There are at least two Little Walters. One is the talented but troubled harmonica player, Muddy Waters’ sidekick, who drifted into brutality and alcoholism. This is the Little Walter of tragic legend.
Then there is the consummate musician whose records outsold those of Muddy Waters or Howling Wolf, who fronted one of the best small bands in the nation, and who transformed the harmonica into an instrument of astonishing power and beauty.
The first Little Walter is ably portrayed in the film Cadillac Records, the second can be heard on his Chess recordings.
Due to his early death, clips of Little Walter are extremely rare. We’re lucky to have what we’ve got.
Here’s a documentary clip on Little Walter from the RR hall of fame.
Little Walter – My Babe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GID8SPUMDxQ
Hound Dog Taylor & Little Walter – Wild About You Baby
Koko Taylor ft. Little Walter – Wang Dang Doodle
http://youtu.be/oxCa16-nxtM
Juke
Wikipedia entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Walter
Wikipedia quote about his death:
“A few months after returning from his second European tour, he was involved in a fight while taking a break from a performance at a nightclub on the South Side of Chicago. The relatively minor injuries sustained in this altercation aggravated and compounded damage he had suffered in previous violent encounters, and he died in his sleep at the apartment of a girlfriend at 209 E. 54th St. in Chicago early the following morning. The official cause of death indicated on his death certificate was “coronary thrombosis” (a blood clot in the heart); evidence of external injuries was so insignificant that police reported that his death was of “unknown or natural causes” and there were no external injuries noted on the death certificate.[1] His body was buried at St. Mary’s Cemetery in Evergreen Park, IL on February 22, 1968.”
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