Harmonica Rarities on Westone Records

Buyer beware if you’re thinking of buying Harmonica Rarities.  There are no recording dates or any information about the players, just song names (no version number) and artist.  For me, and other collectors, omission of such information significantly reduces its value.  Most of the fifty-nine songs on Harmonica Rarities can be found on Document Records and for free on YouTube.  Pat Missin’s website provides some real gems with documentation.

Document Records recordings have session information and some information about the artist if available; sometimes YouTube uploaders provide this too because they own the original vinyl records.  The two best Document CDs are “Great Harp Players” and “Harp Blowers”.  All of the train songs that Filisko has covered in his train series can be found on Document and Yazoo recordings.

But if you can ignore the absence of liner notes and recording dates, buying this set will save you a lot of time hunting around for what's good.  Each of the CDs is packed to the limit of their capacity with great music and about 15 of the songs I couldn't find anywhere else.  But a good set could have been great if some information had been included.