Howlin' Tom Cat - Music

Harmonica Frank October 11 1908 Toccopola Mississippi - August 7 1984 Blanchester Ohio Was An American Blues Singer Guitarist And Harmonicist. Harmonica Frank Floyd Was The Son Of Itinerant Parents Who Separated Without Giving Him A Name. He Was Raised By His Sharecropping Grandparents Who Died While He Was A Teenager. Frank Taught Himself To Play Harmonica When He Was 10 Years Old And He Eventually Learned Guitar As Well. He Gave Himself The Name Frank Floyd And Began Performing In The 1920s For Traveling Carnivals And Medicine Shows. He Learned Many Types Of Folk Music And Became An Extraordinary Mimic Effortlessly Switching From Humorous Hillbilly Ballads To Deep Country Blues. With His Self-Taught Harmonica Technique He Was A One-Man Band Able To Play The Instrument Without His Hands Or The Need For A Neck Brace. While Also Playing Guitar He Perfected A Technique Of Manipulating The Harmonica With His Mouth While He Sang Out Of The Other Side. He Could Also Play Harmonica With His Nose And Thus Play Two Harmonicas At Once A Skill He Shared With Blues Harp Players Walter Horton And Gus Cannon's Partner Noah Lewis. After Years Of Performing On The Medicine-Show Circuit Harmonica Frank Began Working In Radio In 1932. His First Records Were Made In 1951 Engineered By Sam Phillips In Memphis Tennessee. The Songs "Swamp Root" "Goin’ Away Walkin'" "Step It Up And Go" "Howlin’ Tomcat" And "She Done Moved" Were Licensed To Chess Records. Phillips Put Out Another Single On Sun Records "Rockin Chair Daddy"/"The Great Medical Menagerist" In 1954. Harmonica Frank Thus Became The First White Musician To Record At That Studio. Floyd And Larry Kennon Released A Shared Single "Rock-A-Little Baby"/"Monkey Love" In 1958 On Their Own Record Label F&L. The Experience Gave Phillips The Idea That A White Man Playing And Singing Black-Oriented Music Would Be A Smash Sensation So He Was Excited To Record And Produce Harmonica Frank. Citation Needed It Was Ultimately A Failure Because Floyd Was So Old And Played Music That Was Archaic And Old-Fashioned. Citation Needed Phillips Went On To Utilize His Initial Idea To Great Effect With Elvis Presley Thus Floyd Is Considered By Many To Be An Important Precursor To Rock And Roll And Rockabilly. read less