Paul deLay retrospective with Grant Dermody, Ross Garren and Pete Dammann

01:33 - Grant Dermody joins the podcast again, from his last appearance in 2020

01:50 - Ross Garren is a harmonica player, composer and Paul deLay superman

02:22 - Pete Dammann completes the guests. Pete was band manager and guitarist in The Paul deLay band for twenty-five years

03:16 - Pete was a journalist who was writing about the North West US blues scene and interviewed Paul’s band before joining up as their guitarist

04:36 - Robert Cray was also based in the North West of the US and Paul was reporting on the blues scene in the area

04:57 - Pete was blown away when he first heard The Paul deLay Blues band

05:35 - Grant met Paul when he took a couple of lessons from him

06:14 - Grant grew to appreciate his phrasing and his unique approach to the harmonica, vocals and songwriter

07:36 - Ross saw Paul play on a few occasions in the late 1990s, early 2000s

08:49 - Ross gave Paul a demo tape and was amazed when Paul gave him some feedback some months later

09:24 - Had a unique style of playing harmonica, and where he developed this

10:03 - Grant talks of how Paul was such a songwriter and the best singer he ever heard, putting his heart and soul out through his harmonica

10:38 - His songwriting probably dictated his unique approach to playing the harmonica

10:45 - Paul didn’t start writing songs until around 1990, after being busted and cleaned-up from substance abuse

11:18 - Pete describes how Paul was an interesting intellectual guy and had eclectic tastes that fed into his aesthetic

12:15 - Paul always pushed to be original and expected Pete’s guitar playing to be the same

12:55 - Although blues based, he brought a jazzy edge that some of the purist blues fans resisted

13:40 - His first band was the Brown Sugar Blues band, but he always came back to the blues playing after he ventured off into more jazzy territory in many of his recordings

14:34 - He pushed in his eccentric directions from the get go during his Brown Sugar days

15:10 - Louis Pane brought the jazz organ sound to the band

15:53 - Paul’s music just clicked with Ross as soon as he heard it and he identified with him as a person he could access

17:45 - Ross saw Paul as the complete package

18:31 - Paul offers something unique and every song and pushed the harmonica in new directions

19:03 - Ross thinks he’s heard Paul play on unusual harmonicas

19:37 - Paul had his own sound, like all the greats do

21:27 - Great songwriter with some very funny lyrics

22:30 - Paul spent 41 months in jail and his prolific songwriting period around this time

23:34 - Sense of urgency from impending jail time spurned him into action

23:52 - Two great albums: The Other One and Paulzilla albums were put out in this time, with all original songs

24:42 - First album Pete played with the band was Burnin’ in 1988

25:17 - The song arrangements were made in a collaborative way with the band, except for the lyrics which were all Paul

26:36 - Paul was born in 1952, played with the Brown Sugar band through the 1970s and then formed The Paul deLay band in 1982

26:56 - Made great use of the chromatic and had a unique approach to that too

28:07 - Someone advised Paul to pick up the chromatic and how he developed his sound on it

29:09 - Played chromatic on the first Paul deLay band album in 1982, Teasin’

29:38 - Released Ocean Of Tears album in 1996

29:45 - Nice and Strong had the song Fourteen Dollars In The Bank, nominated for a WC Handy Award for Best Song

31:48 - Not all Paul’s albums are not easily available, such as on streaming services, something which will hopefully improve

33:21 - Some good compilation albums, including Last Of The Best, released following Paul’s death in 2007

34:20 - Later in his life Paul returned more to playing traditional blues, partly down to line-up of band

34:55 - Live at Notodden ’97 was released ten years after Paul’s passing and how the live recordings were uncovered years later

36:47 - Discussion on the sorts of harmonicas Paul played to get some of the unusual sounds he did

38:48 - Grant discusses how Paul was always original, his use of space and how he always‘served the song’

41:02 - Fan songs of Pauls from the panel, starting with Ross, whose favourite album is deLay Does Chicago

45:42 - Grant’s favourite albums are The Other One and Paulzilla, and two favourite songs off each of those albums

46:43 - Pete’s favourite song is The Other One from the album of the same name and the time pressure which made this such a creative period for Paul

50:00 - Paul died after a short illness on March 7th, 2007, from leukaemia, and Pete’s memories from his last show

54:42 - There were some memorial concerts following his death attended by the north west blues players

55:16 - Paul’s departure left a hole which has never been filled in Pete’s eyes

56:07 - Gear Paul used, helped by a great entry on harp-l by Drori Hammer

56:34 - Played Hohner Big River harps

57:19 - Chromatics probably played Hohner Chromonica, and certainly used 16 holes at times

58:37 - Used a ‘space case’: a briefcase with pedals he would change over and plug into the PA

01:00:55 - Mainly played through a PA but did use a Fender Tremolux amp earlier on

01:01:29 - Mainly used a vocal mic, but used a JT30 for more traditional blues songs

01:02:23 - Ross asks how the band recorded the excellent albums they did

01:04:43 - There was a story from the early days that Paul recorded 125 takes of one solo, and used the first or second take in the end, but he was much more focused later in career

01:05:54 - The deLay Does Chicago recording

01:08:27 - Paul didn’t play much, if any, as a sideman, although he did often sit in with other people

01:11:27 - He had amazing ears and was there in the moment and really came alive on stage

01:12:44 - Grant’s final words on Paul including the words of advice: ‘beware the gratuitous vibrato’

01:13:35 - He was super musical despite not knowing much musical theory

01:15:24 - Ross’s final words on Paul include his view that Paul was a genius and architect of his own harmonica style

01:16:11 - Ross compare Paul to Thelonious Monk, turning the idiom of blues on it’s head, and it still works

01:18:20 - The wide variety of emotions that Paul expresses and the different tones he produces

01:20:27 - Pete’s final words on Paul include that he was full of surprises and he drew on all sorts of influences for his music

01:22:02 - Takes an enormous artistic talent to paint outside the lines, especially in blues music