Re: [Harp-L] Big Walter CD suggestions

[hashbb@xxxxxxx]

I guess you could say the same for Sam Myers, Robert jr.,
and a number of others. I think it has to do with how and
when they we're approached, what mood they we're in
at the time, etc. The first time I met Sam Myers back in 85',
he fan tailed me off stage. We ended up sharing a house together
for a few years. Over the years I saw him be a combination of the 
biggest
jerk and prick to people, and the most kind and generous. Can you fault
Mississippi country guys who at times lacked social skills? Maybe,
But I would say understanding someone puts alot in prospective.
I am not making excuses for bad behavior, just trying to
put it in prospective.
I met big Walter once in 1980, he was very nice,
but I didn't ask him much questions, just stood back and stayed
quiet. You are talking about a guy that had probably seen it all
and done it all as far as blues is concerned. The same goes for
being a black blues man from the south. i think at times there
are built in defense mechanisms that come into play.
HB

  I never much cared for the old guy as a human being; I approached him
twice for harmonica lessons, once over the phone and once years later
with Johnny Young over at Walter's apartment near Chicago's Chinatown.  
I
remember being nervous, scared, and extremely humble in making my 
request.
Both times he gruffly brushed me off.  To add insult to injury; for 
years
after that I would run into harp player after harp player in Chicago who
told me they had studied with Walter.  And I believed they had, they 
sounded
like the old man and described the same apartment and people I had seen.
 Mick Zaklan
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