Little Walter R&R Hall of Fame film

August 28th, 2009 | by admin |

A brief film about blues harmonica icon Little Walter Jacobs, which was shown as part of his induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on March 10, 2008.

For those who are interested in learning more about Little Walter, including the answers to some of the questions posted in the comments section for this video, and how the real Little Walter was different from the character portrayed in “Cadillac Records”, read the award-winning biography of Little Walter, “Blues With A Feeling - The Little Walter Story”. The book won the award for “Best Research in Recorded Blues and Gospel Music” from The ociation for Recorded Sound Collections, and was inducted into Blues Hall of Fame as a “Classic of Blues Literature” in 2007. The book is available at Amazon.com and most major book sellers.

For more information about Little Walter, including a link to buy the book, go to http://www.littlewalter.net.

Duration : 0:2:12


[youtube UUwfrj9aMNA]

  1. 25 Responses to “Little Walter R&R Hall of Fame film”

  2. By mpatte323 on Aug 28, 2009 | Reply

    I know god speed l …
    I know god speed l w may the blues come back

  3. By MrCaribbean on Aug 28, 2009 | Reply

    Thanks alot for the …
    Thanks alot for the info ;) appreciated.

  4. By checker764 on Aug 28, 2009 | Reply

    No, the real Little …
    No, the real Little Walter wasn’t much like the character portrayed in “Cadillac Records”. For the real Little Walter story, read the biography - information is in the description for this clip.

  5. By chalino19 on Aug 28, 2009 | Reply

    Big Walter is still …
    Big Walter is still better

  6. By deadendkid1968 on Aug 28, 2009 | Reply

    Shows what you guys …
    Shows what you guys know about the blues…lol…the man who played guitar on those records was none other than Jimmy Page.

  7. By MrCaribbean on Aug 28, 2009 | Reply

    yes indeed little …
    yes indeed little walter was fantastic.was his character really like that in the movie??.

  8. By 1994g0 on Aug 28, 2009 | Reply

    Little Walter was …
    Little Walter was indeed a great harp player.But I like Alan Wilson (late of Canned Heat) more than Little Walter.Wilson`s tone was richer and fuller.

  9. By checker764 on Aug 28, 2009 | Reply

    You may be right …
    You may be right about Louis using the wrong word and Walter just going along rather than correcting him. There are only a few photos of Walter’s gigs from the ’50s, and he’s definitely using a JT-30 “bullet” in all of them. But I’ve listened to the tape, and Louis definitely says “biscuit” in the interview.

    BTW, I’ve had several of the Astatic “biscuit” mikes, and I don’t think they’re horrible at all. I like the way they feel, and the original elements sound great to me.

  10. By whest on Aug 28, 2009 | Reply

    Walter and Myers …
    Walter and Myers did create plenty of confusion in the Living Blues Interview tho’.
    The biscuit mic story is ( I think ) nonsense.Myers jumps in with this reference-I think he meant bullet,and Walter just went with it.
    The horrible Astatic 30 was then designated to be the mythical ‘biscuit’ to the perpetual delight of eBay vendors.
    I haven;t heard the tape and have often wondered if Myers actually said ‘bisciut’ or ”bullet’..

  11. By ddecto on Aug 28, 2009 | Reply

    acoustic tone is …
    acoustic tone is all in the voice. just like any wind instrument, all the tone is in the voice. I’ve noticed that most great harp players are also phenominal singers. playning both seem to demend the same skills. playing a wind instrument is like singing, nobody will ever be able to sound exactly the same.

  12. By dcolbert72 on Aug 28, 2009 | Reply

    sasquatch dave is a …
    sasquatch dave is a really awesome harmonica player, one of the better I have ever heard. you should checkout his video

  13. By guitarandharp on Aug 28, 2009 | Reply

    Hello again checker …
    o again checker 764
    I’m sure you’re right but I will check my cassette copy of the interview sometime. I don’t have the Living Blues mag anymore. I treasured it for years then discarded it in a fit of self-deprivation!
    All this stuff is interesting but I’m not sure it really matters. Walter had lots of different sounds, different amps, different mics. If you’re a listener, just enjoy it and if you play harp, find your own sound! That’s why Paul Butterfield used a Shure vocal mic.

  14. By checker764 on Aug 28, 2009 | Reply

    Enough of Bush’s …
    Enough of Bush’s recollections have been conclusively proven wrong (his claim that LW used a reverb unit, years before they were even available; the number of times he claims to have seen LW perform in Atlanta far exceeds the number of times he actually played there)and the fact that he’s the only person EVER to claim to have seen LW doing this (and was a 15 year old kid when he claims to have seen it) casts enough doubt to safely disregard this claim as the result of an overactive imagination.

  15. By checker764 on Aug 28, 2009 | Reply

    I’m afraid you’re …
    I’m afraid you’re mistaken about the taped-together mics. Neither Little Walter nor Louis Myers said anything like that in the Living Blues interview - please check again for confirmation.

  16. By guitarandharp on Aug 28, 2009 | Reply

    Hi checker764 and …
    Hi checker764 and everyone else:
    The Walter & Louis Myers interview which was published in Living Blues quoted Walter as saying that he played through a National P.A. system using two separate channels wth two ‘biscuit’ mics taped together, in order to maximise the depth of tone.
    I haven’t read all of the comments here but in case it hasn’t been said: how come it’s taken so long for Walter to be inducted into the Hall of Fame?
    Best wishes from a (U.K.) Walter fan since 1964

  17. By NilsBruijel on Aug 28, 2009 | Reply

    My source is the …
    My source is the book “Blues with a feeling: The Little Walter Story”, by Tony Glover, Scott Dirks and Ward Gaines page 121. It is a transcript of a witness account by Joe Lee Bush.

    Indeed, I cannot say it is a fact… hence my reservation (’supposed to have’).
    I suppose a lot about Walter, his gear and his style is also mythologised.

    I can recomend this book to all enthousiasts, by the way.

  18. By checker764 on Aug 28, 2009 | Reply

    “He was supposed to …
    “He was supposed to have used two Amps and two wand MICs taped together, a line going to each amp.”

    No - that never happened. That’s a mistake made by someone who saw a photo of him playing, and thought that the shadow of his mic cable was a second mic cable. But there’s absolutely no evidence that it ever happened. Do a google search for “little walter’s microphones” and click on the first result for more info and photos.

  19. By NilsBruijel on Aug 28, 2009 | Reply

    The amp and mic …
    The amp and mic set-up he used is still the holy grail for many harpist:s. He was supposed to have used two Amps and two wand MICs taped together, a line going to each amp. Volume cranked way up. His sound was massive, hornplayer like. He might have used a treble-effect to get some of that great tone. But even unamplified his tone was said to be unreal. How he did it is still a matter of speculation….

  20. By NilsBruijel on Aug 28, 2009 | Reply

    Yeah, they were …
    Yeah, they were Hohner Marine Band diatonic harps (different keys).
    He also used the Hohner Chromonica harp on many occasions; that’s a chromatic (slide) harp (usually in key of C)

  21. By geebizzle38 on Aug 28, 2009 | Reply

    Yeah, its one of my …
    Yeah, its one of my top 5 definitely

  22. By doogleandalix on Aug 28, 2009 | Reply

    Loved that movie - …
    Loved that movie - I watched it twice in a week and I never watch a movie more than once . Little Walter was phenomenal and the entire movie was really great - always have been a sucker of early Chicago blues sound /

  23. By geebizzle38 on Aug 28, 2009 | Reply

    if u liked this, …
    if u liked this, You guys HAVE to see cadillac records, tells an AMAZING story of how Muddy Waters and Little Walter’s career started and the first label them and the Rolling Stones were signed to

  24. By hcjc57 on Aug 28, 2009 | Reply

    Simply put, Little …
    Simply put, Little Walter was the Jimi Hendrix of the Harmonica. Period. End Of Story.

  25. By valentynesuite on Aug 28, 2009 | Reply

    maybe the gratest …
    maybe the gratest harmonica in blues

  26. By cedricleecason on Aug 28, 2009 | Reply

    Also guitarrob2012, …
    Also guitarrob2012, he used the famous Hohner Marine Band…I love and have those as well.

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