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Big Walter Horton
Horton was born April 6, 1917, in Horn Lake, MS, near Memphis. He began
teaching himself to play the harmonica -- a gift from his father -- at
age five, and moved with his mother to Memphis not long after, where he
played in Handy Park (near the famed Beale Street) for tips. During his
preteen years in the late '20s, he played -- and likely recorded at
least a couple of sides -- with the Memphis Jug Band (as Shakey
Walter); he also learned more about his craft from Will Shade, the Jug
Band's main harmonica player, and Hammie Nixon, a cohort of Sleepy John
Estes. Horton played wherever he could during the Depression -- dances,
parties, juke joints, street corners -- and teamed up with the likes of
Robert Johnson, Johnny Shines, Homesick James, and David "Honeyboy"
Edwards, among others; he also worked as a sideman in several touring
blues bands, including those of Ma Rainey and Big Joe Williams, and
spent his first brief period in Chicago. In 1939, he backed guitarist
Charlie "Little Buddy" Doyle on some sessions for Columbia. Around the
same time (according to Horton himself), he began to experiment with
amplifying his harmonica, which if accurate may have made him the first
to do so.
However, Horton largely dropped out of music for much of the '40s,
working a variety of odd jobs to make ends meet (although he reportedly
gave pointers to both Little Walter and Sonny Boy Williamson II during
this era). He returned to active duty in 1948, playing with the young
B.B. King; the following year, he hooked up with bandleader Eddie
Taylor. He recorded several sides for Sam Phillips in 1951, which were
leased to Modern/RPM and credited to Mumbles (a nickname that
particularly rankled Horton). The following year he recorded with
longtime friend Johnny Shines, and was invited to settle permanently in
Chicago by Eddie Taylor. In early 1953, not long after arriving, Horton
got a chance to record with Muddy Waters, since regular harpman Junior
Wells had been drafted into military service. Horton wound up joining
Waters' band for most of the year, playing on cuts like "Forty Days and
Forty Nights" and "Mad Love (I Want You to Love Me)." However, he was
fired by year's end for breaking band commitments -- either due to
excessive drinking or playing too many side gigs, depending on the
account.
By that point, however, Horton had established himself as a session man
at Chess Records. He also returned to Memphis in 1953 to record several
more sides for Sam Phillips' Sun label, along with guitarist Jimmy
DeBerry; their single "Easy" ranks as one of the all-time classic
harmonica instrumentals, and a Horton signature tune. Horton
subsequently returned to Chicago, where he continued his session work
for Chess (including several more with Waters) and recorded his own
Chess singles under the auspices of producer Willie Dixon. He also cut
sides for Cobra, States ("Hard Hearted Woman"), and Jewel during the
'50s (again, mostly with Dixon producing), and turned in some of his
greatest performances on Chicago blues classics like Jimmy Rogers'
"Walking by Myself," Otis Rush's "I Can't Quit You Baby," and Johnny
Shines' "Evening Sun."
In 1964, Horton recorded his first full-length album, The Soul of Blues
Harmonica, for Chess subsidiary Argo; it was produced by Dixon and
featured Buddy Guy as a sideman, though it didn't completely capture
what Horton could do. Two years later, Horton contributed several cuts
to Vanguard's classic compilation Chicago/The Blues/Today!, Vol. 3,
which did much to establish his name on a blues circuit that was
thriving anew thanks to an infusion of interest from white audiences;
it also showcased his pupil Charlie Musselwhite. In addition to his own
recordings, the '60s found Horton working often in Jimmy Rogers' band,
and performing and recording with the likes of Johnny Shines, J.B.
Hutto, Johnny Young, Big Mama Thornton, Koko Taylor, Robert Nighthawk,
Sunnyland Slim, and the original version of Fleetwood Mac. Toward the
end of the decade, he took on more pupils, most notably Peter "Madcat"
Ruth and Carey Bell, the latter of whom recorded with his mentor on the
1973 Alligator LP Big Walter Horton With Carey Bell. Horton also became
a regular on Willie Dixon's Blues All Stars package tours, which made
their way through America and Europe over the '60s and '70s.
Despite the considerable acclaim he enjoyed from his peers, Horton
never became a recording star on his own; he simply lacked the
temperament to keep a band together for very long, preferring the
sideman work where his shyness was less of a drawback. That, coupled
with his often heavy drinking, meant that money was often scarce, and
Horton kept working steadily whenever possible. After his 1973 album
with Bell, he became a mainstay on the festival circuit, and often
played at the open-air market on Chicago's legendary Maxwell Street,
along with many other bluesmen. In 1977, he joined Johnny Winter and
Muddy Waters on Winter's album I'm Ready, and during the same period
recorded some material for Blind Pig, which later found release as the
albums Fine Cuts and Can't Keep Lovin' You. Horton appeared in the
Maxwell Street scene in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers, accompanying
John Lee Hooker. He died of heart failure on December 8, 1981, and was
inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame the following year.
-Written
by Steve Huey
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