Borrah Minevitch And His Harmonica Rascals

All-harmonica group formed by Borrah Minevitch in 1925 or 1927. The group originally performed on the vaudeville circuit, but its growing success led them to record for Brunswick in 1933 and Decca, starting in 1934. After World War II, their popularity had waned, but they were able to record with DeLuxe (2) in 1947 and released an LP on the Capitol Records label in 1954. Between 1932 and 1942, the Harmonica Rascals appeared in over two dozen shorts as well as a number of feature films. Sometime members: Leo Diamond and brother Abe Diamond (until 1940); Alan Pogson (member 1943-1944, created the "Peg O' My Heart" harmonica solo and taught it to his replacement Al Fiore); Jerry Murad; Johnny Puleo; Ray Tankersley (played rhythm on diatonic and Autovalve harps in the 1940s); Richard Hayman (played and arranged for the band in the mid-1940s); Al Smith (joined in 1954).