His Best :(Little Walter)The Chess 50th Anniversary Collection

Little Walter | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 17, 1997)
• Original Release Date: June 17, 1997
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Fontana Mca
• ASIN: B000005KQT
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #951 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #1 in Music > Blues > Harmonica Blues
  • #2 in Music > Blues > Chicago Blues
  • #4 in Music > Blues > Regional Blues

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Marion "Little Walter" Jacobs is perhaps the most influential harmonica player on contemporary blues, and his collection is a great place to start. He was trained by Muddy Waters, but brought a more swinging feel to blues. Muddy and his band accompany Little Walter on many hits, as do Robert "Jr." Lockwood, the Aces, and other Chicago greats. In the 1950s, Little Walter's popularity eclipsed even Waters', his style a little more relaxed and pop-oriented. Walter's versions of many songs are the standards: "Blues with a Feeling," "You're So Fine," "Juke." Great stuff. --Robert Gordon

Product Description

No Description Available
No Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: LITTLE WALTER
Title: HIS BEST
Street Release Date: 06/17/1997
Domestic
Genre: BLUES

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

71 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BLUES WITH A FEELIN', March 4, 2001

By 

Patrick Earley (Edmond, Oklahoma USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: His Best :(Little Walter)The Chess 50th Anniversary Collection (Audio CD)

This is a fine compilation of Little Walter's best from the legendary Chess Records. Little Walter was in a league of his own when it came to playing the harp. There was just nobody better. He was a great innovator of the modern day harp sound. And he was the first harp player to go "electric", by using a hand held mike plugged in to an amplifier. This gave him that fat harp tone that seperated him from the rest. They called this new sound the Mississippi Saxophone. Besides having a unique sound, Walter was a fine songwriter whose music has been covered by many of the British artists of the 60's. "It Ain't Right"was covered by John Mayall and Eric Clapton on the classic first Bluesbreakers album. And also the Rolling Stones did a cover of Confessin' The Blues". Little Walter was probably most known for the song "Juke", which he used to play as the opening theme song when he played in the Muddy Waters Band. I think his best instrumental song was "Roller Coaster", which has some unusual opening guitar lines that were very creative for the time, performed by Bo Diddley. But my favorites on here are "My Babe", and "Too Late", both of which Willie Dixon wrote for Walter when he played bass in his band. It's hard to believe these songs were put on vinyl before I was even born. Their timeless. And so is Little Walter. Walter lived a hard life of alcoholism and violence, which eventually led to his death from injuries suffered in a street brawl. He was only 38 when he died, but he left a legacy of great blues music behind. Little Walter had a unique harp sound that nobody's ever been able to copy, or ever will. That's a secret he'll take to the grave.

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Single Disc Compilation Available, But...., July 10, 2005

By 

"The Woj" (Downers Grove, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: His Best :(Little Walter)The Chess 50th Anniversary Collection (Audio CD)

For someone on a budget who is interested in the music of this legendary artist, look no further than this single disc album. The sound and track selection here are excellent. Anyone interested in the blues needs to have at least one Little Walter album in their collection and you can't go wrong here. Another option is Chess's "The Best Of Little Walter" which features only 12 tracks compared to the 20 presented here (personally I give a huge nod to this cd based on track slection, overall sound & price on zShops). But for those of you who have a few extra dollars around, I strongly suggest passing on both single disc releases and opt for the 2 disc set "Essential Little Walter" on the MCA/Chess label. "The Essential" boasts 46 tracks and is more comprehensive than either single disc release. It may be out-of-print, but well worth the find.

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quintessential, June 25, 2001

By 

J. Daily (Fort Worth, Tx United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: His Best :(Little Walter)The Chess 50th Anniversary Collection (Audio CD)

If you are into blues and blues harmonica,this is it. A real deal bluesman who lived the life(see fabulous biographical insert). Part of Muddy Waters band and the electric "revolution." Feel the raw power from his newly developed crunchy, eery back alley, plugged in amplifier sound. Hear the beginnings of modern electric rock & roll. His voice even sounds harplike. Waters and his bandmate Jimmy Rogers play on some tracks,as well as Willie Dixon, Bo Diddly and Otis Spann. From his famous #1 R&B hit instrumental "Juke" to the well known "Boom, Boom out go the lights" every track is a winner. Many tracks recognizable as modern bands have covered some of these. One of my desert island picks.