Walker was born in Linden, Texas of African and Cherokee descent. Walker's parents, Movelia Jimerson and Rance Walker, were both musicians. His stepfather, Marco Washington, taught him to play the guitar, ukulele, banjo, violin, mandolin and piano.
Early in the 1920s, the teenage Walker learned his craft among the street-strolling string bands of Dallas. His mother and stepfather (a member of the Dallas String Band) were musicians, and family friend Blind Lemon Jefferson sometimes joined the family for dinner. Walker left school at age 10, and by 15, he was a professional performer on the blues circuit. Initially, he was Jefferson's protégé and would guide him around town for his gigs. In 1929, Walker made his recording debut with a single for Columbia Records, "Wichita Falls Blues"/"Trinity River Blues," billed as Oak Cliff T-Bone. Oak Cliff was the community he lived in at the time and T-Bone a corruption of his middle name. Pianist Douglas Fernell was his musical partner for the record.
Walker married Vida Lee in 1935 and the couple had three children. By the age of 26 Walker was working the clubs in Los Angeles' Central Avenue, sometimes as the featured singer and guitarist with Les Hite's orchestra.
His distinctive sound developed in 1942 when Walker recorded "Mean Old World" for Capitol Records. Much of his output was recorded from 1946–1948 on Black & White Records, including 1947's "Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday Is Just As Bad)", with its famous opening line, "They call it stormy Monday, but Tuesday's just as bad". He followed up with his "T-Bone Shuffle" and "Let Your Hair Down, Baby, Let's Have a Natural Ball". Both are considered blues classics.
Throughout his career Walker worked with the top quality musicians, including Teddy Buckner (trumpet), Lloyd Glenn (piano), Billy Hadnott (bass), and Jack McVea (tenor sax).
Following his work with Black & White, he recorded from 1950-54 for Imperial Records (backed by Dave Bartholomew). Walker's only record in the next five years was T-Bone Blues, recorded over three widely separated sessions in 1955, 1956 and 1959, and finally released by Atlantic Records in 1960.
By the early 1960s, Walker's career had slowed down, in spite of a hyped appearance at the American Folk Blues Festival in 1962 with Memphis Slim and Willie Dixon, among others. A few critically acclaimed albums followed, such as I Want a Little Girl. Walker recorded in his last years, 1968 - 1975, for Robin Hemingway's Jitney Jane Songs music publishing company, and he won a Grammy Award in 1971 for Good Feelin' (Polydor), produced by Robin Hemingway. "Fly Walker Airlines", Polydor, also produced by Hemingway, was released in 1973.
T-Bone Walker died in 1975, at the age of 64. He is interred in the Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California.
Walker's influence extended beyond his music. Chuck Berry called Walker and Louis Jordan (as well as Jordan's guitarist, Carl Hogan) his main influences. T-Bone Walker was the childhood hero of Jimi Hendrix, and Hendrix imitated some of Walker's ways throughout his life. Years before Hendrix, Walker was playing guitar with his teeth or in strange positions.
Walker was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980, and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987
Long Skirt Baby Blues
T-Bone Walker Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
In T-Bone Walker's song "Long Skirt Baby Blues," the singer is addressing a woman who has changed her style since they first met. He describes her as having been a "real gone chick" - meaning she was hip and fashionable - but she has now let her skirt down and is stuck in "antique ways." He advises her to wake up and change her ways, rather than going back to the outdated fashion of horse and buggy days.
The woman seems to be resistant to change, insisting that the style is simply shifting. The singer observes that she is now wearing long skirts, and doesn't even know why she's doing it. He laments that if you leave it up to a woman, they'll always take things to the extreme.
Overall, the song can be seen as a commentary on the nature of fashion and how people adopt trends. While change can be good, it's important not to simply follow fads without understanding why they're happening. The singer is warning his partner not to become trapped in an outdated mode of thinking and behavior.
Line by Line Meaning
When I first met you baby, you were a real gone chick
When I first met you baby, you were really cool.
Now you've let your skirt down 'n you know that ain't the lick
Now you've become more conservative and you need to change that.
You better wake up baby n' change your antique ways
You need to wake up and start being more modern.
Instead of advancin' baby, you're goin back to horse and buggy days
You're regressing instead of progressing.
You said the style is changin', I don't know why I should laugh or cry
You don't know whether to be happy or sad about the changing style.
You've been wearin' long skirts baby, you don't know the reason why
You are blindly following fashion trends without questioning them.
Just leave it up to a woman, they'll do it every time
Women are always in charge of fashion trends.
Well ain't no long skirt baby, gonna be no gal a-mine
I won't be interested in a woman wearing long skirts.
Contributed by Tyler I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
RF CALLE
Qué bien suena este tema!
Fuego directo al corazón
BoneDryShart
Such a bummer it fades out like that! I could listen to this jam on endlessly! What a killer tune!
Abramo Giuria
Funky blues!!!??? un vero genius T bone uno dei miei vecchi bluesman favoriti.I love you
grosper
Great!
Ganesh Vaidyanathan
Ok, that IS Mel Brown on the left channel playing second guitar! What a terrific album!
oliverecords
WOW thank you so much kktontom60!
Fee Paterson
Food for the soul, mmmmmmm mmmmmmm more please! used to have a Tbone walker album with this, party girl, etc on it, and I can't find it or the accompanying songs anywhere. Any ideas peeps?
Orlando Balliache
This is the songlist of the album:
https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/t-bone-walker/funky-town/
And every song can be found searching on Youtube.