One of my all-time favorite Blues masters was the great Marion "Little Walter" Jacobs. Kind of odd, being that I'm a guitarist, but very few have moved me in the way the Walter did and does.
The man brought a new level of musicianship to the harmonica that stills lives on to this day in the likes of Kim Wilson, James Harmon, Mitch Kashmar, R.J. Mischo, Rod Piazza and scores of others. His work with Muddy Waters as a teenager was innovative, exciting, soulful and electric. When he signed his own deal with the Chess Brothers' Checker subsidiary, his first release was a massive hit on the Billboard Charts in 1952/1953 - "Juke". "Juke" spent an incredible 20 weeks on the Billboard R&B charts and heald the #1 spot for 8 weeks. It was also Checker's biggest recording to that date. Just how impressive was this? Well to put into perspective, let us consider that all of Muddy's releases to that point in his career when combined had only spent a total of 10 weeks on the R&B charts and had never reached the coveted #1 position!
He was also one of the first to record with another harmonica player - Muddy Water's "All Aboard" which featured both Walter and his successor in Muddy's band, the very young James Cotton. The result was a chugging harp attack that perfectly captured the essence of a locomotive riding the rails. This same approach was later incorporated by the band Bacon Fat with the great George "Harmonica" Smith - another Waters' alumni - and a young Rod Piazza on harps in 1970.
I remember meeting Robert Lockwood, Jr. at a festival once in the late 1980s and discussing his time playing in Walter's band. While he held Walter in high regard as a musician, Robert, Jr. said that Walter's personality made it hard for him to stay in the band. There was also the insistance that there would be no bass player, which really irked Mr. Lockwood to no end. Try as he might to sway Walter, he wouldn't budge and eventually this is what lead to Robert, Jr. leaving the band.
Walter was a true musical genius, visionary and a virtuoso of his instrument. I could go on and on, but won't. If any of this has your interest piqued, then I highly recommend a book written in part by a friend and sometimes playing partner, Ward Gaines, called " Blues With A Feeling: The Little Walter Story". Along with Tony Glover and Scott Dirks, they have written the definitive text on the life of one of the greatest Bluesmen in American history. You may also stop by their web site dedicated to the life and times of Walter : http://www.littlewalter.net
The Genius of Little Walter Jacobs
Re: The Genius of Little Walter Jacobs
Great stuff! I downloaded Juke and ordered the book! I'm gonna see if I can get those 50th anni Chess cds at work. They never offer Chess or Rounder for our quarterly 5 free cd thing, but if I talk to the right person................ I mean, we own both labels, I just need to find the keeper of the blues vault!!