Along the same lines, but much more uptown is Jesse Fuller and his home-made Fotdella. Self-explanatory, no? As you can see it combines elements of a bass viol with piano keys to strike the strings--activated by Jesse's foot. There's also a cymbal, for his other foot, not to mention the (electronic?) harmonica rack. Saw him once at Reed College in Portland, 1964 or so--a treat. We never dreamed he'd someday be gone...
His best-known song (and long one of my favorites) is San Francisco Bay Blues. "Ocean liner gone so far away..."
3 comments:
Tony, that's just classic! I love the bass viol with piano hammers. Hey, this set-up is one way of avoiding artistic differences with fellow band members!
Found this video on YouTube-- it's wonderful. Check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmVVxhYlp2Y
Good sleuth work, Steph--I have something of Jesse Fuller--but this one's a true gem. Let's make post on regular blog--do capture from the video for image-- (command-shift-4 on mac)... Wonderful, indeed...!
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