By Keane (209.87.128.124) on Saturday, May 31, 2003 - 06:15 pm:

Dear Mr. Eli: After doing a search on your name
I was pleased to find you on this forum. For the
last few years I've been filling my young son's
head with r+b info and lately I've been pointing
out the guitar work to him. He knows the name
Bobby Eli, Norman Harris, Roland Chambers, Jerome
Smith,and Willie Hale.
But what I cannot tell him is who does what
as usually two or more guitar players are listed.
When you played with Norman Harris, what kind of
parts did you play and what did he play. For example on the Manhattans, Billy Paul and William
DeVaughn, was it Norman Harris or you playing in combination with the vibes?

By SteveS (68.41.246.95) on Saturday, May 31, 2003 - 07:07 pm:

Bobby,

In Detroit, jazz players were an integral part of Motown (not just the Funks, but tons of great horn players, and the guys in the road bands as well). Was Philly the same way?

And speaking of guitar players, did you ever cross paths with the great Pat Martino in Philly?

By Eli (152.163.252.68) on Sunday, June 01, 2003 - 12:02 am:

Keane,

Norman Harris and I were the primary guitarists on all of the Philly stuff.
Norman's sound was generally more mellow.
He did the octave"Wes Montgomery" style stuff as well as the warmer chord changes.
His parts were usually doubled with vibes.
I did everything else such as most of the sitar parts, wah wah, backbeats, effects, sharper chords, "rock type" solos, lead figures, etc.
Sometimes we interchanged parts.
denis Haris did some stuff with PIR as well, doing the mellow stuff.

Steve,
Most of the rhythm section come from an R&B bar band background and /or played with various artists on the road.
The horn guys mostly played"outside gigs" and in the show orchestra pits, and the strings come from a classical/pop background as well as the "pits" .

By Keane (209.87.128.124) on Wednesday, June 04, 2003 - 07:22 pm:

Dear Mr. Eli: I hope I can ask guitar technique
questions on this board. Lately I've noticed references to r+b guitar so there maybe a new interest in the subject.
You talked about Norman Harris having a warm sound
and using that octave technique, the note played
simultaneously with its corresponding note one octave lower, gives a chime effect? But
in r+b guitar people use other pairs, not just octave pairs of notes, for a similar effect don't
they. Isn't that note-pairing a main tool for this kind of music. Do you have any guidelines here for anyone learning this kind of guitar.
Thanks for telling me your's and your partner's parts in those recordings. I've been listening to them using the balance knob on my stereo and I can distinguish your "sharp" chords.
Sometimes it seems you increase the frequency of those chords, like up to twelve in
a bar, up and down. Isn't that
what Curtis Mayfield did a lot of?
I gradually came to favor the Philadelphia sound because there seemed to be a lot more of
this Mayfield style guitar out of there. Now,
I'm not sure. Is there really a Curtis Mayfield
style of guitar or is it the same as Glen Campbell guitar? Do you think you guys were in the same tradition of r+b guitar?

By Eli (141.151.1.101) on Wednesday, June 04, 2003 - 10:13 pm:

The "Curtis Mayfield" type thing you refer to are called fourths.
It is usually a two not slide played a fourth apart as in Rainy Night in Georgia, or as in the middle eight guitar part that I play on Backstabers.
Also listen to the intro of People get ready as an example also the intro to Only the strong survive.

I hope that helped you.
There are no definitive guidelines as there are many many types of R&B guitar styles so just listen and learn!!