Walter Horton(1917-1981)

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.