Little Walter discography explained

Artist:Little Walter
Compilation:8
Singles:36
Option:49
Option Name:Singles as accompanist
1Option:9
1Option Name:Albums as accompanist

Little Walter (1930–1968) was an American blues artist who is generally regarded as the most influential blues harmonica player of his era. Most of his earliest recordings were as a sideman, when he contributed harmonica to songs by Chicago blues musicians such as Jimmy Rogers and Muddy Waters. As the featured artist, he recorded the instrumental "Juke" in 1952. The single reached number one on the Billboard Rhythm and Blues chart and launched his career as a solo artist.

A string of popular singles followed, including "Mean Old World", "Blues with a Feeling", and "Key to the Highway". His "My Babe" was one of the biggest R&B sellers of 1955. In addition to his solo career, Little Walter continued to record harmonica for songs by other artists. His harmonica can be heard on many of Muddy Waters' most famous songs, such as "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man", "I Just Want to Make Love to You", and "Got My Mojo Working".

Little Walter recorded at a time when blues musicians were primarily singles artists. His records were released on Checker Records, run by the Chess brothers, Leonard and Phil. The one album released during his lifetime is a compilation issued by Chess Records, titled The Best of Little Walter (1958). Rolling Stone magazine ranked it at number 198 in its list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".[1] Little Walter died in 1968, a time when interest in electric blues shifted the focus from singles to albums. Chess continued to issue compilations of his earlier singles as well as previously unreleased recordings. In 2009, The Complete Chess Masters: 1950–1967 was issued by the Checker/Chess successor, Hip-O Records/Universal. The five compact disc box set contains 126 recordings and is believed to represent all of his solo recordings. In 2010, the set received a Grammy Award for Best Historical Album.[2]

Singles

Most of Little Walter's first recordings from 1947 to 1951 were as a harmonica player backing bluesmen, such as Jimmy Rogers, Sunnyland Slim, and Muddy Waters. However, a few songs recorded during this period were issued on singles, which were credited to Little Walter. These include releases on Chance Records (as "Little Walter J."),[3] and Parkway and Regal (as "Little Walter Trio"). After Leonard and Phil Chess began promoting him as a featured artist on their Checker label in 1952, his singles were variously credited as "Little Walter and His Night Cats",[4] "Little Walter and His Nightcaps",[5] "Little Walter and His Jukes",[6] or simply "Little Walter".[7] These singles were issued on 78 rpm and 45 rpm records, when they were the standard formats.

Title A-side / B-side! scope="col" width=5%
YearLabel
"Ora Nelle Blues" (AKA "That's All Right") / "I Just Keep Loving Her" (A-side by Othum Brown)1947Chance (1116)
"Just Keep Lovin' Her" / "Moonshine Blues"1950Parkway (502)
"Muskadine Blues" / "Bad Acting Woman"1950Regal (3296)
"Juke" (i) / "Can't Hold Out Much Longer"1952Checker (758)1
"Sad Hours" (i) / Checker (764)2
"Mean Old World"19536
"Don't Have to Hunt No More" (i) / "Tonight with a Fool" [this release withdrawn/cancelled]Checker (767)
"Tell Me Mama" /Checker (770)10
"Off the Wall" (i)8
"Blues with a Feeling" / "Quarter to Twelve" (i)Checker (780)2
"You're So Fine" / "Lights Out" (i)1954Checker (786)2
"Oh Baby" / "Rocker" (i)Checker (793)8
"You Better Watch Yourself" / "Blue Light" (i)Checker (799)8
"Last Night" / "Mellow Down Easy"Checker (805)6
"My Babe" / "Thunder Bird" (i)1955Checker (811)1
"Roller Coaster" (i) / "I Got to Go"Checker (817)6
"Too Late" / "I Hate to See You Go (Come Back Baby)"Checker (825)
"Who" / "It Ain't Right"1956Checker (833)7
"One More Chance with You" / "Flying Saucer" (i)Checker (838)
"Just a Feeling" / "Teenage Beat" (i)Checker (845)
"It's Too Late Brother" / "Take Me Back"Checker (852)
"Nobody But You" / "Everybody Needs Somebody"1957Checker (859)
"Boom, Boom Out Goes the Lights" / "Temperature"Checker (859)
"" (i) / "Confessin' the Blues"1958Checker (890)
"Key to the Highway" / "Rock Bottom" (i)Checker (904)6
"My Baby Is Sweeter" / "Crazy Mixed-Up World"1959Checker (919)
"Everything Gonna Be Alright" / "Back Track" (i)Checker (930)25
"Me and Piney Brown" / "Break It Up"Checker (938)
"Ah'w Baby" / "I Had My Fun"1960Checker (945)
"My Babe" [remix with female backing vocals added] / "Blue Midnight" (i)Checker (955)[8]
"I Don't Play" / "As Long as I Have You"1961Checker (968)
"Crazy For My Baby" / "Crazy Legs"Checker (986)[9]
"Just Your Fool" / "I Got to Find My Baby"1962Checker (1013)
"Up the Line" / "Southern Feeling" (i)1963Checker (1043)
"Shake Dancer" (i) / "Diggin' My Potatoes" (B-side by Washboard Sam)1964Checker (1071)
"I'm a Business Man" / "Dead Presidents"Checker (1081)
"Mean Ole Frisco" / "Blue and Lonesome"1965Checker (1117)
An (i) denotes an instrumental release; A dash (—) denotes a release that did not reach the charts.

Selected compilation albums

As with most blues musicians before the mid-1960s, Little Walter was a singles artist. The one album released during his lifetime, the compilation Best of Little Walter, was issued on the Checker-affiliated Chess Records in 1958. After his death, additional songs were compiled on albums, sometimes by other record companies without authorization[10] or, as author Richie Unterberger noted, the "legality was dubious". The compilation albums listed are issued by Chess and its successors.

Title! scope="col" width=%
Album details
The Best of Little Walter
  • Released: 1958
  • Label: Chess (LP 1428)
  • Format: Monaural LP record
  • Note: Includes 10 of his charting singles from 1952–1955, plus 2 B-sides
Hate to See You Go
  • Released: 1969
  • Label: Chess (LP 1535)
  • Format: LP
  • Note: 15 songs from 1955–1965
Boss Blues Harmonica
  • Released: 1972
  • Label: Chess (2CH 60014)
  • Format: Double LP
  • Note: 24 songs from 1952–1964
Confessin' the Blues
  • Released: 1974
  • Label: Chess (CHV 416)
  • Format: Mono/stereo LP
  • Note: 15 songs from 1953–1963
[11]
The Essential Little Walter
  • Released: June 8, 1993
  • Label: Chess/MCA (CHD2-9342)
  • Format: 2 CDs
  • Note: 46 songs, including some unreleased/alternate tracks
Blues with a Feeling
  • Released: October 25, 1995
  • Label: Chess/MCA (CHD2-9357)
  • Format: 2 CDs
  • Note: 40 songs, including many unreleased/alternate tracks
His Best: The Chess 50th Anniversary Collection
  • Released: 1997
  • Label: Chess/MCA (CHD-9384)
  • Format: CD
  • Note: Includes 12 of his 15 charting singles, plus 8 B-sides; essentially supersedes the 1958 The Best of Little Walter
[12]
The Complete Chess Masters (1950–1967)
  • Released: 2009
  • Label: Hip-O/Universal (B0012636-02)
  • Format: 5-CD box set
  • Note: 126 songs on 5 CDs; all known/available Checker/Chess recordings, including many alternate takes
[13]

As accompanist

Singles

Title A-side / B-side! scope="col" width=5%
YearListed artist(s)Label
"Ora Nelle Blues" (AKA "That's All Right") / "I Just Keep Loving Her" (B-side by "Little Walter J.")1947Chance (1116)
"Blue Baby" / "I Want My Baby"1948Tempo-Tone (TT-1002)
"Boll Weevil" / "Red Headed Woman"1950Baby Face Leroy TrioParkway (104)
"Rollin' and Tumblin'" Part 1 / "Rollin' and Tumblin'" Part 2Baby Face Leroy TrioParkway (501)
"You're Gonna Need My Help 'I Said' (Gonna Need My Help)" / "Sad Letter Blues"Muddy WatersChess (1434)
"That's All Right" / "Ludella"Chess (1435)
"Louisiana Blues" / "Evans Shuffle"Muddy WatersChess (1441)10
"Going Away Baby" / "Today Today Blues"Chess (1442)
"Joliet Blues" / "So Glad I Found You"Chess (1443)
"Long Distance Call" / "Too Young to Know"Muddy WatersChess (1452)8
"Wandering Lover" / "Lima Beans"1951Chess (1461)
"Honey Bee" / "Appealing Blues"Muddy WatersChess (1468)
"Money Marbles & Chalk" / "Chance to Love"Chess (1476)
"Still a Fool" / "My Fault" (not on A-side)Muddy WatersChess (1480)9
"She Moves Me" / "Early Morning Blues (Before Daybreak)" (not on B-side)Muddy WatersChess (1490)10
"Dark Road" / "Big World"Chess (1498)
"Jealous Woman" / "Give Love Another Chance" (not on B-side)1952Chess (1507)
"All Night Long" / "Country Boy"Muddy WatersChess (1509)
"Please Have Mercy" / "I Can't Be Satisfied" (not on B-side)Muddy WatersChess (1514)
"Rattlesnake" / "It Was a Dream"John BrimChecker (769)
"Me and My Chauffeur" / "Broken Heart" (not on B-side)Memphis MinnieChecker (771)
"Turn the Lamp Down Low (Baby Please Don't Go)" / "Who's Gonna Be Your Sweet Man" (not on B-side)1953Muddy WatersChess (1542)
"Left Me with a Broken Heart" / "Act Like You Love Me"Chess (1543)
"Mad Love (I Want You to Love Me)" / "Blow Wind Blow"Muddy WatersChess (1550)6
"I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man" / "She's So Pretty"1954Muddy WatersChess (1560)3
"Just Make Love to Me (I Just Want to Make Love to You)" / "Oh Yeah"Muddy WatersChess (1571)4
"Chicago Bound" / "Sloppy Drunk"Chess (1574)
"I'm Ready" / "I Don't Know Why"Muddy WatersChess (1579)4
"I'm a Natural Born Lover" / "Loving Man" (not on A-side)Muddy WatersChess (1585)
"I Want to Be Loved" / "My Eyes (Keep Me in Trouble)"1955Muddy WatersChess (1596)
"Manish Boy (Mannish Boy)" / "Young Fashioned Ways (Old Fashioned Ways)" (not on A-side)Muddy WatersChess (1602)
"Diddley Daddy" / "She's Fine, She's Mine" (not on B-side)Bo DiddleyChecker (819)
"Sugar Sweet (I Can't Call Her Sugar)" /Muddy WatersChess (1612)11
"Trouble No More"7
"Blues All Day Long" / "You're the One"1956Chess (1616)
"Forty Days and Forty Nights" / "All Aboard"Muddy WatersChess (1620)7
"Be Careful" / "You Got Me Where You Want Me"Chess (1624)
"Don't Go No Farther (You Need Meat)" / "Diamonds at Your Feet"Muddy WatersChess (1630)9
"Just to Be with You" / "I Got to Find My Baby"Muddy WatersChess (1644)
"Got My Mojo Working" / "Rock Me"Muddy WatersChess (1652)
"I Live the Life I Love (I Love the Life I Live)" / "Evil"<--NOT the Willie Dixon/Howlin' Wolf song-->1957Muddy WatersChess (1680)
"Groaning the Blues" / "If You Were Mine"Cobra (5010)
"Love That Woman" / "Jump Sister Bessie"Cobra (5015)
"What Have I Done" / "Trace of You"Chess (1687)
"Close to You" / "She's Nineteen Years Old"1958Muddy WatersChess (1704)9
"Walking Thru the Park (Walking in the Park)" / "Mean Mistreater"Muddy WatersChess (1718)
"Clouds in My Heart" / "Ooh Wee"Muddy WatersChess (1724)
"Read Way Back" / "I'm Your Doctor"1960Muddy WatersChess (1752)
"Look What You've Done" / "Love Affair" (not on B-side)Muddy WatersChess (1758)
"Got My Mojo Working, Part 1 (live)" / "Woman Wanted" (not on A-side)Muddy WatersChess (1774)
A dash (—) denotes a release that did not reach the charts.

Albums

Songs recorded with Little Walter as a sideman are included on many compilations by Muddy Waters and Jimmy Rogers. Albums with four songs recorded live in the late 1960s have been released by several issuers of bootleg recordings. These often appear along with songs by Otis Rush on albums with titles such as Live in the Windy City and At the Chicago Blues Festival. Additional live recordings from the 1967 American Folk Blues Festival have circulated on unofficial sources.

Title! scope="col" width=30%
Listed artist(s)Album details
Ramblin' on My Mind: A Collection of Classic Train and Travel BluesVarious artists
  • Released: 1966
  • Label: Milestone (MLP 3002)
  • Format: LP
  • Note: Includes "Hear That Whistle Blow" recorded with Johnny Young 1964
Super BluesBo Diddley, Muddy Waters, and Little Walter
  • Released: June 1967
  • Label: Checker (LP/S 3008)
  • Format: LP
  • Recorded: January 4, 1967
  • Note: Collaborative album with remakes of 8 songs originally recorded by the 3 artists
Masters of Modern Blues, Volume 4Robert Nighthawk, Houston Stackhouse
  • Released: 1968
  • Label: Testament (T-2215)
  • Format: LP
  • Note: Includes "Kansas City" recorded live with Nighthawk in 1964
They Call Me Muddy WatersMuddy Waters
  • Released: February 1971
  • Label: Chess (CH 1553)
  • Format: LP
  • Note: Includes 6 songs recorded with Muddy Waters April and June 1967
Johnny Young and His FriendsJohnny Young
  • Released: 1975
  • Label: Testament (T-2226)
  • Format: LP
  • Note: Includes 3 songs recorded with Young in 1964
The Blues World of Little WalterLittle Walter and Baby Face Leroy
  • Released: 1988
  • Label: Delmark (DD-648)
  • Format: LP
  • Note: Includes 5 pre-Checker songs with Walter on unamplified harmonica, plus 3 more on rhythm guitar (also songs by other artists)
Mandolin BluesJohnny Young, Yank Rachell, Carl Martin, Willie Hatcher
  • Released: 1997
  • Label: Testament (TCD-6004)
  • Format: CD
  • Note: Includes 2 songs recorded with Young 1964
Down Home SlideVarious artists
  • Released: 1998
  • Label: Testament (TCD-6009)
  • Format: CD
  • Note: Includes 3 songs recorded with Nighthawk in 1964
Down Home HarpVarious artists
  • Released: 1998
  • Label: Testament (TCD-6011)
  • Format: CD
  • Note: Includes 2 songs recorded with Young and Nighthawk in 1964

Notes

FootnotesCitationsReferences

Notes and References

    1. 198 The Best of Little Walter
    . Rolling Stone. 2003. https://web.archive.org/web/20100612150633/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/6862/35223/36217. dead. June 12, 2010. September 20, 2010.
  1. Web site: The Grammy Awards: The Winners. January 31, 2010. Variety. December 6, 2021. December 5, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211205191622/https://variety.com/2010/music/awards/the-grammy-awards-the-winners-1118014520/. live.
  2. 1947. "That's Alright" / "Just Keep Loving Her". Single notes. Little Walter. Chance Records. CH-1116. Record labels.
  3. 1952. "Juke" / "Can't Hold On Much Longer". Single notes. Little Walter. Checker Records. 758. Record labels.
  4. 1953. "Mean Old World" / "Sad Hours". Single notes. Little Walter. Checker Records. 764. Record labels.
  5. 1953. "Tell Me Mama" / "Off the Wall". Single notes. Little Walter. Checker Records. 770. Record labels.
  6. 1953. "Just a Feeling" / "Teenage Beat". Single notes. Little Walter. Checker Records. 845. Record labels.
  7. 1960. "My Babe" / "Blue Midnight". Single notes. Little Walter. Checker Records. CK-955. Record labels.
  8. 1961. "Crazy For My Baby" / "Crazy Legs". Single notes. Little Walter. Checker Records. CK-986. Record labels.
  9. Holland. Bill. October 18, 1997. MCA Is Victor in Supreme Ct. Refusal to Hear Charly Case. Billboard. 0006-2510. 5, 97.
  10. Web site: Little Walter: Confessin' the BluesReview . Eder . Bruce . . December 15, 2021 . November 5, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201105013245/https://www.allmusic.com/album/confessin-the-blues-mw0000076358 . live .
  11. Web site: Little Walter: His BestReview. Koda. Cub. Cub Koda. AllMusic. December 10, 2021. December 10, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211210165458/https://www.allmusic.com/album/his-best-mw0000023808. live.
  12. Web site: Little Walter: The Complete Chess MastersReview . Erlewine . Stephen Thomas . Stephen Thomas Erlewine . AllMusic . December 15, 2021 . December 15, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211215143508/https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-complete-chess-masters-1950-1967-mw0000811843 . live .