Walter Horton(1917-1981)
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Walter Horton--also known as Big Walter Horton and "Shakey" Horton--was
born in Horn Lake, MS, in 1917. At an early age he and his mother moved
to Memphis, TN, A harmonica virtuoso, he performed there with the
Memphis Jug Band and even recorded with them. He played wherever he
could, from street corners in Memphis to dances and parties all over
the South. He moved to Chicago in the late 1940s, but wasn't there long
before he returned to Memphis and cut some more records there. He went
back to Chicago in 1953 to play in the band of his longtime friend
Eddie Taylor. He soon found work playing in
Muddy Waters' band as a replacement for
Junior Wells, who had been drafted into the
US Army. He stayed with Waters for about a year, then went out on his
own and played with such artists as Otis Rush,
Johnny Shines,
Jimmy Rogers, both in club
appearances and in recording sessions, and was a session player on many
records issued by the iconic Chicago label Chess Records. In the 1960s
and 1970s he began playing the blues and folk festival circuits, in
addition to his club and recording work. He made his first album, with
fellow harmonica player Carey Bell, in 1972,
"Big Walter Horton with Carey Bell", on Alligator Records. Walter
Horton died in 1981, and was inducted into the Blues Foundation's Hall
of Fame in 1982.