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Jerry Murad's Harmonicats were an American harmonica-based group.
Background
The earliest iteration of the band was known as the Harmonica Madcaps, which was later renamed The Quintones by Jimmy Mulcay, who was promoting/producting the band up until 1942. The group regularly proformed at the Bijou Vaudeville lounge with Pete Petersen and Jerry Murad on chromatic, AL Fiore on chord, and Bob Hamdick on bass. In 1941, Jerry and AL left the famous Borrah Minevitch rascals, and started a group, quickly to bring on Don Les as a third member, becoming the Harmonicats in 1946. The group consisted of Jerry Murad (chromatic lead harmonica), Bob Hadamik (bass harmonica), Pete Pedersen (chromatic harmonica), and Al Fiore (chord harmonica). In 1947, the group consisted of Murad, Fiore, Don Les on bass harmonica, and Cappy Lafell on Polyphonia. Around 1948 they became a trio, with Murad, Fiore and Les.
In 1947, during the record ban, the group recorded the hit song "Peg o' My Heart" for Vitacoustic Records, which spent 21 weeks on the Billboard magazine chart (peaking at No. 1) and sold more than two million copies the first year. It was the first record in history to use artificial reverb.
Pedersen and Gail Wallace remained contributors to the group throughout its existence, working on arrangements and occasionally recording.
During 1949, when Don Les' father died, the band asked Johnny Thompson to fill in for Les on bass harmonica for a couple of weeks. Thompson went on to play with them at their residency gig at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas in the early 1950s. In the mid-1950s, Les suffered from a detached retina, and Thompson once again took his place until Les was able to return full time later in the decade. During this stint, a near-fatal accident involving Murad and Thompson being hit by a train and leading to their vehicle combusting, led to Thompson never returning to the act. In 1958, Al Fiore suffered his first heart attack and Bob Herndon filled in for him for several months.
In the early 1970s, Don Les left the group and was replaced by Dick Gardner, who stayed with the group for more than 20 years. As of 2024, Dick Gardner is the last "long term" member of the Harmonicats alive. Other members of the group included the following:
Members
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Jerry Murad
Jerry Murad (1918–1996) (chromatic harmonica) was an Armenian born in Istanbul, Turkey in 1918, and moved to America at the age of 2. He played diatonic harmonicas at first, and took up chromatic soon after. Murad played Hohner 270s and 64s, as well as the Musette, a harmonica made especially for him that replicates the sound qualities of a French accordion. It is featured on their 1960s recording of "Parisienne Fantasy". Murad also played the Hohner Polyphonia (a type of orchestral melodic harmonica). He died of a heart attack in 1996.
Don Les
Don Les (Dominic Leshinski) (1914–1994) (bass harmonica) was born in Lorain, Ohio, with congenital cataracts. He was able to see again at the age of twelve after a "couple of operations," but even as an adult his vision was only about 30% of normal. At one point, he formed his own version of the Harmonicats. The Don Les Harmonicats, which featured Mildred Mulcay (of the harmonica duo the Mulcays) and Lenny Leavitt. They released a Christmas album entitled Christmas with the Don Les Harmonicats.
Al Fiore
Al Fiore (chord harmonica) was born in Chicago and started experimenting with chord harmonicas at the age of 13. Fiore played the rare old style layout or "reverse layout" Hohner Chord harmonica. He recorded the band's No. 1 hit, "Peg O' My Heart", on this harmonica. Al originally played a homemade chord harmonica, made from around 2 dozen "Auto-Valve" harmonicas attached to a long hinge. He used this harmonica from the late 1930s through the early 1940s when he got his first Hohner 267 chord harmonica. Al's chord harmonicas were produced special by Hohner after the war, and he used an estimated 50 chords throughout his entire career. Al was a member of the Windy City Harmonica Club, and even had his own band for a short time, known as the AL Fiore Harmonica Gentlemen, which he borrowed the name from Cappy.
Bob Hadamik
Bob Hadamik played the bass harmonica prior to 1946.
Cappy Laffel
Leon "Cappy" Laffel (1913–2002) was the Polyphonia player for the Harmonicats in 1947 and 1948. His work can be heard on several of the groups 1948 recordings on Universal Records, and was often found in the groups publicity photos throughout the late 1940s.
Bob Herndon
In the late 1950s, Bob Herndon substituted for Al Fiore on chord harmonica while Al recovered from a heart attack. He can be seen with the Harmonicats playing "Peg O' My Heart" and "12th Street Rag", in 1958. As a side note, when Don Les left the group, Bob became Don's chord and harmonetta player with The New Don Les Harmonicats as well as The New Tennessee Philharmonicas with Mildred Mulcay.
Stagg McMann
Hugh "Stagg" or "Pud" McMann briefly toured with the Harmonicats 1967 to 1969. Stagg, being a expert harmonicist, played both Harmonetta and 2nd chromatic for the quartet during this time. Stagg played the Harmonetta solo on "Parisienne Fantaisie" during the group's tour in Canada.
John Thompson
Johnny Thompson joined The Harmonicats in 1951 on bass harmonica, but left after a short time. Johnny left the group after a near fatal accident involving himself, Murad, and a car collision that lead to the car catching fire.
Dick Gardner
Dick Gardner (bass harmonica) took over for Don Les in 1970 and remained with the Cats for over 20 years. Gardner was the last member of the group that was with the group over a decade.
Bob Bauer
Bob Bauer (chord harmonica) took over for George Miklas in 1985 and after Al Fiore left the group. Bob started out as a chord player for his own group, the Harmonikings (sometimes written as the Harmoni-kings) and later Paul Baron's Harmonica Rascals.
George Miklas
George Miklas was originally a chord player for the group before leaving the group and returning later to play bass with the group.
Al Data
Al Data played chord with the group in its final days, until Murad's death in 1996.
Joe Mass Jr.
Joe Mass Junior (1953–2018) played chord for the Harmonicats one year, while on tour in California. He was a short-time member, but recorded audio tracks with Murad, and was featured on the Harmonicats' first DVD video performance and the re-release of "Collector's Item", with his brother, J.R. Mass. Joe Mass was also a member of the Big Harp, and the chord player for The Generation Gap harmonica trio throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, along side his brother. Joe would later go on to be a tutor, an engineer for both Atari and Intel, and a counsler.
J.R. Mass
Brother to Joe Mass Jr., Jerry "J.R." Mass played the bass harmonica for the Harmonicats one year, while on tour in California.
Danny Wilson
Danny Wilson left his job at General Motors to work with Murad around 1971. A bass harmonica player and longtime member of the SPAH organization, Wilson toured with the Harmonicats. However, he left shortly after joining. He, according to his archived website, was also with the Harmonicats for a stint in 1978.
Buddy Boblink
Charles "Buddy" Boblink played chord with the group throughout the 1990s and until Murad's death in 1996. Buddy Boblink died in 2023, just months before the annual SPAH Convention - of which he was a member.
Pete Pedersen
Pete Pedersen was the main arranger for the group and remained the second chromatic player for many albums over the band's nearly 50 years of recording.
Frank Warner
Frank Warner filled in at times playing the bass harmonica.
Honorable Mentions - Chris Bauer
Despite never being an official member of the Jerry Murad Harmonicats, Chris Bauer performed on stage with the Harmonicats with his father, Bob, and Dick Gardner on bass. He also appeared on the Jerry Murad's Harmonicats Magic album, as the second chromatic player. On the 50th anniversary of "Peg O' My Heart", Dick Gardner, Bob Bauer, and Chris Bauer recorded a small six-song album.
"Peg o' My Heart"
Their 1947 recording of the song "Peg o' My Heart" (Mercury Records, originally on Bill Putnam's Universal Records and then reissued on Vitacoustic Records, catalog number 1) brought them public attention and sold over one million copies by 1950, reaching No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard chart. When recording engineer Bill Putnam recorded the song, he utilized the bathroom of Universal Recording as an echo chamber and became the first person to use artificial reverberation creatively on a pop recording.
Other charted hits for the group included "Hair of Gold, Eyes of Blue" (No. 15) in 1948, "Charmaine" (No. 21) in 1952, and "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White" (No. 56) in 1961. Jerry Murad, accompanied by Richard Hayman's Orchestra, had a solo hit with "The Story of Three Loves" (No. 14) in 1953.
Discography
10" albums
- Jerry Murad's Harmonicats (Mercury, 1950)
- Harmonica Highlights (Mercury, 1952)
- Harmonica Hits (Mercury, 1952)
- Harmonica Classics (Mercury, 1952)
- Olé: South of the Border with the Harmonicats (Mercury, 1954)
12" albums
- Harmonicats' Selected Favorites (Mercury, 1955)
- South American Nights (Mercury, 1956)
- Command Performance (Mercury, 1956)
- The Cats Meow (Mercury, 1956)
- Dolls, Dolls, Dolls (Mercury, 1957)
- Harmonicha Cha-Cha (Mercury, 1958)
- In the Land of Hi-Fi (Mercury, 1959)
- Harmonically Yours (Mercury, 1960)
- Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White (Columbia, 1960)
- Peg o' My Heart (Columbia, 1961)
- Love Theme from El Cid and Other Motion Picture Songs and Themes (Columbia, 1962)
- Sentimental Serenade (Columbia, 1962)
- Fiesta! (Columbia, 1962)
- Forgotten Dreams (Columbia, 1963)
- The Soul of Italy (Columbia, 1963)
- Try a Little Tenderness (Columbia, 1963)
- The Love Song of Tom Jones (Columbia, 1964)
- That New Gang of Mine! (Columbia, 1965)
- Harmonica Rhapsody (Columbia, 1965)
- What's New Harmonicats? (Columbia, 1966)
- Great Themes from TV and Motion Pictures (Columbia, 1969)
Cassettes
- Harmonicats Go Classic (re-release of Harmonica Rhapsody)
- Fascination' Harmonicats (1986)
- Harmonica Magic (with Chris and Bob Bauer, and Dick Gardner)
- Night in San Fransisco (with Joe and JR Mass, 1994)
References
- "Harmonicats leader dead at 76 - UPI Archives". Upi.com.
- The Chronicle Telegram, August 29, 1994; obit. & "Don Les" & "Interview with Don Les," pp. 249-250, Harmonicas, Harps & Heavy Breathers (2000) Kim Field
- "Interview with Don Les," pgs. 250-251, Harmonicas, Harps & Heavy Breathers (2000) Kim Field
- Billboard, April 5, 1947, p. 33, "Putnam Springs New Waxing Technique with 'Vitacoustic'"
- Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 39. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
- Weir, William (2012-06-21). "How humans conquered echo". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2021-08-24.
- Cogan, Jim; Clark, William (2003). Temples of Sound: Inside the Great Recording Studios. San Francisco, California, United States: Chronicle Books. p. 127. ISBN 0-8118-3394-1.