels Rounder
Formerly of The J. Geils Band
Website magicdick.com

Richard Salwitz [1] (born May 13, 1945), known as Magic Dick, is an American musician, noted for playing the harmonica for the J. Geils Band. [2] In addition to the harmonica, Salwitz plays the trumpet (the first instrument he learned) [3] and saxophone.

Contents

Early life

Salwitz was born in New London, Connecticut. He attended Worcester Polytechnic Institute, in Worcester, Massachusetts, where he met John "J." Geils and Danny Klein and became a founding member of the J. Geils Band in 1965. [4]

Career

The J. Geils Band

Salwitz's harmonica playing became a major and distinctive element in the J. Geils Band's sound during their hard-rocking 1970s heyday. His performance of "Whammer Jammer" on the band's live album Full House has been particularly noted. [5] [6] In The Rolling Stone Record Guide (1979), music critic Dave Marsh described Salwitz as possibly "the best white musician to ever play blues harmonica." [4] He was often referred to as "Magic Dick and his Lickin' Stick". [7]

After the J. Geils Band dissolved in 1985, Salwitz spent time working on a harmonica design of his own, the "Magic Harmonica", for which he received a patent with co-inventor Pierre Beauregard. [4] [8] Beauregard was the director of the Cambridge Harmonica Orchestra, of which Salwitz was also a member. [9]

Bluestime

In 1992, Salwitz reunited with his old friend and bandmate J. Geils and formed the band Bluestime, with Steve Ramsey on drums, Jerry Miller on guitar, and Rory MacLeod on bass. MacLeod was later replaced by Michael "Mudcat" Ward, who played with the band for several years before leaving to pursue other interests. Ward was subsequently replaced by bassist John Turner. Steve Ramsey left the band in 2000 and was replaced by Gordon Grottenthaller on drums until the band's final show on New Year's Eve 2004 at the Bullrun in Shirley, MA. The band's music was a fusion of Chicago blues and classic jazz.

The band released two records on the Rounder Records label: Bluestime (1994) and Little Car Blues (1996). They toured heavily through 2002, and played a handful of shows in 2003 as both a solo act and as part of B.B. King's Bluesfest. They played only 1 show in 2004 on New Year's Eve which was their final show.

Additional blues music

Salwitz contributed his harmonica playing and some vocals to a live recording, "Command Performance", by the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Revue, featuring the Tommy Castro Band, Deanna Bogart, Ronnie Baker Brooks, and others. He toured as part of the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Revue on different blues cruises and again on land-based shows during 2007 through 2008. [10]

In 2014, Salwitz began collaborating with guitarist and vocalist Shun Ng. [1] "Immediately taken by his arranging, his composing and more particularly by his performance", Salwitz formed a friendship with Shun, [3] who was born in Chicago, raised in Singapore, and based in Boston. [1] [3] They formed an acoustic duo and perform and record music together regularly. They have toured together as part of the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Revue, with artists such as Buddy Guy, Irma Thomas and Allen Toussaint.

Personal life

Magic Dick is based in the Boston, Massachusetts area. [3]

Magic Dick is Jewish. [11] [12] [13] [14]

Related Research Articles

Electric blues is blues music distinguished by the use of electric amplification for musical instruments. The guitar was the first instrument to be popularly amplified and used by early pioneers T-Bone Walker in the late 1930s and John Lee Hooker and Muddy Waters in the 1940s. Their styles developed into West Coast blues, Detroit blues, and post-World War II Chicago blues, which differed from earlier, predominantly acoustic-style blues. By the early 1950s, Little Walter was a featured soloist on blues harmonica using a small hand-held microphone fed into a guitar amplifier. Although it took a little longer, the electric bass guitar gradually replaced the stand-up bass by the early 1960s. Electric organs and especially keyboards later became widely used in electric blues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The J. Geils Band</span> American rock band

The J. Geils Band was an American rock band formed in 1967, in Worcester, Massachusetts, under the leadership of guitarist John "J." Geils. The original band members included vocalist Peter Wolf, harmonica and saxophone player Richard "Magic Dick" Salwitz, drummer Stephen Bladd, vocalist/keyboardist Seth Justman, and bassist Danny Klein. Wolf and Justman served as principal songwriters. The band played R&B-influenced blues rock during the 1970s and soon achieved commercial success before moving toward a more mainstream radio-friendly sound in the early 1980s, which brought the band to its commercial peak. They performed a mix of cover songs of classic blues and R&B songs, along with original compositions written primarily by Wolf and Justman, as well as some group compositions written under the pseudonymous name Juke Joint Jimmy, representing compositions credited to the entire band as a whole. After Wolf left the band in 1983 to pursue a solo career, the band released one more album in 1984 with Justman on lead vocals, before breaking up in 1985. Beginning in 1999, the band had several reunions prior to the death of its namesake, J. Geils, on April 11, 2017.

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Mark Hummel is an American blues harmonica player, vocalist, songwriter, and long-time bandleader of the Blues Survivors. Since 1991, Hummel has produced the Blues Harmonica Blowout tour, of which he is also a featured performer. The shows have featured blues harmonica players such as James Cotton, Carey Bell, John Mayall and Charlie Musselwhite. Although he is typically identified as performing West Coast blues, Hummel is also proficient in Delta blues, Chicago blues, swing and jazz styles. Hummel also played with the Golden State Lone Star Revue, a rock blues side group the FlashBacks, as well as the current edition of the Blues Survivors. Since 2021, Hummel and documentary film maker Jeff Vargen have collaborated on a video podcast, 'Mark Hummel's Harmonica Party' with both interviews and live performances of 50 blues and rock musicians including Charlie Musselwhite, Elvin Bishop, Barbara Dane, Nick Gravenites, Duke Robillard, Country Joe MacDonald, Barry Goldberg, Magic Dick, Lee Oskar, Willie Chambers, Anson Funderburgh, Angela Strehli, Chris Cain and others.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Killeen, Wendy (March 22, 2016). "Musical minds connecting in Salem". Boston Globe . Retrieved April 3, 2016.
  2. Clash, Jim. "J. Geils Harp Legend 'Magic Dick' On Why He Never Lost His Magic". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Cote, Mike (June 3, 2015). "Making a connection: Harmonica wizard of J. Geils Band fame teams up with Shun Ng". New Hampshire Union Leader . Retrieved April 3, 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 Spiardi, Dana (May 13, 2015). "'Magic Dick' Salwitz: Still Whammin' and Jammin' at 70". HipQuotient.com. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
  5. Review of Live Full House at AllMusic
  6. "How to Play "Whammer Jammer" by Magic Dick on harmonica". WonderHowTo.com. 31 March 2008.
  7. Woodstra, Chris; Bush, John; Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (2007). All Music Guide Required Listening: Classic Rock. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 76. ISBN   9780879309176 . Retrieved 2018-11-07.
  8. "Magic Dick". AllMusic.com. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
  9. Jim Sullivan (June 2, 1982). "Harmonica Heaven at the Tam". The Boston Globe.
  10. Magic Dick playing with the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Revue in Kansas City, 2009 on YouTube.
  11. "The Jews Who Rock Wiki." Admin. www.jewcy.com. Published November 15, 2008. Accessed December 18, 2016.
  12. "Jews in the News: Andrew Garfield, Jessica Chaffin and Leonard Cohen." www.jewishtampa.com. Tampa Jewish Community Centers & Federation. Published November 1, 2016.
  13. Stars of David: Rock'n'roll's Jewish Stories. Benarde, Scott R. Brandeis; 1st edition: July 1, 2003. Page 5. Accessed December 19, 2016.
  14. "Stage Names of Jewish Rockers." [ dead link ] Grinspan, Izzy. www.jewsrock.org. Accessed December 19, 2016.