Little Walter
Name: Marion Walter Jacobs
Born: May 1st, 1930
Death: February 15, 1968
Raised: Little Walter was raised in Marksville, Louisiana
Lived: He lived in Chicago, Illinois
Famous for: Little Walter was a great blues artist. He was known for his great skills with the harmonica. He produced great love songs as well as displaying his quick temper and aggression through his beloved music. He was also one of the first musicians to use an amp to it's full potential.
Influences: Growing up in the south, Walter was greatly influenced by his grandmother, who took him to church every week, where he learn to play his harmonica.
Songs:
1. Nobody But You
Walter did not like using too many instruments in his songs. This stays true in this song, where you can hear a piano, drums and french horn. Walter's songs almost always follow a specific format. He starts his is vocals , and chorus like piece, then he turns to an instrumental this takes up the bulk of the song (0:53), and lastly back to the chorus again. This song follows the same format, only adding an intro and coda. Walter is singing of love, however you would not be able to tell if you did not know english. He sings without true feeling, giving it a cloudy and mysterious feel.
2. Boom, Boom out go the lights
There is a great harmonica solo that shows off Walter's unmatched ability to play the harmonica ( 0:53 ). The song also displays the more rugged side to Walter. Rather than his loving side he shows us this quick tempered and easily angered side. This makes him come off as someone who has had a difficult life and more "Bluesy". Walter uses his most common instruments in this song as well, the piano, the drums, and the french horn. He also uses his quick and simple lyrics with a few rhymes but nor much detail or a verse ( 0:12 ).
3. My baby is sweeter MAR
There is lower version of the Blues form played by the guitar, that sounds very similar to the original 12 bar Blues ( played throughout whole song.). This song again follows his ABA format with two vocal sections and one instrumental sections. This songs shows much more emotion, it feels as if he truly is in love. He again makes simple rhymes in his lyric to express his feelings (0:15). The harmonica can also be found in the instrumental section( 1:08 ), where he shows off his great skills with that instrument. This is a great song to show off his softer side.
4. Jump
This is a song that Walter shows his best work. He plays a harmonica the whole time, without ever using his vocals. He made this song very upbeat and exciting. There is also a soft drum, soft guitar, and a guitar that matches his harmonica skills complementing his harmonica. You can hear Walter to a great slide on his harmonica at 3:15. Walter goes through many cord processions on his harmonica however they don't sound very "Bluesy." The strong guitar is the closest thing to the blues form in this songs.
Comments (2)
GriffinL. said
at 1:39 pm on Dec 1, 2012
Very informative page, great song descriptions. The only way I can think of to improve it is to add a picture.
Sukhi Singh said
at 4:12 pm on Dec 2, 2012
really like the page, has a lot of info and and really enjoyed listening to "Boom Boom out Go The Lights. the solo is very interesting and and this artist has a very calm classic blues feeling. also the simple rhymes are nice because it doesn't get to complicated its just right. and this artist has a deep voice like mine (howlin wolf. and i would recommend a picture, other than that good page.
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