Little Walter - The Best of Little Walter [Speakers Corner 180g LP] 24-bit/96kHz & CD-format; New Rip!

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Walter's influence to this very day is so pervasive over the landscape of the instrument that this collection of singles is truly: 1) one of the all-time greatest blues harmonica albums, 2) one of the all-time greatest Chicago blues albums, and 3) one of the first ten albums you should purchase if you're building your blues collection from the ground floor up. - Cub Koda/AMG (5/5 Stars)

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Best of Little Walter is the first LP record by American blues performer Little Walter. First released in 1958, the compilation album contains ten Little Walter songs that appeared in the Top 10 of the Billboard R&B chart from 1952 to 1955, plus two B-sides. The album was first released by Checker Records as LP-1428, which was the first LP record released by Checker, and then released on Chess Records with the same catalog number.

Artwork and packaging

The album cover features a black-and-white photo portrait shot by Grammy award winning photographer Don Bronstein of Little Walter holding/playing a Hohner 64 Chromatic harmonica and liner notes by Studs Terkel, who had written Giants of Jazz. The original LP featured a black label.

Accolades

In 1991, The Best of Little Walter was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in the "Classics of Blues Recordings – Album" category. The album is also ranked #198 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".

Singles chart

The songs "Juke" and "My Babe" peaked at #1 on Billboard magazine's R&B Singles chart. "Sad Hours", "You're So Fine", and "Blues with a Feeling" made it to #2 on the same chart. "Last Night" and "Mean Old World" peaked at #6, "Off the Wall" and "You Better Watch Yourself" reached #8, and "Tell Me Mama" made it to #10.

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Review by Cub Koda If there's a blues harmonica player alive today who doesn't have a copy of this landmark album in their collection, they're either lying or had their copy of it stolen by another harmonica player. This 12-song collection is the one that every harmonica player across the board cut their teeth on. All the hits are here: "My Babe," "Blues with a Feeling," "You Better Watch Yourself," "Off the Wall," "Mean Old World" and the instrumental that catapulted him from the sideman chair in Muddy Waters' band to the top of the R&B charts in 1952, "Juke." Walter's influence to this very day is so pervasive over the landscape of the instrument that this collection of singles is truly: 1) one of the all-time greatest blues harmonica albums, 2) one of the all-time greatest Chicago blues albums, and 3) one of the first ten albums you should purchase if you're building your blues collection from the ground floor up.

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Track listing

All songs written and composed by All songs written by Walter Jacobs, except where noted.

Side one

1. "My Babe" (Willie Dixon) 2:44
2. "Sad Hours" 3:15
3. "You're So Fine" 3:07
4. "Last Night" 2:46
5. "Blues with a Feeling" 3:10
6. "Can't Hold Out Much Longer" 3:03

Side two

1. "Juke" 2:47
2. "Mean Old World" 2:57
3. "Off the Wall" 2:52
4. "You Better Watch Yourself" 3:04
5. "Blue Lights" 3:14
6. "Tell Me Mamma" 2:47

Personnel

The following people contributed to the Best of Little Walter:

Little Walter – lead vocals, harmonica
Muddy Waters – guitar on "Juke" and "Can't Hold Out Much Longer"
Jimmy Rogers – guitar on "Juke" and "Can't Hold Out Much Longer"
David Myers – guitar
Louis Myers – guitar
Leonard Caston – guitar on "My Babe"
Robert Lockwood, Jr. – guitar on "My Babe"
Willie Dixon – bass, producer
Elgin Evans – drums on "Juke" and "Can't Hold Out Much Longer"
Fred Below – drums
Studs Terkel – sleeve notes