Hi Jay
I'd suggest getting into Walter's great work as an accompanist from the mid 1960s.
In "Chicago The Blues Today, Vol. 3" on Vanguard he works with Johnny Shines and again with Johnny Young on some marvelous stuff. On some of the tunes he plays continuously - bad form for an sideman - but you get a real schooling in how he works the changes in astonishing variety. His tone is really superb and the playing inspired. A bonus, if you get the CTBT as a more recent 3 disc reissue, you've got incredible James Cotton and Junior Wells performances. And that's just the harp players.
Johnny Young had a couple of fine albums on Arhoolie around this period: one with James Cotton, and the other with Big Walter. There's an in-print Arhoolie CD called "Johnny Young Chicago Blues" that combines these two LPs - I think it might be missing one or two from the 'Walter' album. Walter plays acoustically with a tone that's similar to his work on "The Soul of Blues Harmonica". It's great to hear him weave in and around. Cotton's work flat-out roars.
Some of my favorite stuff from the 60s.
Cheers, Staggerin' Jim Listen to Roots Harmonica at http://www.live365.com/stations/staggerinjim
----- Original Message ----- From: "Jay Thompson" <jay.jmt@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, June 29, 2008 6:22 PM
Subject: [Harp-L] Big Walter CD suggestions
Big Walter is definitely under represented in my CD collection. Which CDs
should I look for next? I've got *An Offer You Can't Refuse* and the album
with Carey Bell.
Thanks for the help!
Jay
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