Re: Little Walter biography reviewed by Glenn Weiser for Metroland magazine

[Glenn Weiser <glennw@xxxxxxxxxx>]

> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Mon, 23 Dec 2002 08:48:39 -0800 (PST)
> From: Mojo Red
> Subject: Re: Little Walter biography reviewed by Glenn Weiser for Metroland magazine
>
> Hi Glenn,
>
> Nice synopsis of an awesome book! I thoroughly
> enjoyed the Little Walter biography as well.
>
> As to your minor criticisms regarding Walter's
> decline and lack of evidence in the book regarding
> any efforts to resist that decline, perhaps there
> simply wasn't any evidence available to the
> chroniclers.
>
> It may be that Walter ~made~ no sustained efforts.
> The interviews with his sister and others point to
> a broken man who seemed to have given up. The basic
> factor being a change in popular musical taste
> resulting in less prestigious bookings etc. And of
> course, Walter's irratic temperment did not help
> matters.
>
> The book shows repeatedly Walter's deep
> frustrations with Chess for not letting him record
> amped harp in the studio late in his carreer due to
> the accoustic blues revival going on. His
> semi-successful trips to Europe for the burgeoning
> blues movement in the UK in the 60s seemed to help,
> but again he was (for the most part) not allowed to
> play what he wanted (amped, Chicago style).
>
> Excellent reading in any case.
>
> Harpin' in Colorado,
> - --Ken M.
>

Ken-

If there was no such available information, I would have addressed the question in the reader's mind by saying, "we tried to answer this question, but couldn't, for lack of info." That would have been fair, like the way you would write something like "Repeated phone call to X's office requesting comment on the issue were not returned" in a news story. But they didn't even do that much in the book.

I don't mean to make too much of it- as I said, this is very good and important book, and that was a minor criticism.

As for the other points, the Chesses were fools for usurping LW's artistic judgement regarding amped harp, but they were following market trends. The more I read about them, the less I like them. Routledge also put out a book of Living Blues interviews this year called "Voices of the Blues" which has some very damning information on the Chesses, including how they screwed over Eddie Boyd ("Five Long Years"). Ugly stuff. Still, had it not been for them, we might not have had a lot a great stuff. What can you say?

Glenn Weiser
http://www.celticguitarmusic.com/harppage.htm