[Harp-L] Little Walter as Side Man

["samblancato" <samblancato@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Folks, 

 

A couple of people have expressed some degree of regret or indignation at
Little Walter being framed as a side man in his Hall Of Fame induction.  I
don't think this is such bad thing.  It is the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame,
after all, not the Blues Hall of Fame and while he most definitely played a
major role in codifying the modern, post-WWII electric blues sound, his
influence on the larger field of Rock-n-Roll really is as a side man and his
contribution in that larger field was and is to inform a certain corner of
that field.  The Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame people are playing with a large
-and loose- criteria, (I mean The Turtles are in there for crying out loud).
The fact that they recognized him and what he did and gave him props at all
is good enough for me.

 

I watched the James Cotton thing on U-Tube.  The band lost James and James
lost the band in equal measure.  I think it would have been nice if the band
had at least given Juke a listen before playing it on national TV.  But
Cotton timed out the opening bars a little funny too.   

 

Sam Blancato, Pittsburgh