Tired of the generic electric guitar blues of the mid-1940s, Little Walter introduced to blues a new sound by simply combining the use of a guitar amp, mic, and a harmonica; a technique used among harmonica musicians to this day. He made his first released recordings in 1947 for Bernard Abram's tiny Ora-Nelle label, which operated out of the back room of the Abrams' Maxwell Radio and Records store in the heart of the Maxwell Street market area in Chicago. Little Walter thus became the first musician to use electric distortion on purpose. Little Walter is widely regarded as the best harmonica player ever, and you can hear much of his talent accompanying Muddy Waters's repertoire from the 50's, as well as his own numerous and successful recordings of that time.
Jacobs is generally included among blues music greats: his revolutionary harmonica technique has earned comparisons to Charlie Parker and Jimi Hendrix in its impact: There were great musicians before and after, but Jacobs' virtuosity and musical innovations reached heights of expression never previously imagined, and fundamentally altered many listeners' expectations of what was possible on blues harmonica. His body of work earned Little Walter a spot in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the sideman category on March 10, 2008, making him the only artist so honored specifically for his work as a harmonica player.
Jacobs made his first released recordings in 1947 for Bernard Abrams' tiny Ora-Nelle label, which operated out of the back room of Abrams' Maxwell Radio and Records store in the heart of the Maxwell Street market area in Chicago. These and several other early Little Walter recordings, like many blues harp recordings of the era, owed a strong stylistic debt to pioneering blues harmonica player Sonny Boy Williamson I (John Lee Williamson). Little Walter joined Muddy Waters' band in 1948, and by 1950, he was playing acoustic (unamplified) harmonica on Muddy's recordings for Chess Records. The first appearance on record of amplified harmonica was Little Walter's performance on Muddy's "Country Boy" (Chess 1452), recorded on July 11, 1951. For years after his departure from Muddy's band in 1952, Chess continued to hire Little Walter to play on Waters' recording sessions, and as a result his harmonica is featured on most of Muddy's classic recordings from the 1950s.[8] As a guitarist, Little Walter recorded three songs for the small Parkway label with Muddy Waters and Baby Face Leroy Foster (reissued on CD as "The Blues World of Little Walter" from Delmark Records in 1993), as well as on a session for Chess backing pianist Eddie Ware; his guitar work was also featured occasionally on early Chess sessions with Muddy Waters and Jimmy Rogers.
Jacobs had put his career as a bandleader on hold when he joined Muddy's band, but stepped back out front once and for all when he recorded as a bandleader for Chess's subsidiary label Checker Records on 12 May 1952. The first completed take of the first song attempted at his debut session became his first hit, spending eight weeks in the number-one position on the Billboard R&B chart – the song was "Juke", and it is still the only harmonica instrumental ever to become a number-one hit on the Billboard R&B. (Three other harmonica instrumentals by Little Walter also reached the Billboard R&B top 10: "Off the Wall" reached number eight, "Roller Coaster" achieved number six, and "Sad Hours" reached the number-two position while Juke was still on the charts.) "Juke" was the biggest hit to date for Chess and its affiliated labels, and one of the biggest national R&B hits of 1952, securing Walter's position on the Chess artist roster for the next decade.
Little Walter scored fourteen top-ten hits on the Billboard R&B charts between 1952 and 1958, including two number-one hits (the second being "My Babe" in 1955), a level of commercial success never achieved by his former boss Waters, nor by his fellow Chess blues artists Howlin' Wolf and Sonny Boy Williamson II. Following the pattern of "Juke", most of Little Walter's single releases in the 1950s featured a vocal performance on one side, and a harmonica instrumental on the other. Many of Walter's vocal numbers were originals which he or Chess A&R man Willie Dixon wrote or adapted and updated from earlier blues themes. In general, his sound was more modern and uptempo than the popular Chicago blues of the day, with a jazzier conception and less rhythmically rigid approach than other contemporary blues harmonica players.
Upon his departure from Muddy Waters' band in 1952, he recruited a young band that was already working steadily in Chicago backing Junior Wells, The Aces, as his new backing band. The Aces consisted of brothers David Myers and Louis Myers on guitars, and drummer Fred Below, and were re-christened "The Jukes" on most of the Little Walter records on which they appeared. By 1955 the members of The Aces / Jukes had each left Little Walter to pursue other opportunities, initially replaced by guitarists Robert "Junior" Lockwood and Luther Tucker, and drummer Odie Payne. Jr. Others who worked in Little Walter's recording and touring bands in the '50s included guitarists Jimmie Lee Robinson and Freddie Robinson. Little Walter also occasionally included saxophone players in his touring bands during this period, among them a young Albert Ayler, and even Ray Charles on one early tour. By the late 1950s, Little Walter no longer employed a regular full-time band, instead hiring various players as needed from the large pool of local blues musicians in Chicago.
Jacobs was frequently utilized on records as a harmonica accompanist behind others in the Chess stable of artists, including Jimmy Rogers, John Brim, Rocky Fuller, Memphis Minnie, The Coronets, Johnny Shines, Floyd Jones, Bo Diddley, and Shel Silverstein, and on other record labels backing Otis Rush, Johnny Young, and Robert Nighthawk.
Jacobs suffered from alcoholism and had a notoriously short temper, which in late 1950s led to a series of violent altercations, minor scrapes with the law, and increasingly irresponsible behavior. This led to a decline in his fame and fortunes beginning in the late 1950s, although he did tour Europe twice, in 1964 and 1967. (The long-circulated story that he toured the United Kingdom with The Rolling Stones in 1964 has since been refuted by Keith Richards). The 1967 European tour, as part of the American Folk Blues Festival, resulted in the only film/video footage of Little Walter performing that is known to exist. Footage of Little Walter backing Hound Dog Taylor and Koko Taylor on a television program in Copenhagen, Denmark on 11 October 1967 was released on DVD in 2004. Further video of another recently discovered TV appearance in Germany during this same tour, showing Little Walter performing his songs "My Babe", "Mean Old World", and others were released on DVD in Europe in January 2009, and is the only known footage of Little Walter singing. Other TV appearances in the UK (in 1964) and the Netherlands (in 1967) have been documented, but no footage of these has been uncovered. Jacobs recorded and toured only infrequently in the 1960s, playing mainly in and around Chicago.
In 1967 Chess released a studio album featuring Little Walter with Bo Diddley and Muddy Waters titled Super Blues.
Death
A few months after returning from his second European tour, he was involved in a fight while taking a break from a performance at a nightclub on the South Side of Chicago. The relatively minor injuries sustained in this altercation aggravated and compounded damage he had suffered in previous violent encounters, and he died in his sleep at the apartment of a girlfriend at 209 E. 54th St. in Chicago early the following morning. The official cause of death indicated on his death certificate was "coronary thrombosis" (a blood clot in the heart); evidence of external injuries was so insignificant that police reported that his death was of "unknown or natural causes", and there were no external injuries noted on the death certificate. His body was buried at St. Mary's Cemetery in Evergreen Park, IL on February 22, 1968. His grave remained unmarked until 1991, when fans Scott Dirks and Eomot Rasun had a marker designed and installed.
[Legacy
Music journalist Bill Dahl described Little Walter as "king of all post-war blues harpists", who "took the humble mouth organ in dazzling amplified directions that were unimaginable prior to his ascendancy." His legacy has been enormous: he is widely credited by blues historians as the artist primarily responsible for establishing the standard vocabulary for modern blues and blues rock harmonica players. His influence can be heard in varying degrees in virtually every modern blues harp player who came along in his wake, from blues greats such as Junior Wells, James Cotton, George "Harmonica" Smith, Carey Bell, and Big Walter Horton, through modern-day masters Sugar Blue, Billy Branch, Kim Wilson, Rod Piazza, William Clarke, and Charlie Musselwhite, in addition to blues-rock crossover artists such as Paul Butterfield and John Popper of the band Blues Traveler. Little Walter was portrayed in the 2008 film, Cadillac Records, by Columbus Short.
Little Walter's daughter, Marion Diaz Reacco, has established the Little Walter Foundation in Chicago, to preserve the legacy and genius of Little Walter. The foundation aims to create programs for the creative arts, including music, animation and video.
Stephen King's novel, Under the Dome, also features a character named Little Walter Bushey, based on Little Walter.
Dead president
Little Walter Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Them dead presidents
Well I ain't broke but I'm badly bent
Everybody loves them dead presidents
A little bit of Lincoln can't park the car
Washington he can't go too far
Jefferson is good, played the track
If you think you're gonna bring some big bitch back
Them dead presidents
Hamilton on a ten can get you straight
But Jackson on a twenty is really great
And if you're talkin' about a poor man's friend
Grant will get you out of whatever you're in
Them dead presidents
A hundred dollar Franklin is really sweet
A five hundred McKinley is the one for me
If I get a Cleveland I'm really set
A thousand dollar Cleveland is hard to get
Them dead presidents
In the song Dead Presidents by Little Walter, he talks about the significance of money and how it can impact someone's life. He starts off by referencing "dead presidents," which is a popular term for American currency because the faces of past presidents are depicted on the bills. Walter proceeds to explain that even though he is not broke, he is struggling financially. However, everyone loves these "dead presidents" because they hold immense value in society. The next few lines refer to different denominations of bills and their worth. For example, a little bit of Lincoln (a five-dollar bill) cannot pay for much, while Washington (a one-dollar bill) cannot take you too far. Jefferson (a two-dollar bill) is considered good because of its rarity, and if someone thinks they can bring a big purchase back with it, they are mistaken.
Walter then goes on to explain how different denominations of bills can help someone in a bind. He mentions that Hamilton on a ten-dollar bill can get someone straight, but Jackson on a twenty-dollar bill is great. Additionally, Grant is the one who can get someone out of whatever trouble they are in. As the song progresses, Walter talks about the different values of bills and which ones he prefers. He believes that a hundred-dollar Franklin (on the one hundred dollar bill) is sweet, and a five hundred McKinley (on the five hundred dollar bill) is the one for him. Lastly, he mentions that if he gets a Cleveland (on the one thousand dollar bill), he is really set, but that it is hard to get one. Through these lyrics, Little Walter suggests that money holds significant power in society and can impact someone's life in various ways.
Overall, Little Walter's song Dead Presidents touches on the importance of money and the different values of American currency. He uses the term "dead presidents" to symbolize the power and value that money holds in society. The lyrics demonstrate how different denominations of bills can provide assistance in various situations and how they hold different values based on rarity and worth. Through these lyrics, Little Walter conveys the message that money can impact someone's life in both positive and negative ways.
Line by Line Meaning
Them dead presidents
Referring to US paper currency which features deceased American Presidents on each bill
Well I ain't broke but I'm badly bent
I may not be completely impoverished, but I am still in a precarious financial situation
Everybody loves them dead presidents
Many people are motivated by acquiring and accumulating wealth
A little bit of Lincoln can't park the car
A small amount of money is not enough to solve significant financial problems
Washington he can't go too far
The one dollar bill doesn't have a lot of value
Jefferson is good, played the track
The two dollar bill is a valid form of currency
If you think you're gonna bring some big bitch back
If you expect to bring a large amount of money back, you will need to have a lot more than a few dollars
Hamilton on a ten can get you straight
The ten dollar bill featuring Alexander Hamilton can be helpful in certain situations
But Jackson on a twenty is really great
The twenty dollar bill featuring Andrew Jackson is even more valuable
And if you're talkin' about a poor man's friend
If discussing currency that is valuable for people with limited financial means
Grant will get you out of whatever you're in
The fifty dollar bill featuring Ulysses S. Grant can help to solve most problems
A hundred dollar Franklin is really sweet
The one hundred dollar bill featuring Benjamin Franklin is highly desirable
A five hundred McKinley is the one for me
The five hundred dollar bill featuring William McKinley is the best option for me
If I get a Cleveland I'm really set
The one thousand dollar bill featuring Grover Cleveland is rare and valuable
A thousand dollar Cleveland is hard to get
It's very difficult to obtain a one thousand dollar bill featuring Grover Cleveland
Them dead presidents
Repeating the chorus, emphasizing the theme of the song
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Songtrust Ave
Written by: BILLY EMERSON, WILLIE DIXON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Frederick Reed
Love this tune!
Donald Morrow
Little Walter's lowdown growl set to instrumental backing that is both classy and dangerous. This is the unruly grandfather of the O'Jays' "For The Love Of Money."
Lucian Higginbotham
Love this song!! His chess box it always goes out of print before I see it's back. But then wahoo Dead Presidents is on my Willie Dixon Box!!!
ToneKillTech
So glad I found this channel!
deryl warner
LW just absolutely kicked a-ss‼️
I. Rex
thats right, Little Walter was singing about Dead Presidents 5 years before Jay-Z was born.
roughtake
HA HA
brian mccullough
👍
Mitchell Galinkin
This tune has the typical Willie Dixon sound.
Mitchell Galinkin
Roger Rev Not that I know of.