Little Walter Songs
While Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf were heading the charge, Muddy’s blues harp player was making his own moves. The Little Walter songs produced by Chess were among the finest ever recorded.
Chess Records was a revolving lineup that shared backing artists around. Howlin’ Wolf had to threaten Waters after an attempt to steal Hubert Sumlin (his guitarist) at one point. For the most part, however, the musicians shared themselves around.
Little Walter started out backing Muddy on blues harp. Eventually though, there would be records made where Muddy could be heard backing Walter.
Walters joined the revolution of going electric. He plugged his harp microphone into an amplifier and transformed his sound. This came about as a way to compete with the guitars. But while other contemporaries were using it for volume, Walters was also using it for effect.
He would eventually have his own backing band, The Aces. Although the song credits list the band as The Jukes.
Despite the fact Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf were seen as the main artists at Chess, Walter was the most successful in terms of hits. He had fourteen top ten hits and two number one hits with Juke and My Babe.
Let’s look at some iconic Little Walter songs.
Juke
This was Walter’s first big hit. An instrumental that announced him to the world as a frontman harp player and beyond just being a backing musician.
The rasp and honk of an amplified blues harp, was suddenly as much a lead instrument as a saxophone. Bold, punchy and exciting.
It was the only harmonica instrumental ever to reach the number one spot on the Billboard charts and stayed there for eight weeks. In fact, the popular record was the biggest hit to date on Chess or any of its affiliated labels.
The melody in this song is exemplary. It was no wonder other musicians respected Little Walter so much.
Mellow Down Easy
Little Walter is like a one man horn section at the intro to this one. The powerful blasts from his harmonica ride a wave of drums playing a groovy shuffle.
Of all the Little Walter songs mentioned here, this one has the most interesting melody. It starts out percussive, smooths out and comes back in to squeeze a bunch of lyrics in just a few bars.
Coming from Lousianna, it’s more than likely that Little Walters freedom of expression came from Jazzier roots. This song has a feel unlike most of the standard shuffles that dominated this era.
There was a powerful female singer that is right up there with the best blues artists from Chicago and you can find out about her here ====> Koko Taylor
I Hate To See You Go
Slinky and sexy, the intro to I Hate To See You Go demands your attention from the outset.
With a relentless shuffle and a guitar hook that reels you in, Walter plays some aggressively distorted harp as the lead instrument.
The thing that works best about this song is its hypnotic structure. With no chord changes, its repetitive riff keeps you locked in. It takes a really special riff for this to work and expert playing. Both those things exist in this song.
The vocals are dynamic and match the feel of the harmonica. Which leads me to believe that Walter treats his instrument like an extension of his vocal cords. Probably as much as he treats it like a sax or guitar.
Nobody But You
This is another example from a long list of Little Walter songs that falls into the ‘sassy’ category. It moves and it grooves.
Once again the drums shine in this song. The drummer, Fred Below, was a cool cat in a French beret. His drumming was just as cool as he looked.
I dare you to sit still during this one.
Roller Coaster
Little Walter Songs don’t always fit into the jump blues category but this one does.
Compared to the last two examples, this rockets along. A frantic shuffle with a sparse (almost western movie style) guitar riff drives the song along.
Walter shows why he has drawn comparisons with Django Rheinhart, Charlie Parker and Jimi Hendrix for inventiveness on his instruments. He’s up and down the harp like an untamed bronco, that’s going to give you the ride of your life.
Not unlike a roller coaster.
Oh Baby
A powerful harmonica riff leads this one out of the gates. It then runs into the next chord change by transitioning via a very clever guitar lick. It eventually settles into a solid shuffle but it remains one of the best song intros he recorded in his career.
This one has a thumping double bass line thanks to Willie Dixon, who also co-wrote the tune. It underpins the rhythm and creates a heavier feel.
Compared to other little walter songs, the harp is further back in the mix. It’s drenched in reverb which was a signature effect of the era. It doesn’t detract from Walters’ presence on harmonica though. In fact it adds emotional weight to his playing.
I’ve arranged these songs into a YouTube playlist. Check out them out here ===> 6 Little Walter Songs
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