Some time ago I questioned whether anyone’s ever wanted to hear rock ‘n roll featuring a harp. Then Mean Mr. Moderator felt the need to hijack my thread with his own thoughts on Ravi Shankar and the fact that rock fans from the ’60s have yet to identify the second-best sitar player in the world.
Well, little did we know that long before Joanna Newsom burst onto the scene with her mad harp skillz, Maureen Love, sister of The Beach Boys’ frontman, Mike, was laying down harp traxx on the band’s “Catch a Wave,” from the Surfer Girl sessions. The harp first enters at the 21-second mark, and Maureen has the good sense to refrain from caterwauling.
Love would not just ride the coattails of her famous brother. She’s carved out her own career as both a harpist and a photographer. More power to her, and more power to rock ‘n roll’s long tradition of harp players!
