Here are some books and CD's that Doug Puls and I feel will help you to learn more about about harmonica, guitar, blues, jazz, and music in general.  If you would like to purchase some of these selections, simply click on the title of the book and you will be taken to the Spree or the Amazon.com site (depending on the selection) to make your purchase.  Please Send Mail to John Watts to report any problems with any of these links.

Books:
Country and Blues Harmonica for the Musically Hopeless ~ John Gindick, Jon Gindick / Audio Cassette / Includes Pocket Pal Harmonica. Published 1984  

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In a little more than six years, this how-to-classic has sold over 500,000 copies and remains a beacon of hope for all piano-lesson drop-outs and church choir rejects.
John's Comments:  This is the book I started with, as did a surprising number of harmonica players, even professionals.  It is written in an easy to understand format, and shows you how to play riffs to go with the 12 bar blues progression, and helps in learning to improvise.  Highly recommended for beginners.  It comes with an audio cassette and a key of C harmonica.  This is the ONLY book for learning harmonica that is recommended by Doug Puls.

Harmonicas, Harps, and Heavy Breathers
by: Field, Kim  Quality Paperback

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More than a million harmonicas are sold in the U.S. every year. Here is the first book to explore the history of this inexpensive and extraordinarily versatile instrument and the techniques and unique styles of individual players from Larry Adler to Stevie Wonder. 35 photos.
John's Comments:  This book contains comprehensive profiles of many of the great harmonica artists, one of the best I've read about the history and artists of the harmonica.

Me and My Big Mouth
by: Adler, Larry  Quality Paperback  John's Comments:  The autobiography of one of the greats of the harmonica.

The Land Where the Blues Began ~ Alan Lomax / Paperback / Published 1995    Read more about this title...

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Winner of the 1993 National Book Critics Circle Award for nonfiction, this mususical and cultural exploration of the rich, sorrow-laden birth of the blues is an intimate and respectful look at an integral part of African American culture--a master work that has been 60 years in the making. Photos.

The World Don't Owe Me Nothing : The Life and Times of Delta Bluesman Honeyboy Edwards ~  David Honeyboy Edwards, et al / Hardcover / Published 1997  Read more about this title...

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From sharecropper's son to itinerant bluesman, Honeyboy's life is like a distillation of the classic blues legends. Historians will delight in the firsthand accounts of his upbringing, the 1927 Mississippi River flood, plantation life, the racial problems and economics of southern blacks, and the Depression. "To watch Edwards play is to witness living history."--Chicago Sun-Times. 30 photos.

RL's Dream ~ Walter Mosley / Paperback / Published 1996   Read more about this title...

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The creator of the critically acclaimed Easy Rawlins mysteries further distinguishes himself with a memorable novel about the blues--as an expression of black poetry and black tragedy--and how they sit in judgment on the American experience.
John's Comments:  I've read all of Walter Mosley's books and really enjoy all of them, but this is the only one so far that specifically deals with the blues - Great reading!

CD's :

 My Blues by Kim Wilson

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 John's Comments: This is absolutely the finest blues and harmonica album I have heard in a long time.  Blue Collar Records is Kim Wilson's own record label so he has total creative control.  You haven't heard a sound like this in a recent production - it's recorded in mono instead of stereo direct to tape and avoids modern studio effects - very nice!

 Blues Masters, Vol. 4: Harmonica Classics

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 John's Comments:  If you don't have this one - GET IT!!  The title speaks for itself - truely some classics here from James Cotton, Little Walter, Big Walter, Kim Wilson, Charlie Musselwhite, Jerry McCain, and many more.

 

Also : Blues Masters, Vol. 16 : More Harmonica Classics

 

These are the three albums I talk about at the bottom of my Beginner's Tips page:

With just these three albums and 3 keys of harp (A, C, and D) you can jam along with 29 different songs and learn a wide variety of riffs and solos. If you want to get these for yourself just click on the album title.

The Paul Butterfield Blues Band

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 John's Comments: Talk about simple patterns that work, listen to Born In Chicago and Got My Mojo Working- the basic riff on both is 2 notes -- 2 draw and 2 draw bent, there's even a whole 12 bar solo of only these two notes on Born in Chicago, and it really rocks, proving once again that it's not how many notes you have, it's how you use the ones you do have. Click here for Paul Butterfield's 2 note solo if you want to hear it. Most songs on the album use A, C, or D harp, although there is one song each for the G, the F, and the Bb.

The Seigel/Schwall Band Reunion Concert 

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 John's Comments: I had never heard of  Corky Siegel before I picked up this album, but he plays with so much energy that I was immediately hooked. All songs are played on the C, D, or A harps with relatively easy to follow riffs and solos.

Keep Yourself Together  Frank Frost, Sam Carr

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 John's Comments:  Great Delta blues playing with all songs on the album using C or A harp. Again, I had never heard of Frank Frost  before picking this album up, but it looked interesting, and I have really enjoyed the music and harp playing.

Books:

Blues Who's Who; A Biographical Dictionary of Blues Singers (Da Capo Press Paperback)
by: Harris, Sheldon  Quality Paperback

The Jazz Guitar, 4th ed.
by: Summerfield, Maurice J.  Quality Paperback

Jazz Masters of the 20s (A Da Capo Paperback)
by: Hadlock, Richard  Quality Paperback

Jazz Masters of the Thirties
by: Stewart, Rex  Quality Paperback

Jazz Masters of the '40s (A Da Capo Paperback)
by: Gitler, Ira  Quality Paperback

Jazz Masters of the Fifties (Da Capo Press Paperback)
by: Goldberg, Joe  Quality Paperback

Treat It Gentle : An Autobiography
by: Bechet, Sidney  Quality Paperback

CD's:

Classic Artists
1. Essential Little Walter - Chess
2. Chicago Bound   (Jimmy Rogers) Chess
3. Big Walter Horton With Cary Bell - Alligator
4. Whoopin' the Blues:1947-50 - Sonny Terry
5.One Way Out - Sonny Boy Williamson II

Contemporary Artists
1. Tigerman - Antone’s (Kim Wilson)
2. Ace of Harps - Alligator (Charlie Musselwhite)
3.Prime Time Blues - Legendary Blues Band (Jerry Portnoy) - ICHIBAN RECORDS
 4. Fathers and Sons - Chess (Muddy Waters and Paul Butterfield) -  Doug's Comments:  This is my all time favorite blues album. If you took all of my albums and left me one, this would have to be it.