Ah you got me @rich3. YOU GOT ME!!! 
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Hello, here are a few of my favorite harmonica songs. Wings " Time To Hide " Dionne Warwick " That’s What’s Friends Are For" Creedence " Poorboy Shuffle" among others. Might update it later
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5kVtrDna_U I’m working on this one.
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Oooh. Tremolo harmonica! Sweet. Thanks for sharing this.
Can you imagine getting the harmonica she tosses into the crowd at the end?
What harp do you think it was? 
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I have 24 tunes, and growing, that I play regularly, nearly every day, in public, but not busking. Plus another 21 that I play occasionally, mostly at home. My favorite is ‘If’ by Bread but the one that regularly draws applause is ‘Both sides now’ by Joni Mitchell. lots of older people / retired people in my town, so that will be part of the reason, but most of my songs are from around that time, so there must be something special about that one.
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In a few days I’ll have Run Through the Jungle solo by John Fogerty pretty much ready to share with the world. All critiques welcome.
I love the sound of that solo, you can almost see the swamp and feel the mosquito’s biting
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I am beginning to think all the best music has been written. I was watching the Wolfman on U Tube as he hosted the Midnight Special. I realized it was 44 years ago about a dozen people came over and after SNL was over the Midnight Special started. Linda Ronstadt did not look old enough to buy a beer. She was a great singer. Willie Nelson played Crazy and his harp player was fantastic. I wonder if its the same guy he has now. Where did all the time go?
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Yeah. Mickey Raphael is still touring with Willie. He’s also touring a lot with Chris Stapleton too as of recently.
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You must be my brother from a different mother @PapaCurly
I too have a series of very simple songs I made up which I play every day to practice my scales 
and then a series of popular songs I play depending on the harp I have for the day.
Some of you might be interested in my list of songs, which names the song, the artist, the key, the harp and position I use.
I don’t know all of the songs in their entirety but rather the main melodies, riffs and transitions.
@PapaCurly If by Bread is also one of my favorites to play.
Do all y’all like to play any of these songs? 
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@HarpinBobbyMcB, we must be around the same age, that would explain it.
Your post makes me feel a lot better about my own harmonica journey. I thought I had too many songs, (I can’t stop myself from learning new ones) but you have three or four times more. I don’t know how you find time to play them all. To answer your question, yes, many of mine are on your list. I also don’t play all of them in their entirety.
Thanks for posting, Rob. If not for the forum, I would not have any point of reference. It seems I’m not as mad as I thought I was. Unless of course, we’re both mad.
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Yes! I am a firm believer that if you play what you like and get the rhythm down it will help you. Its not the tune but playing something right. Some tunes may seem tough but all are learned a step at a time.
After 2.5 years and being completely literate from a music standpoint at the get go learning a few tunes and playing them well has been a big help. I just listened to Moon River, a song I never paid any attention to but when I heard it is was just what I needed to slow down my play. I pick a different song when I need to that forces me to learn to play something I need to improve on. I like all three types of bread. If you knew how much variation my list is you would think there are three different people living in one body. I like everything from Hank Williams to Andera Bachelli, ( sp ? ).
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I think we may both be a bit twisted @PapaCurly 
To answer your question about how I find time to play all these songs, the quick answer is, I don’t…
But I give it the old college effort!
I have a harp for each day of the week:
Monday - Lee Oskar in A
Tuesday - Rocket in Ab
Wednesday is my Marine Band in G
Thursday - Route 66 in D
Friday - tonally challenged day with my harps that have a blown reed or limited register: Special 20 in Db, 008k in Bb, Baby Fat in Bb
Saturday - Conjurer in G
Sunday - Golden Melody in C
As you can see on my list 
I sent before, only the songs at the very top with an (*) don’t have a “dedicated” harp to hit the right key in one position or another.
I don’t always make it through all the songs and sometimes do none. But if it’s a choice between scrolling on the phone or playing harp, I open my list and start playing through the key for the day.
Also, that being said, I play all the songs with any harp I have at hand, especially my warm up songs which I play every day with the harp of the day.
Ah, and one last thing in my routine… 8 pm tends to be time to play The Impossible Dream, one of my all time favorites.
I’m interested @PapaCurly, how do you get people to listen to you?
I’m constantly playing and though I do have some people who stop and take notice or make a comment, most are unfased by my presence. I do normally tone down the volume when others are around, so as not to annoy them, but on second thought, maybe I should crank it up 
What do you do @PapaCurly ?
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@HarpinBobbyMcB I ’ve been doing it for a year, and I could write a book already about the experiences. I live in Mandurah, a satellite city of around 100,000 people, in the southwest of Western Australia. Relatively small population but it’s a tourist town, so there’s always activity near the town center. Everything is centered around water: I can sit and play while watching dolphins chase fish or watch boats passing by. It is a beautiful thing to do, just for myself.
I don’t try to get people to listen to me; I choose low traffic areas, where there are people near enough to hear me, but not very close to anyone. Sometimes they come to me. I play at a normal comfortable volume, neither soft nor loud.
Most people seem to completely ignore me, as though I’m not even there, but it would be a rare day that I don’t receive at least one compliment. Sometimes a person will be walking past, apparently oblivious to my presence, but then will turn, give me the thumbs up sign and call out the name of the song I’m playing. I’ve had two people sit right next to me, the same seat, while I’m playing, and have a voluble, loud conversation with each other, and not even acknowledge me at all, not a smile or a grimace or a grunt - nothing, then I get up and walk away and someone 30 meters away stops me as I walk past and says “Hey, thanks for the entertainment, that was lovely” I’ve had people speak to me while I’m out and about, not playing, just shopping for example, and they say “Hey, you’re the harmonica guy” I’ve had people ask what time of day I play, so they can plan to come and listen to me, and although it only happened once, I’ve been told to shut up and stop playing. The only thing I can confidently say about it all, is that people want to recognise the tune I’m playing, that seems to be key (no pun intended) If it happens to be one of their favorite songs, then it’s a winner.
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Mainly by playing well – hitting notes and bends accurately, keeping a good rhythm and – as @PapaCurly says – having the luck to play a tune that people know and like.
Simply noodling around and sort of playing a tune in a semi-recognizable fashion is mostly a lost cause if you wish for people to listen to (and enjoy) your music.
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Best thing about playing in the public is people have such low expectations when they see a harmonica. It is small, has no wires and fits in a shirt pocket.
I have no interest in playing in a band or a bar. I would rather sit on my deck and play. Only problem is my neighbors have a dog that barks ALL the time. I like dogs but my patience is wearing thin. Miss Daisey may have to come over and have a word with the dog. I have thought about taking up the trumpet and playing from 2 to 4 A M. If they complain the deal is quiet the dog and I will quite the trumpet Its been going on for a year now and some folks never think.
In the meantime sitting out when the stars appear and playing is all I need. After 2 1/2 years of trying to learn a musical instrument from scratch is is more enjoyable than anything else that is legal and good for my health. I am hooked, never be as good as I want to be and will die trying. If I were playing in a park the people around me will determine what they hear. Baby boomers like a certain type of music and older folks like the older classics I/M/O. I like them all.
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Best thing about playing in the public is people have such low expectations when they see a harmonica
I agree with you @scott4 It’s a surprise to most people, to hear a harmonica played in any other way than the Bob Dylan, harmonica in a rack style. Actually, in my part of the world, it’s rare to hear one at all. A couple of weeks ago there was a guy playing a Saxaphone at one of the locations that I sometimes play my harps. He was wearing a suit and fedora hat, looking very Jazzy, he had an amplifier, and he could play that Sax way better than I play harmonica. I’m usually in ragged jeans and a flannel shirt and no amp - sometimes bare feet. Well, he wasn’t getting any love at all. The only person who complimented him was me. I can’t figure it out. He was clearly busking, whereas I never have, so far. Maybe that made him less approachable, that’s all I can think of. I felt sorry for him.
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Its the dress. as you and I shop at the same Dollar Store. Its my winter clothing. That poor guy spent a couple of hours loading and unloading and dressing up. We can put the harps in the shirt pocket and that is it. I keep things as simple as possible. That being said the harp is not as simple as it seems before starting to learn it.
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You can say that again! They are not simple at all.
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I was listening to a few tunes on U Tube and Moon River popped up. Never heard it but this tune is made for a harmonica. It will force a player to slow down but it is a nice tune to play and everybody over 50 but he has heard it. I am working on getting the rhythm close and once I do it will always be on my list. I just play what I like and someday like I want. It may seem simple but no tune is until all the wrinkles are ironed out. Only one I can play exactly as its written is Country Road and it was along process. The closer I got the more I heard that needed correcting.
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