Little Walter

Marion Walter Jacobs was born on 1 May 1930 in Marksville, Louisiana, and became the blues harmonica player, guitarist, and vocalist known as Little Walter. After leaving school at 12, he travelled through New Orleans, Memphis, and St. Louis, honing his harmonica and guitar before arriving in Chicago in 1946, where he first recorded for Ora‑Nelle in 1947 and joined Muddy Waters’s band in 1948. Little Walter’s breakthrough came with the 1952 single "Juke" on Checker Records, which spent eight weeks at Number one on the Billboard R&B chart and remains the only harmonica instrumental to top the list. Throughout the 1950s he released recordings such as Mississippi Blues (1955), Little Walter and His Jukes (1957) and The Best of Little Walter (1957), collaborated with artists like Junior Wells and Bo Diddley, and toured Europe twice in the 1960s. Other releases include Super Blues with Bo Diddley and Muddy Waters (1967), and the compilation Hate to See You Go (1969). He died on 15 February 1968 in Chicago from coronary thrombosis. Posthumously, his work has earned induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (2008), a Grammy Hall of Fame Award for "Juke" (2008), and the Blues Hall of Fame for both "Juke" (1986) and "My Babe" (2008).

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