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Little Walter
Studio portrait — photographer unrecorded/unknown (Wikimedia Commons, public domain)
Chicago

Little Walter

This artist is no longer with us.
Born: May 1, 1930, Marksville, Louisiana · Died: February 15, 1968, Chicago, Illinois (coronary thrombosis, following injuries from a street fight)• United States
Chicago BluesElectric Blues
Little Walter did something nobody had done before him: he took the harmonica, an instrument built for parlors and porches, and turned it into a lead instrument loud and strange enough to go toe-to-toe with an electric guitar. He remains, to this day, the only harmonica player ever inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was born Marion Walter Jacobs on May 1, 1930, in Marksville, Louisiana — without a birth certificate, which has left some details of his earliest years permanently uncertain (Kilde: Wikipedia). By the time he was twelve he'd already left rural Louisiana behind, working odd jobs and busking his way through New Orleans, Memphis, Helena and West Helena, Arkansas, and St. Louis, picking up stage experience alongside established musicians like Sonny Boy Williamson II and Sunnyland Slim along the way. His first recordings came in 1947 for the small Ora-Nelle label in Chicago (Kilde: Wikipedia). His real breakthrough was technical rather than compositional: he began cupping a small microphone in his hands together with his harmonica and running it through a public address system or guitar amplifier, deliberately pushing the amps well past their intended limits to generate a distorted, saturated tone nobody had heard from a harmonica before. It let him compete directly with electric guitars in volume and presence for the first time in blues history (Kilde: Wikipedia). He joined Muddy Waters's band in 1948, and his first recorded amplified harmonica part appears on Waters's "Country Boy," cut July 11, 1951. He left the touring band in 1952 to go solo, though Chess Records kept bringing him back into the studio to play on Waters's own sessions throughout the decade (Kilde: Wikipedia). His solo debut session for Checker Records, on May 12, 1952, produced "Juke" — the first completed take of the first song they attempted that day — and it became a number-one R&B hit, spending eight weeks at the top of the Billboard chart. It remains, to this day, the only harmonica instrumental ever to reach number one on the R&B chart (Kilde: Wikipedia). Between 1952 and 1958 he racked up fourteen top-ten R&B hits — a run of commercial success that neither Muddy Waters nor labelmates Howlin' Wolf or Sonny Boy Williamson II ever matched. Beyond "Juke," his instrumentals "Off the Wall" (#8), "Roller Coaster" (#6) and "Sad Hours" (#2) all charted, alongside vocal sides like "Blues With a Feeling" (recorded July 23, 1953) and "Mean Old World." His second number-one hit, "My Babe," written for him by Willie Dixon, came out on Checker in February 1955 (Kilde: Wikipedia). His backing band, the Aces — guitarists David and Louis Myers and drummer Fred Below — were credited as "the Jukes" on most of his Little Walter releases; later collaborators included guitarists Robert "Junior" Lockwood and Luther Tucker. His personal life was considerably rougher than his commercial run. He struggled with alcoholism and had a notoriously short temper that, from the late 1950s onward, led to repeated violent altercations and minor brushes with the law (Kilde: Wikipedia). It was one of these fights — a confrontation during a break from a performance at a South Side Chicago nightclub — that ultimately killed him: the injuries aggravated damage from earlier violent encounters, and he died in his sleep at a girlfriend's apartment on February 15, 1968, at 37, of a coronary thrombosis. He was buried at St. Mary's Cemetery in Evergreen Park, Illinois, on February 22, 1968 (Kilde: Wikipedia). In 2008, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted him in the Sideman category — the first and, as of this writing, the only artist ever inducted specifically as a harmonica player. His daughter, Marion Diaz Reacco, later established the Little Walter Foundation in Chicago to carry his musical legacy forward (Kilde: Wikipedia).

Musical Influence

His amplified, distorted harmonica technique became the foundation nearly every blues and rock harmonica player since has built on — Junior Wells, James Cotton, George "Harmonica" Smith and Carey Bell all learned directly from his example, and later players like William Clarke, Jerry Portnoy and Mark Hummel studied his recordings as a kind of technical scripture. Members of the Rolling Stones, including Brian Jones and Mick Jagger, cited him as a direct influence on their own harmonica playing. In 2008 he became the first — and to date the only — artist inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame specifically as a harmonica player (Kilde: Wikipedia).

Influences

Sonny Boy Williamson IISunnyland Slim

Formative experiences

  • •Age 12: Left rural Louisiana to busk and work odd jobs across New Orleans, Memphis, Helena and St. Louis. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
  • •1948: Joined Muddy Waters's band. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
  • •July 11, 1951: First recorded amplified harmonica part, on Waters's "Country Boy." (Kilde: Wikipedia)
  • •May 12, 1952: Recorded "Juke" at his solo debut session — became a #1 R&B hit for eight weeks. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
  • •February 15, 1968: Died at 37 from injuries sustained in a street fight. (Kilde: Wikipedia)

Instruments & Equipment

Other

Amplified harmonica (cupped-microphone technique)

Cupped a small microphone together with the harmonica and deliberately overdrove guitar amplifiers to create a distorted tone never heard from the instrument before.

Stories & Anecdotes

""Juke" remains the only harmonica instrumental ever to reach #1 on the Billboard R&B chart. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"
"Between 1952 and 1958 he outsold every other Chess blues artist, including Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf, with fourteen top-ten R&B hits. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"
"Was born without a birth certificate, leaving parts of his earliest biography permanently uncertain. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"

Collaborators

Muddy Waters

Joined his band in 1948; continued to play on Waters's sessions throughout the 1950s even after going solo.

David & Louis Myers, Fred Below (the Aces)

His backing band, credited as "the Jukes" on most of his solo releases.

Willie Dixon

Wrote "My Babe," his second #1 hit.

Watch & Listen

Featured

Little Walter - Juke [1952]

The only harmonica instrumental ever to reach #1 on the Billboard R&B chart.

Classic Mood Experience

Little Walter and His Jukes - My Babe

Little Walter and His Jukes - My Babe

Little Walter - Blues With A Feeling

Little Walter - Blues With A Feeling

Watch & Listen

Henter videoer fra YouTube…

Discography

YearTitleProducerStudioLabelChartSalesMusiciansYouTubeNotes
1947Ora-Nelle Records era, ChicagoOra-Nelle Records—Ora-Nelle———First recordings.
1948Joins Muddy Waters's bandChess Records—Chess———First amplified harmonica recording on Waters's "Country Boy," July 11, 1951.
1952Checker Records solo debut — "Juke"Chess/Checker—Checker——David Myers (Guitar), Louis Myers (Guitar), Fred Below (Drums)Recorded May 12, 1952; #1 R&B hit for 8 weeks — the only harmonica instrumental ever to top the R&B chart.
1953"Blues With a Feeling"Chess/Checker—Checker——David Myers (Guitar), Louis Myers (Guitar), Fred Below (Drums)Recorded July 23, 1953.
1955"My Babe"Chess/Checker—Checker——Robert "Junior" Lockwood (Guitar), Luther Tucker (Guitar), Fred Below (Drums)Written by Willie Dixon; released February 1955, his second #1 R&B hit. By this point his backing lineup had shifted to Robert Jr. Lockwood and Luther Tucker on guitars.
1952Top-ten R&B hits, 1952–1958Chess/Checker—Checker———Fourteen top-ten R&B hits across the decade, including "Off the Wall" (#8), "Roller Coaster" (#6) and "Sad Hours" (#2).

Famous songs

01Juke
02My Babe
03Blues With a Feeling
04Mean Old World

External links

YouTube Music Wikipedia

Sources

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