As a child I was very interested in mouthharps. I listened to countrysongs, especially to the songs with harmonica’s. For several years I wondered what type of harmonica was used in these songs. Eventually I saw a page in a countrymusicbook about Charly McCoy and a harmonica in front of him: a Marine Band! Of course this isn’t the only suitable harmonica for country, blues and other kinds of relevant music, but at that point in time I was very happy with my ‘discovery’ (there wasn’t internet at that time, back in the early eighty’s).
The Marine Band is Hohner’s best selling diatonic harmonica. Originally it was designed as a folkharp, a harp for ‘everyone’ (the first model came in 1896 and was named Marine Orchestra). But the Marine Band turned out to be a perfect bluesharmonica also and many bluesharp-icons got famous by playing a Marine Band; Hohner exported several of them to his cousins in America, who then, in turn, hocked them to aspiring musicians far and wide. The popularity grew also because the Marine Band wasn’t very expensive and easy to get, even in the rural parts of America (I imagine a Marine Band in a nice box on the counter of a drugstore...).
The Marine Band ten hole diatonic is available in different models: the classic Marine Band, the Marine Band Deluxe, the Marine Band Crossover, the Marine band Thunderbird (low key). Check the Hohner-website for more Marine Band-models.
A lot more about the history of the Marine Band: http://www.patmissin.com/ffaq/q38.html
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