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
You're My Best Poker Hand
T-Bone Walker Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I need a queen like you to make my hand OK
The kid drew three aces and stacked them back to back (2x)
I looked at my hand and not a smile did I crack
When the deal goes down I've only drawed one card (2x)
And if you play poker, you know that sure is hard
The kid spread his hand and began to blush
The kid spread his hand and then began to blush
But his face turned pale when he saw my queen high flush
In T-Bone Walker's song You're My Best Poker Hand, the singer laments about his five-card hand and his inability to play the game well enough. He needs a queen, which he compares to his love interest, in order to make his hand acceptable to win the game. The use of "queen" not only refers to the playing card but also to his love interest- a queen-like figure that could complete him.
The singer watches another player draw three aces and stack them back to back resulting in a powerful hand. However, he does not let his own lack of success in the game affect him, and instead continues to maintain a poker face. With only one card drawn, the singer faces the challenge of limited options in the game of poker.
When the kid spreads his own hand, he begins to blush, revealing to the singer that the kid held an inferior hand. The singer's confidence grows as he looks at his own hand, which contains a queen high flush, the highest hand possible. The revelation causes the kid's face to turn pale, conceding defeat to the singer.
Overall, the song uses the game of poker as a metaphor for life, emphasizing the importance of having the right tools and luck, and acknowledging the moments of chance that can change someone's fortunes.
Line by Line Meaning
I've got a five card hand and I don't know how to play (2x)
I am unsure of how to use the five cards I have been dealt
I need a queen like you to make my hand OK
I require the presence of a queen in order for my cards to be useful
The kid drew three aces and stacked them back to back (2x)
The young person drew three aces and organized them one after the other
I looked at my hand and not a smile did I crack
My facial expression did not indicate that my hand was good
When the deal goes down I've only drawed one card (2x)
I only received one new card during the card dealing process
And if you play poker, you know that sure is hard
It is difficult to win in poker with only one new card
The kid spread his hand and began to blush
The young person showed their cards and became embarrassed
But his face turned pale when he saw my queen high flush
Their face went white when they saw that I had a combination of cards worth a lot of points
Contributed by Gavin O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
flavants
I jump with T Bone everyday!
MrFunkacide
very nice
Jimmy TEDESCO
SUPER
Alf Ching
They All Learnt From T Bone