There’s an excellent chance that you haven’t given the following much thought.   I have.  Here for your consideration are my nominations for the five most influential harmonica players of all time:

1. Larry Adler – The chromatic harmonica was practically invented for Larry Adler.  No single player has ever come to so completely represent the instrument as Adler did in his prime. 

2. Little Walter – Blues aficionados will argue endlessly amongst the many fine Chicago blues stylists of the 1940’s-1970’s, including Little Walter, Big Walter Horton and others, but Little Walter most clearly popularized the fat, electric Chicago sound and it is his sound that is most often copied.

3. Charlie McCoy – Building upon the work of Wayne Rainey and others, McCoy almost single-handedly created a popular genre of country harmonica where none existed before.  His “Orange Blossom Special” has never been equaled for sheer, balls out, country harmonica attack. Almost every popular country album of the late 1950’s through the early 1980’s features McCoy as the harmonica player. 

4. (collectively) The Harmonicats – There was a time when almost every city in America had a harmonica band. 

5.  This one’s a little tougher and forces me to choose between Magic Dick, Toots Thielemans, Howard Levy and Stevie Wonder, each of whom made unique and important contributions to the instrument.  Although Thielemans command of pure jazz stylings, Wonder’s soaring and unique pop statements, and Levy’s complete alteration of how to think about diatonic harmonica stand out, my vote goes to Magic Dick of the J.Geils Band who elevated the harmonica to rock status along with the electric guitar.  No one has ever flat-out rocked the harmonica like Magic Dick on the lickin’ stick. 

You'll note that I have left Bob Dylan off this list.  Dylan’s songwriting talent is beyond question.  But in my opinion Bob Dylan has done more to CHEAPEN the perception of harmonica playing than any other single player in history. 

My personal vote for the most interesting, most innovative harmonica player that I’ve ever heard?  Norton Buffalo of Sonoma County, California.