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photo of Mickey Raphael at the Saxon Pub (7/3/10) by Winker Withaneye

www.pittsburghlive.com

The world has many star piano, guitar and saxophone players, but Texan Mickey Raphael has built his career as a sought-after player of a much more uncommon instrument: the harmonica.

Raphael — who plays the harmonica in the band of country/pop legend Willie Nelson — says he is mostly self-taught. Nelson and the band perform Saturday at the Meadows Racetrack & Casino, North Strabane.

Very few music instructors give harmonica lessons, says Raphael, who says he learned a lot from listening to other harmonica players. The instrument makes a fun, catchy sound, and its compact size comes in handy, he says.

“It’s just very expressive,” says Raphael, a Dallas native. “When I first heard it, it was one of those things that just really hit a chord with me.”

Raphael also has played his harmonica with other artists besides Nelson, including Vince Gill, Elton John, U2, Emmy Lou Harris, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and more. The famous harmonica solo in the Motley Crue song “Smokin’ in the Boys’ Room” also is Raphael’s.

He alternates his time between Nelson’s 130-city tour, and doing solo work. Raphael’s first solo album, “Hand to Mouth,” came out in 1988, and the record was so popular that it was re-released in 2000. Now, he is working on a new record, with the Tucson, Ariz.-based band Calexio backing him. The songs sound very “rhythmical and melodic,” Raphael says.

“Willie gives us the freedom to do whatever we want,” he says. “When I’m not playing with Willie, I’ve got a lot of different projects going. It just keeps us fresh when we do get back to playing with the band.

“I’m always constantly trying to learn new stuff and expose myself to new projects,” Raphael says.

He has been working with Nelson, who was unavailable for interviews, for 27 years.

“He’s an easy guy to get along with; he’s just a great guy to work for,” he says. “What you see is what you get. … He’s quirky, and very personable. Anything you see in his interviews, that’s the way he is. He’s very down-to-earth.”

People who come to Saturday’s concert can expect plenty of good music, with little dialogue in between songs, Raphael says. Nelson’s shows are spontaneous, and don’t follow any set list.

“He just plays whatever comes to the top of his head,” Raphael says. “He doesn’t sit there and talk to the audience, really; he just plays. It’s all about music. … You won’t hear any stories; it’s just one song after the next.”

Raphael says he loves seeing the enthusiastic, multi-generational crowd of fans at Nelson concerts.

“I’m just looking forward to coming there and playing to good crowds, and a good audience,” he says. “Looking out in the audience, you see kids and their grandparents out there. We’ve been very fortunate and very lucky.”

Read the entire article here.

Photo:  Monique Claus

www.pressherald.com
by Bob Keyes

One might assume that Mickey Raphael would grow bored playing his harmonica alongside Willie Nelson for almost four decades. But Raphael says he still enjoys a musical rapport with his boss, and as much as he might like to slow down the near-constant touring — the band plays 130 shows a year — he finds inspiration nearly each time he takes the stage.

“It’s fun. It really is still a lot of fun,” says Raphael, who joined Nelson’s Family Band 37 years ago and still ranks as the junior member of the touring group.

“I am such a big fan of his, first off. I am a fan of his writing and a fan of his guitar playing. It is fun to play with him every night. There’s no question that it’s tough to be on the road — traveling is the only thing I am getting tired of. If he wasn’t such a great guitar player and I wasn’t so enthralled by his writing, I surely couldn’t do it for this long.”

Raphael is 58. He joined the group when he was 21.

The version of Nelson’s band that performs Wednesday at Merrill Auditorium in Portland is trimmed down. In addition to Nelson and Raphael, the lineup includes Willie’s sister Bobbie on piano; Bee Spears on bass; and Paul English on drums.

English, about whom Nelson wrote the song “Me and Paul,” has been drumming with Nelson since 1955. He has suffered ill health of late, and generally does not play more than a few songs in a row. When Paul English is not drumming, Billy English, his brother, sits in.

Raphael believes the longevity of the band, as well as the loyalty of its members, speaks to Nelson’s iconic stature in American music and his kindness as a boss. Nelson has won numerous awards and honors, and has written some of the most enduring songs in country music.

Raphael respects that Nelson has resisted falling into the habit of reproducing the same riffs night after night. Playing in the band, he said, is an exercise in staying fresh and keeping up the chops.

“The challenge is that he plays things differently every night,” he said. “He still amazes me with his playing. I stand four feet from him every night, and I get to watch him. It inspires me. We are not playing the same thing every night, even though the setlist is pretty much the same.”

Nelson opens almost every concert with “Whiskey River” — Raphael could not recall a show when that was not the opener — “but after that, it’s up to him. He has the intro to all the songs, and he doesn’t say anything. There is no verbal communication. It’s all eye contact. It’s all body language.”

The changes that occur nightly usually involve the solos. With the trimmed-down band, the only players who take solos anymore are Nelson, his sister and Raphael. Everybody watches Nelson for a nod of his head for a visual cue about who’s next.

Raphael began playing with Nelson in 1973. They met at a party after a University of Texas football game. A jam began, and Raphael took out his harmonicas to join in. Nelson liked what he heard, and invited him to sit in on more formal sessions.

They’ve been playing together ever since.

Over the years, Raphael has earned a reputation as an inventive and creative harmonica player. He has turned the instrument into an integral part of the band instead of a complementary piece. He has played with some of the biggest names in music, from Elton John and Bob Dylan to Neil Young and U2, and has influenced two generations of players.

He cites Don Brooks, who played harmonica with Waylon Jennings, as his first mentor. Others include Charlie Musselwhite, Jimmy Fadden and Charlie McCoy.

Raphael says he continues to learn new techniques, and names Jason Ricci as an influential younger player. “I’m always finding stuff on YouTube and sharing ideas. I look at that all the time,” he said. “Hopefully, I am always learning.”

Raphael said the band is looking forward to the Portland show. It’s been a long time since Nelson has played up here, and the band happens to have two days off in town before the gig. That’s a rare and welcome respite, he said. An avid bicyclist, Raphael has researched the area and plans to spend as time as he can on his bike.

“I still enjoy what I do, and I still enjoy playing with Willie,” he said. “But having two days off in a place like Portland really makes being out on tour livable. We’re really looking forward to getting up there.” 

Staff Writer Bob Keyes can be contacted at 791-6457 or at:  bkeyes@pressherald.com

Read the entire article, see picture at the Portland Press Herald.

Photo thanks to Janis from Texas, from backstage at the Woodlands, in Texas.

www.oleantimesherald.com
By Kip Doyle

Imagine a world in which Willie Nelson was your boss.

What might be considered a dream come true to some has been a reality for the past 35-plus years for Mickey Raphael, Nelson’s ace harmonica player.

“He’s kind of a benevolent dictator,” Raphael said. “He’s very generous. You really have to screw up bad to get his attention. You just show up for the gig and do your best.”

Nelson is well-known for his laid-back ways, a philosophy he shares with his bandmates on stage.

“If you make a mistake, it’s laughed at. He’s great to work with, he provides wide open spaces, musically, to work with,” Raphael said.

In the early ‘70s, Raphael picked up the harmonica as a teenager in the Dallas folk-music scene. Before long, Raphael joined a local band that earned the following of University of Texas football coach Darrell Royal. Royal, a passionate country-music fan, invited Raphael to a post-game jam session at a Dallas hotel room. Nelson attended the jam session, took note of Raphael’s skill, and invited the harmonica player to join his touring band shortly after.

The unlikely notion that playing the harmonica, often viewed as a novelty instrument, has set the path for a career at the top of popular music isn’t lost on Raphael.

“I think (the harmonica’s popularity) is right below the accordian’s,” Raphael said. “It’s really not used that much, not that many people play harmonica.

“It’s kind of an aquired taste, and it is somewhat of a unique instrument, even though everyone probably had one at one time in their lives.”

Joining Nelson’s band forced Raphael to take a “crash course” in country music history. Learning to appreciate the classics was easy, he said.

“I fell in love with the classic country artists – Hank Williams, George Jones, Merle Haggard, Ray Price – it didn’t take me long to get into it,” he said.

Some of those artists haven’t hit the charts in more than 50 years, yet musicians like Nelson have helped keep the classic country sound alive despite an ever changing musical landscape.

“I am glad there is a real want for (classic country), but you can’t take anything away from the new stuff,” Raphael said.

Besides Nelson, Raphael has worked with many top artists spanning many genres, including Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Wynton Marsalis, Kenny Chesney, U2 and Neil Young.

When considering which artists he was most surprised to get a call from, Raphael came up with two household names.

“Probably Elton John and Motley Crue,” he said. “Motley Crue had a song called ‘Smoking In The Boys Room,’ and they wanted a harmonica player.”

Raphael was referred to Motley Crue through a producer who had worked with him on a Blue Oyster Cult song.

John had been a fan of Nelson’s “Stardust” album and enlisted Raphael to play harmonica for the title track of his album, “The Fox.”

Over his 50-plus-year career, Nelson has played for a lot of people. For the uninitiated, Raphael said to expect little banter and plenty of songs.

“It’s non-stop music. We do an hour to an hour and 45 minutes and we go from one song to the next,” he said. “We will play a couple of songs from the new record ‘Country Music.’ There’s no set list.”

If there is no set list, how does the band know what song to play next?

“(Nelson) usually starts the songs, so we know what to do,” Raphael said. “Everyone has been with him for so long, he can’t throw us for too many loops.”

Willie Nelson will perform in a sold-out show at the Seneca Allegany Casino Events Center at 7 p.m. May 8.

http://www.oleantimesherald.com/articles/2010/04/30/news/doc4bdb18532f184576308146.txt