Blues

On Harmonica: Walter Horton aka Shakey Horton aka Big Walter Horton aka Mumbles Horton

Walter Horton, who also was known as Big Walter Horton, Mumbles Horton and Walter “Shakey” Horton, was a Mississippi-born harmonica player who lived from 1918 to 1981. He is described as a quiet and shy man. Willie Dixon said that he was “the best harmonica player I ever heard.”

There were some very interesting but unsubstantiated claims made by Horton, according to Wikipedia: That his original recordings were done in Memphis in the 1920s with the Memphis Jug Band, that he taught harmonica to Little Walter and to the original Sonny Boy Williamson. I didn’t know that there was a second, earlier, Williamson. The profile says that researchers doubt that he played with the Memphis Jug Band.

The profile outlines his early days:

In the 1930s he played with various blues performers across the Mississippi delta region. It is generally accepted that his first recordings were made in Memphis backing guitarist Little Buddy Doyle on Doyle’s recordings for the Okeh and Vocalion labels in 1939.[1][3] These recordings were in the acoustic duo format popularized by Sleepy John Estes with his harmonicist Hammie Nixon, among others.

Horton played in Chicagoland in the 1960s and toured extensively. The profile says he usually was a backing musician. Indeed, the sense from the profiles is that he liked to be in the background. Horton was posthumously induced into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1982.

I am not sure of the name of the song above, but it’s great. The clip below has two songs “All Star Boogie” and “That Ain’t It.” Willie Dixon is on bass, Lafayette Leake is the pianist and Lee Jackson is the guitarist.

Wikipedia was used to write this post.

Our New Things: Links to Music Sites and Info on Analog Tech and Vinyl

TDMB has focused on music and musicians. We will continue to do that, of course. We're also expanding our coverage to include vinyl and analog equipment.

More specifically, we'll look at this huge and interesting world from the perspective of music lovers who want a better experience, not committed non-audiophiles.

Check out is some of what we've written so far:

-- Assessing the Value of Vinyl Records: An Overview

-- 7 Quick Tips on Optimizing Your Turntable Cartridge

-- Why Vinyl Records Continue to Thrive

-- Finding the Best Amplifier

-- Finding the Best Phono Preamp

-- What Speakers Do I Need for My Turntable?

Check out more articles on analog equipment and vinyl.

The site also is home to The Internet Music Mapping Project, an effort to list and describe as many music-related sites as possible.

Our Music

--A Tribe Called Quest to The Dick Hyman Trio (In other words, A to H)

--Indigo Girls to Queen Ida (I to Q)

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Reading Music

The stories of the great bands and musicians are fascinating. Musicians as a group are brilliant, but often troubled. The combination of creativity and drama makes for great reading.

Here are some books to check out.

Duke Ellington brought class, sophistication and style to jazz which, until that point, was proudly unpolished and raucous. His story is profound. The author, Terry Teachout, also wrote "Pops," the acclaimed bio of Louis Armstrong. Click here or on the image.

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What else is there to say? Here is the story behind every song written by The Beatles. Click here or on the image.

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The Grateful Dead don't get enough credit for the profound nature of its lyrics. Many of the band's songs are driven by a deep and literate Americana ("I'm Uncle Sam/That's who I am/Been hidin' out/In a rock and roll band" and "Majordomo Billy Bojangles/Sit down and have a drink with me/What's this about Alabama/Keeps comin' back to me?").

David Dodd's exhaustive study tells the story, song by song. Click here or on the image.

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