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Jerry Murad's Harmonicats were an American harmonica-based group.
The band was founded in 1947. Originally they were named The Harmonica Madcaps and the group consisted of Jerry Murad (chromatic lead harmonica), Bob Hadamik (bass harmonica), Pete Pedersen (chromatic harmonica), and Al Fiore, (chord harmonica). In 1947, the group consisted of Murad, Fiore, Don Les on bass harmonica, and Cappy Lafell on Polyphonia. They eventually (around 1948) became a trio, with Murad, Fiore and Les.[citation needed]
In 1947, during the record ban, the group recorded the hit song "Peg o' My Heart" for Vitacoustic Records, which spent 21 weeks on the Billboard magazine chart (peaking at No. 1) and sold more than two million copies the first year. It was the first record in history to use artificial reverb.
Pedersen and Gail Wallace remained contributors to the group throughout its existence, working on arrangements and occasionally recording.[citation needed]
During 1949, when Don Les' father died, the band called upon Johnny Thompson to fill in for Les on bass harmonica for a couple of weeks. Thompson went on to play with them at their residency gig at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas in the early 1950s. In the mid-1950s, Les suffered from a detached retina, and Thompson once again took his place until Les was able to return full time later in the decade.[citation needed] In 1958, Al Fiore suffered his first heart attack and Bob Herndon filled in for him for several months.
In the early 1970s, Don Les left the group and was replaced by Dick Gardner, who stayed with the group for more than 20 years. Other members of the group included the following:
Jerry Murad (1918–1996) (chromatic harmonica), was an Armenian born in Istanbul, Turkey in 1918, moved to America at the age of 2. He played diatonic harmonicas at first, and took up chromatic soon after. Murad played Hohner 270s and 64s, as well as the Musette, a harmonica made especially for him that replicates the sound qualities of a French accordion. It is featured on their 1960s recording of "Parisienne Fantasy". Murad also played the Hohner Polyphonia (a type of orchestral melodic harmonica).[citation needed] He died of a heart attack in 1996[1]
Don Les (Dominic Leshinski) (1914–1994) (bass harmonica) was born in Lorain, Ohio,[2] with congenital cataracts. He was able to see again at the age of twelve after a "couple of operations," but even as an adult his vision was only about 30% of normal.[3] At one point, he formed his own version of the Harmonicats. The Don Les Harmonicats, which featured Mildred Mulcay (of the harmonica duo the Mulcays) and Lenny Leavitt. They released a Christmas album entitled Christmas with the Don Les Harmonicats.[citation needed]
Al Fiore (chord harmonica), was born in Chicago and started experimenting with chord harmonicas at the age of 13. Fiore played the rare old style layout or "reverse layout" Hohner Chord harmonica. He recorded the band's No. 1 hit, Peg o' My Heart on this harmonica.[citation needed]
Bob Hadamik played the bass harmonica prior to 1946. It is unknown when he joined the group, or much about him post leaving the Harmonicats.
Leon "Cappy" Laffel (1913–2002) was the Polyphonia player for the Harmonicats for the 1947 and 1948 years. He left before 1950. He can be heard on songs such as "Ritual Fire Dance" and "Always in My Heart".
In the late 1950s, Bob Herndon substituted for Al Fiore on chord harmonica while Al recovered from a heart attack. He can be seen with the Harmonicats playing "Peg O' My Heart" and "12th Street Rag", in 1958. As a side note, when Don Les left the group, Bob became Don's chord and harmonetta player with "The New Don Les Harmonicats" as well as "The New Tennessee Philharmonicas" with Mildred Mulcay.
Johnny Thompson joined The Harmonicats in 1951 on bass harmonica, but lasted a very short time due to conflicts.
Dick Gardner (bass harmonica) took over for Don Les in 1970 and remained with the Cats for over 20 years.
Bob Bauer (chord harmonica) took over for George Miklas in 1985 and after Al Fiore left the group. He remained with them for many years.
George Miklas was originally a chord player for the group before leaving the group and returning later to play bass with the group.
Al Data played chord with the group in its final days, until Jerry's death in 1996.
Joe Mass Junior (1953–2018) played chord for the Harmonicats one year, while on tour in California. He holds the distinction of being a short time member, but getting to record audio tracks with Jerry, and being featured on the Harmonicat's first DVD video performance and the re-release of "Collector's Item", with his brother, J.R. Mass.
Brother to Joe Mass Jr., Jerry "J.R." Mass played the bass harmonica for the Harmonicats one year, while on tour in California.
Danny Wilson left his job at General Motors to work with Jerry around 1971. An avid bass harmonica player and long time member of the SPAH organization, Danny was well versed on the bass harmonica and did tour with the Harmonicats, for a unknown amount of time. However, he left shortly after joining. He, according to his archived website, was also with the Harmonicats for a stint in 1978. A few recordings of Danny with the Harmonicats have been digitized and are available via TheHarmonicaArchivist and SPAH's extensive collection of historic recordings here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppLtBgo3kYI&lc=UgysgkuEZlm2lPM_PJh4AaABAg
Charles "Buddy" Boblink played chord with the group throughout the 1990s and until Jerry's death in 1996. Buddy Boblink passed in 2023, just months before the annual SPAH Convention - whom he was a member and attendee of for many years.
Pete Pedersen was the main arranger for the group and remained the 2nd chromatic player for many albums over the bands nearly 50 years of recording.
Frank Warner filled in at times playing the bass harmonica.
Despite never being an official member of the Jerry Murad Harmonicats, Chris Bauer did perform on stage with the Harmonicats with his father, Bob, and Dick Gardner on bass. He also appeared on the Jerry Murad's Harmonicats "Magic" album, as the 2nd chromatic player. On the 50th anniversary of Peg O' My Heart, Dick Gardner, Bob Bauer, and Chris Bauer recorded a small 6-song album in honor of the Harmonicat's success with the song.
Their 1947 recording of the song "Peg o' My Heart" (Mercury Records, originally on Bill Putnam's Universal Records and then reissued on Vitacoustic Records, catalog number 1)[4] brought them public attention and sold over one million copies by 1950, reaching No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard chart.[5] When recording engineer Bill Putnam recorded the song, he utilized the bathroom of Universal Recording as an echo chamber and became the first person to use artificial reverberation creatively on a pop recording.[6][7]
Other charted hits for the group included "Hair of Gold, Eyes of Blue" (No. 15) in 1948, "Charmaine" (No. 21) in 1952, and "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White" (No. 56) in 1961. Jerry Murad, accompanied by Richard Hayman's Orchestra, had a solo hit with "The Story of Three Loves" (No. 14) in 1953.
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