A very brief history of ‘Johnny Woods > Mississippi Harmonica’

Oblivion Records O#2

After my partner Tom Pomposello had been bitten by the Mississippi Fred McDowell bug, he took a vacation to study with Fred in Como, Mississippi between April 17 and 30, 1972.

During the trip, Tom asked to meet Fred’s friend and collaborator, harpist Johnny Woods, who was working as a farmer/sharecropper. Johnny didn’t even own a harp and hadn’t played in quite a while, so Tom gave him a harmonica, whipped out a Panasonic cassette recorder and recorded two songs right there on Johnny’s porch. A couple of Instamatic photos later, Oblivion had the makings of its first (and only) 45rpm, a real country blues classic.

Click here to listen to the record, and read the liner notes and credits.