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