Richard Salwitz
Early life
Salwitz was born in New London,
Connecticut. He attended Worcester Polytechnic Institute, in Worcester,
Massachusetts, where he met John "J." Geils and
Danny Klein and became a founding member of the J. Geils Band in 1965.
Career
The J. Geils Band
Salwitz's harmonica playing became a major and distinctive element in the J. Geils Band's sound during their hard-rocking 1970s heyday. His performance of "Whammer Jammer" on the band's live album
Full House has been particularly noted.
[ at AllMusic] In
The Rolling Stone Record Guide (1979), music critic
Dave Marsh described Salwitz as possibly "the best white musician to ever play
blues harmonica."
He was often referred to as "Magic Dick and his Lickin' Stick".
After the J. Geils Band dissolved in 1985, Salwitz spent time working on a harmonica design of his own, the "Magic Harmonica", for which he received a patent with co-inventor Pierre Beauregard.
Bluestime
In 1992, Salwitz reunited with his old friend and bandmate J. Geils and formed the band Bluestime, with Steve Ramsey on
Drum kit,
Jerry Miller on
guitar, and Rory MacLeod on bass. MacLeod was later replaced by Michael "Mudcat" Ward, who played with the band for several years before leaving to pursue other interests. Ward was subsequently replaced by bassist John Turner. Steve Ramsey left the band in 2000 and was replaced by Gordon Grottenthaller on drums until the band's final show on New Year's Eve 2004 at the Bullrun in Shirley, MA. The band's music was a fusion of
Chicago blues and classic
jazz.
The band released two records on the Rounder Records label: Bluestime (1994) and Little Car Blues (1996). They toured heavily through 2002, and played a handful of shows in 2003 as both a solo act and as part of B.B. King's Bluesfest. They played only 1 show in 2004 on New Year's Eve which was their final show.
Additional blues music
Salwitz contributed his harmonica playing and some vocals to a live recording,
Command Performance, by the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Revue, featuring the
Tommy Castro,
Deanna Bogart, Ronnie Baker Brooks, and others. He toured as part of the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Revue on different blues cruises and again on land-based shows during 2007 through 2008.
[.]
In 2014, Salwitz began collaborating with guitarist and vocalist Shun Ng.
Personal life
Magic Dick is based in the
Boston,
Massachusetts area.
He is
Jewish.
[ "Jews in the News: Andrew Garfield, Jessica Chaffin and Leonard Cohen." www.jewishtampa.com. Tampa Jewish Community Centers & Federation. Published November 1, 2016.][ Stars of David: Rock'n'roll's Jewish Stories. Benarde, Scott R. Brandeis; 1st edition: July 1, 2003. Page 5. Accessed December 19, 2016.][ "Stage Names of Jewish Rockers." Grinspan, Izzy. www.jewsrock.org. Accessed December 19, 2016.]
External links
