Customer Reviews

Essential Little Walter

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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First things first, for those of you that have the Chess two record/vinyl set called Big Boss Harmonica; the only difference is the records have 4 tracks not found on this cd.

The sound of the cd is superb and 'friggin amazin' given that the track swere recorded in the early fifties to early sixties.

It brings out the high end, essential to harmonica playing and the guitar/drum backup, that got lost when put on vinyl.

You get rich driving harmonica playing that can be as raw as Sonny Boy Williamsom II (Rice Miller) and as Jazzy/Soulful as Toots Theilman, thus listening to the 46 tracks do not become repetitive.

The enclosed booklet is a masterpiece, not only giving information on who played on the tracks and when they were recorded, but an in depth analysis of the feeling and style exhibited on each track (by Walter and the backup players), including an honest appraisal of Walters' playing in the few last tracks done for Chess showing a diminishing of his skills.

Everything is here; terrific sound quality, terrific writing, all his hits and tracks that were not hits but of the highest musicianship and other tracks showing an honest critique of the man, that may not have been gems but show Walter was human and had his falicies.

On a ten scale it gets a 9/10.

Wow, look at the price for a used copy of this CD. I should consider selling mine...
Anyway. Little Walter Jacobs was without a doubt one of the most influential blues harpists of the post-war years.

Originally a harp player and occational guitarist with Muddy Waters' band, Walter jumped ship when his instrumental "Juke" became a hit in 1952, and launched a solo career.
He wasn't as competent or indeed as versatile a songwriter as the other major harp wizard of the 50s and 60s, Aleck 'Rice' Miller (Sonny Boy Williamson II), but this collection still manages to gather a large number of classic blues tunes, including Walter's takes on several Willie Dixon songs, Bo Diddley's "Roller Coaster", Big Maceo Merriweather's "Worried Life Blues", and Big Bill Broonzy's "Key To The Highway" (shamelessly credited to Jacobs himself).

Among the many highlights are Walter's instrumental "Juke", with Jimmy Rogers and Muddy Waters playing guitar, as well as "Tell Me Mama", "My Babe", "I Got To Find My Baby", "Can't Hold Out Much Longer", Walter's own "Blues With A Feeling", Willie Dixon's swaggering "Dead Presidents", the menacing "Boom Boom Out Goes The Light", T-Bone Walker's "Mean Old World", and Jimmy Oden's "Going Down Slow" (which is titled "I've Had My Fun", but it's the same song). And if you ever saw Muddy Waters in concert during the last years of his life, you may have seen him do one of Walters' best songs, the swaggering "Everything's Gonna Be Alright". That one is here as well.

This set is almost too much for the casual listener...46 Little Walter songs, of which only half are truly memorable, and most fans will be happy with one of the two major single-disc collections (MCA/Chess' "The Best of Little Walter" and the reconfigured "His Best"), although both of those unfortunately skip one of Walter's best songs, "Dead Presidents". But you can rectify that by getting Willie Dixon's excellent "Chess Box" which includes a couple of Walter numbers. Or you can just go out and try to find a copy of this the most thorough overview ever of Little Walter Jacobs' career.

This collection is not only essential walter Jacobs, it is essentially the player who all who dare to make the harmonica a significant instrument is measured against. Like Charlie parker is to saxophone as Jimi hendrix is to guitar is Little Walter is to harmonica. There has been some greats that have come by such as Charlie Musslewhite or Rod Piazza to name a couple. But they cant pass walters ability to innovate. Technique is so much to be measured. ability is found and considered when a person gives himself to his art and that what he did. His use of rythm and deep swooping lines attack the center of the human emotions that captures the places that cannot be fathomed. The solo's on some of the pieces have the ears wondering if there is two harmonica players or maybe even a saxophone. His work is visionary somewhat like Mozart's is to me. He can move from a longing soul to a swaggering feel to a roller coaster ride and the back up band just follows. a few of his tunes crossed over to R&B charts to make it high on the charts. He is of course a Muddy Waters discovery and is right there with the Shapers of what IS the blueprint of all blues.

The intro harp wail to "Blue Midnight" is SO DAMN INTENSE that it makes my hair stand on end and chills the hell out of me. An outstanding collection, gems all.

5 stars is not enough to describe this remastered 2 cd compilation. It should be called monumental rather than essential. This is an anthology of Marion Walter Jacobs Chess material from 1952-1963. This 2 cd anthology contains all of the tracks on "His Best" and all but two of the tracks which were on the old releases "The Best Of Little Walter Volumes 1 & 2". Marion Walter Jacobs was the greatest and most influential harmonica player EVER bar none. He was one of first to play using an amplified harmonica and to emulate horn lines using his instrument. He also helped popularize the use of the chromatic harmonica. His uptempo numbers swing like mad and he was also an expert at playing stone blues. He was a great vocalist and was equally adept at playing instrumentals such as "Juke" his first hit. Little Walter took what he learned from Sonny Boy Williamson I and II and improved upon it. He joined Muddy Waters classic band in 1948 and there was no looking back. It was not long until Little Walter wanted to front his own band. He joined the Aces with Louis and David Myers and Fred Below. Other musicians who appear on this compilation are Muddy Waters, Jimmy Rogers, Willie Dixon, Otis Spann, Robert Lockwood, Bo Diddley, Buddy Guy and others. Many of the cuts on these two disks have been covered by other blues and rock artists such as "Mean Old World", "My Babe", "Boom, Boom Out Go The Lights", "Dead Presidents" and others. Every track is interesting and most are blues classics". Some of my favorites include "Hate To See You Go", "Roller Coaster", "It's Too Late Brother" and just about everything on the set. My only regret is that the compilers did not include the amazing instrumental "Teenage Beat". This is minor quibble. I give this set my highest recommendation and if you like it I suggest picking up a copy of "Blues With A Feeling" another 2 cd set. The latter set includes more Chess material which did not make this set along with some tasty rarities. It includes the aforementioned "Teenage Beat" as well as some more favorites like "Thunderbird", "Flying Saucer" and "Who". The cover picture of this anthology shows the scars on the face of Little Walter which were part of his combative personality and unfortunately probably led to his early demise.

This album is a great collection and a true representation of Little Walter's work. He is one of the most influential harp players in blues history if not the number one most influential. The songs on this compilation are all wonderful recordings and captures Little Walter's raw jukin' sound magnificently recorded at the Chess Studios.

Little Walter, that quintessential harmonica (harp) player who was to his instrument what Jimi Hendrix and Charlie Parker were to theirs, shared many things in common with early blues great Robert Johnson. Both were self-taught, both were masters of their instrument (in Johnson's case, slide guitar), both were very influential to generations of younger bluesmen (such as Kim Wilson, the harp player and guru of the Fabulous Thunderbirds), and both died tragically young. But while Johnson is esteemed, even revered, by fans of both blues and rock, Little Walter has been largely forgotten by the general public. Why? One possible answer could be that Johnson's music was championed early and often by Eric Clapton, whose entire career has been in the spotlight, while Walter's most important young white devotee was Paul Butterfield, whose name faded from memory after a brief burst of publicity in the sixties, and who died tragically young himself. Also, as the liner notes (and Walter's excellent biography, Blues With A Feeling) make clear, Walter was often in the wrong place at the wrong time, his skills declining due to alcoholism after a brief period of early success. This fact is shown by this boxset, which is laid out chronologically: the first disc is far superior to the second. Here we have all of Walter's fabulous hits: "Juke", "My Babe", "You Better Watch Yourself", and "Tell Me Mama", as well as the three songs later covered superbly by Butterfield on his first album: "Blues With A Feeling", "Mellow Down Easy", and "Last Night". However, the second disc also has a number of highlights, most notably Walter's version of the Big Bill Broonzy standard "Key to the Highway," covered memorably ten years later by Derek and the Dominoes. Walter's unmatched harmonica playing makes the material still sound utterly contemporary after a half century (especially on "Boogie," a postmodern instrumental blowfest), and his backup musicians, including guitarists Louis and Dave Myers, Luther Tucker, and Robert Lockwood, drummers Fred Below and Sam Lay, and on more than one occasion, the entire Muddy Waters Blues Band (Walter was an early member of that most esteemed unit), accompany their leader with both precision and soul. Walter's singing is surprisingly edgy and provides a nice foil to the material at hand. My only suggestion would be for the listener to purchase Muddy Waters: The Chess Box to hear Walter in his prime as a sideman as well as a leader. Purchase The Essential Little Walter today, for this set is truly as essential to your blues collection as anything recorded by Robert Johnson.

being a bluesfan for over twenty years and an amature harmonica player myself this is the center piece of all blues harp. He took a instrument that accompained the voice and made the instrument the dominant voice. He is the first and original one to do this. Genius. Little Walter is to harmonica IS what Charlie parker IS to the saxophone. IN the same the Jimi hendrix was to the guitar. More than the gritty Chicago scene, He sails above into what isnt defined by his contemporaries. This collection has wonderfull stuff that lets you understand why when he played with Muddy Waters band they were sometimes called the "headhunters." Even if you are not particulary a fan of the HARP per se this colection brushes up against what is nothing less than a timeless piece of ART...............To me the is not just essential Walter Jacobs but essential BLUES period.

Little Walter is the king of blues harp. His instrumental works like "Boogie", "Back Track", and "Blue Midnight" are incredible. This is one of my favorite blues albums and I would strongly recommend it to anyone, especially aspiring harmonica players. There's nothing better than learning from the master!

I actually would like this set more if the singing and songs didn't get in the way. But barring that, there's the harmonica - rich, lucid, bubbly and overflowing with vitality. Juke and My Babe are obvious standouts, but everything in the middle period bears some hearing. The way he holds the harp right up to the mike and blows the needle into the red zone - it's an emotional experience indeed!