His Best (Little Walter album)
His Best is a greatest hits album by Chicago blues harmonica player Little Walter, released on June 17, 1997 by MCA and Chess Records as a part of The Chess 50th Anniversary Collection (see 1997 in music). The album is seen as the CD successor to the 1958 The Best of Little Walter and features ten of the songs from that album.[1]
| His Best | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Greatest hits album by | ||||
| Released | June 17, 1997[1] | |||
| Recorded | May 12, 1952 – December 1960 in Chicago, Illinois[2] | |||
| Genre | Chicago blues | |||
| Label | Chess/MCA | |||
| Producer | Leonard Chess, Phil Chess, Willie Dixon, Andy McKaie[2] | |||
| Compiler | Andy McKaie, Billy Altman[2] | |||
| Little Walter chronology | ||||
| ||||
Notable inclusions
Juke
"Juke" was Little Walters first solo recording for Leonard Chess[3] and reached #1 on the R&B Singles chart. A harmonica instrumental, it is Walter's most famous composition.
Mean Old World
Adapted from a 1942 T-Bone Walker song, "Mean Old World" became a #6 R&B chart success for Walter.[4]
Blues with a Feeling
Walter's rendition reached #2 on the R&B Single chart[4] and made the song a harmonica-blues standard. "Blues with a Feeling" was originally recorded by Rabon Tarrant with Jack McVea and His All Stars in 1947.
My Babe
Written by Willie Dixon, "My Babe" was Walter's second #1 on the R&B Charts.[4] It is perhaps Walter's best-known vocal performance.
Roller Coaster
The song "Roller Coaster" is an instrumental version of the 1955 Bo Diddley song "You Don't Love Me (You Don't Care)".[5] The song reached #6 on the R&B charts.[4]
It Ain't Right
Although "It Ain't Right" did not chart, it was later adapted by other musicians, including John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, who recorded it as the closing track to their debut album Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton (Clapton has identified Little Walter as his favorite harmonica player).[6]
Key to the Highway
Walter's rendition of "Key to the Highway" reached #6 and was his second to last charting single.[4] His rendition became a blues standard, performed and recorded by a variety of artists. It was originally recorded by Charlie Segar in 1940.
Just Your Fool
One of Walter's later recordings, it was released in 1962. Buddy Johnson originally recorded the song as "I'm Just Your Fool" in 1953; in 2010, "Just Your Fool" became a popular single by Cyndi Lauper.
Track listing
All tracks are written by Walter Jacobs, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Vocal or Instrumental | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Juke" | Instrumental | 2:47 |
| 2. | "Can't Hold Out Much Longer" | Vocal | 3:03 |
| 3. | "Mean Old World" (T-Bone Walker) | Vocal | 2:57 |
| 4. | "Sad Hours" | Instrumental | 3:15 |
| 5. | "Tell Me Mama" | Vocal | 2:47 |
| 6. | "Off the Wall" | Instrumental | 2:52 |
| 7. | "Blues with a Feeling" | Vocal | 3:10 |
| 8. | "You're So Fine" | Vocal | 3:07 |
| 9. | "Too Late" (Willie Dixon, Charles Brown, John Phillips) | Vocal | 2:44 |
| 10. | "Last Night" | Vocal | 2:46 |
| 11. | "Mellow Down Easy" (Dixon) | Vocal | 2:45 |
| 12. | "My Babe" (Dixon) | Vocal | 2:44 |
| 13. | "Roller Coaster" (Ellas McDaniel) | Instrumental | 2:56 |
| 14. | "Hate to See You Go" | Vocal | 2:20 |
| 15. | "It Ain't Right" | Vocal | 2:56 |
| 16. | "Boom, Boom Out Goes the Light" (Stan Lewis) | Vocal | 2:54 |
| 17. | "Confessin' the Blues" | Vocal | 3:06 |
| 18. | "Key to the Highway" (Big Bill Broonzy) | Vocal | 2:48 |
| 19. | "Everything Gonna Be Alright" | Vocal | 2:52 |
| 20. | "Just Your Fool" | Vocal | 2:23 |
Personnel
According to liner notes:[2]
- Little Walter – vocals, harmonica
- Muddy Waters – guitar, slide guitar
- Jimmy Rogers – guitar
- Louis Myers – guitar
- David Myers – guitar
- Luther Tucker – guitar
- Robert Lockwood, Jr. – guitar
- Leonard Caston – guitar on "My Babe"
- Bo Diddley – guitar on "Roller Coaster"
- Fred Robinson – guitar on "Just Your Fool"
- Jimmie Lee Robinson – guitar on "Confessin' the Blues", bass on "Just Your Fool"
- Willie Dixon – bass, production
- Otis Spann – piano
- Elgin Evans – drums
- Fred Below – drums
- George Hunter – drums on "Key to the Highway"
- Billy Stepney – drums on "Everything Gonna Be Alright"
- Leonard Chess – production
- Phil Chess – production
- Andy McKaie – reissue production, compilation
- Billy Altman – liner notes, compilation
- Erick Labson – digital remastering
- Michael Diehl – design, typography
- Mary Katherine Aldin – photography
- Ray Flerlage – photography
- Geary Chansley – photo research
References
- Koda, Cub. "Overview: His Best (Chess 50th Anniversary Collection) by Little Walter". Allmusic. United States: Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 10, 2010.
- His Best (CD liner). Little Walter. Chess/MCA. pp. 12–15. CHD-9384.CS1 maint: others (link)
- "Little Walter 'Fun Facts'". Littlewalter.net. Archived from the original on March 31, 2007. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
- Whitburn, Joel (1988). Top R&B Singles 1942–1988. Record Research, Inc. p. various. ISBN 0-89820-068-7.
- Glover, Tony; Dirks, Scott; Gaines, Ward (2002). Blues with a Feeling: The Little Walter Story. Routledge. pp. 147–148. ISBN 978-0-415-93711-5.
- Clapton, Eric (2007). Clapton — The Autobiography. Broadway Books. p. 47. ISBN 978-0-7679-2536-5.