Re: little walter ripped off Juke from snooky pryor

[PL500@xxxxxxx]

In a message dated 5/28/03 3:59:49 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx writes:


> One lick does not a Juke make. Snooky played that lick, but so did
> hundreds of swing musicians on several instruments, all through the
> 1930s and 1940s. It is well known that Little Walter copped licks and
> ideas from swing and jump musicians, and that several songs attributed
> to him are remakes of older R&B records dating from the late 1930s -
> see the recent Little Walter biography for details.
> 
> Junior Wells has also been credited with a set-closer instrumental that
> was "stolen" for Juke. But who, aside from Walter, went beyond that
> famous opening lick to create the amazing work of instrumental
> architecture that foreshadows one part with another, creating dynamic
> commentaries and witty variations, building from verse to verse - and
> all totally improvised, as the nothing-like-it surviving alternate take
> attests? Nobody but Walter did that, and it sppears that he only did it
> once.
> 
> Winslow
> 

Amen and amen!

Little Walter's work on "Juke" is unmatched. Snooky Pryor is a good harp 
player, but I would say that he is nowhere near the skill, taste, and ability of 
Little Walter. That's not a "dis" against Snooky Pryor, but just a realization 
of Walter's serious, serious ability to come up with memorable and classic 
material on the fly. Pryor is a great player, but Walter was one of those shining 
gems that pops up every 20 years or so and tends to define the craft. 
Regardless, we as harp players owe a great debt to both Snooky Pryor and Little 
Walter for the work they have laid down for us, for surely anything which we 
produce will be defined by the wake which they left behind. 

Andrew