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vendredi 25 février 2022

BIG WALTER HORTON/ Complete Recordings 1951-66

BIG WALTER HORTON/ Complete Recordings 1951-66

 

         


I guess it's certainly not necessary to present Big Walter Horton, also named Shakey Horton, to the followers of my blog. His reputation is very very high among blues buffs all around the world and particularly among harmonica players and fans for whom he is considered as one of the most accomplished and influential blues harp players of all times.

Heavy or piercing, hazy or precise, the harmonica playing of this "Big" Walter – the main competitor of the other Walter, the so called "Little" – is almost always full of feeling and imagination. Many of his solos are masterpieces and now classics of the genre and have been heavily emulated up to those days.

Although most of his biographies mention his birth date as 6th April 1918 at Horn Lake, Arkansas and Blues/ A regional experience gives a birth certificate (for a named Harton) from September 1921, Big Walter has always appeared to all who saw him, including yours truly, as a much older man than that.


Walter was certainly neither a leader nor a very reliable informant and during most of his career he was equally not a very reliable band player, the stories about how he didn't show at a gig or quit during the middle of a performance abound. And this certainly explains why he never reached any stardom, not even being able to make a living out of his music.

But of course when he was playing or recording, Big Walter was certainly a huge master of his instrument.

I had the opportunity to see him quite often while he was touring Europe either with the AFBF's 1965, 1968 and 1970 or when he was a band member of the Willie Dixon's Chicago Blues all stars. I also had the privilege to meet him in Chicago in 1979 when he was backing Floyd Jones on a tiny West Side club. And we drove him to his shabby home where he was living in ugly poverty while posters on the walls were testifying of his great reputation all around the world!


Anyway, this compilation tries to gather all the recordings he made under his name during the years 1951-66, from his early days in Memphis to his first European tour. Of course all of those have been issued and sometimes still available but scattered on many records with a majority of them out of stock. To have them together seemed to me a very interesting way to appreciate his terrific talents as a musician.

After 1966, Walter made a handful of albums for Alligator (maybe his very best) and with several young (at that time) bands like Hot Cottage or John Nicholas' and even appearing in the best selling album Fleetwood Mac/ Blues jam at Chess. All of those are very worthwhile.

Walter died in Chicago on 8th December 1981. To my eyes, he was certainly older than 60 years old.

                                                 Gérard HERZHAFT





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La meilleure boutique spécialisée dans l'harmonica en ligne est certainement HARMONICALAND


24 commentaires:

  1. BIG WALTER HORTON/ Complete Recordings 1951-66

    https://mega.nz/file/QcBglbRQ#7aBRQ436MEybE2y5zHgIYvQZO-paQvadQ--nUK8m5LE

    OK? And don't forget feedbacks are always appreciated

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  2. Hi Gerard, as always a very worthwhile effort, thanks. But (Talkin') Off The Wall is not Horton, it's a guy recorded as "Little Walker" and prob. was Little Sammy Davis.

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  3. Bonjour Gérard. Merci pour ce nouveau partage. Avec James Cotton dernièrement téléchargé, çà va sonner harmonica blues à la maison !! Prenez soin de vous.

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  4. Muchisimos thanks Gerard for this fine collection

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  5. Salut Geraed,
    merci pour ce nouveau post,tres comprehensif,chapeau;Prend soin et garde-toi bien; bon weekend.

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  6. Thanks Gerard, as you point out it's good to have have all these fine recordings gathered together.

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  7. Encore merci, Gérard!

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  8. Thank you, Gerard, for this fine collection.

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  9. Many thanks , Gerard .. 🤩🤩

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  10. Many thanks Gerard. Much appreciated.

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  11. Another labor of love from you, Gerard.

    Merci beaucoup!

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  12. Many thanks for this compilation. I own many of these recordings but never had them all in one place.

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  13. Ok! Big Walter is one of my favorites! And teacher to my friend Carey Bell. Thank you.

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  14. Thank you, Gerard. Finally somebody took it up to gather all these precious sides together. On my next car trip I want to listen to all of them properly sequenced at full blast. Looking forward to it. Thanks and regards

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  15. Hello Gérard,
    Thanks for this complete compilation. A marvelous player.

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    Réponses
    1. The mail disappeared too quick. I wanted to thank you also for the story about your connection with him. And the discography is very helpful.
      All the best.

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  16. Hello Gerard!
    Merci pour ce superbe partage.

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  17. Terrific post, Gerard. Many thanks!

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  18. Un grand merci une fois de + !
    Philippe L

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  19. Thank you so much Gerard for a wonderful upload.

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