A1 	Groove Walk 	3:15
A2 	Wee Baby Blues 	3:01
A3 	It's Alright 	2:50
A4 	Wrinkles 	2:58
A5 	Hard Hearted Woman 	2:50
B1 	John Henry 	2:40
B2 	Good Moanin' Blues 	4:12
B3 	Friday Night Stomp 	3:00
B4 	Gonna Bring It On Home 	3:00
B5 	La Cucuracha 	2:32

Walter Horton – harmonica, vocals (2, 5)
Buddy Guy – guitar
Bobby Buster – organ
Jack Myers – bass
Willie Smith – drums 

Big Walter's first album and with an all star cast -- Buddy Guy (guitar), Jack Myers (bass), Willie Dixon (vocals), and Willie Smith (drums). Although not definitive, this album is worth seeking out for Horton fans. It features Walter in a variety of musical styles, including a good rendition of "Hard Hearted Woman" and a wild version of "La Cucaracha" ---Michael Erlewine, AllMusic Review

In 1927 Horton began his career with the Memphis Jug Band but did not make a mark until he recorded a couple of records for Sam Phillips. Two of those songs are “Easy,” which has a striking harp instrumental piece, and “I Almost Lost My Mind.” Horton then worked the Southern dance and picnic circuit and also the Memphis street corners. Horton played briefly with the Muddy Waters’ band and played the classic harp piece for “Forty Days and Forty Nights.”

Horton moved to Chicago in the late 1940’s but came back to Memphis to play on records released by Modern/RPM and Sun. Horton recorded four sides in 1951 for Modern/RPM label under the nickname “Mumbles.” Horton returned in 1953 to Chicago after accepting an invitation from Eddie Taylor to play in his band. “Mad Love (I Want You to Love Me)” was recorded in 1953.

Blues became popular with white people during the sixties and Horton’s music career excelled. He traveled throughout the Untied States and Europe sharing his music with many audiences. Horton recorded his first solo album in the mid sixties and the produced several albums throughout the rest of the sixties and early seventies. During the seventies Horton played at folk and blues festivals and often with Willie Dixon’s Chicago Blues All-Stars. In 1972 Horton recorded with Carey Bell for Alligator Records. Big Walter Horton with Carey Bell featured duets between the teacher and student. Horton continued to record music until his death in 1981. Walter Horton was later inducted into the Blues Foundation’s Hall of Fame. ---Daisy Goodman, mswritersandmusicians.com

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1 	Back Home To Mama 	3:07
2 	Hard-Hearted Woman 	3:00
3 	Southern Woman 	2:38
4 	Remember Me 	2:27
5 	Card Game 	2:43
6 	Nosey Neighbors 	2:49
7 	Hard-Hearted Woman (alternate) 	3:04
8 	Back Home To Mama (alternate) 	3:04
9 	My Life Blues 	3:01
10 	Up Side The Wall 	2:24
11 	Gold Digger 	3:25
12 	Sundown Boogie Blues 	3:07
13 	Miss Ida 	3:23
14 	Great Lakes Boogie 	3:03
15 	Blues And Trouble 	2:47
16 	Up Side The Wall (alternate) 	2:04

Bass – Willie Dixon (1 to 8)
Drums – Fred Below (1, 2, 7, 8), James Bannister (9 to 14)
Guitar – Earl Dranes (9 to 14), Lee Cooper (1 to 8)
Harmonica – Alfred Harris (9 to 14), Big Walter Horton (1 to 8)
Piano – Lafayette Leake (1, 2, 7, 8), Memphis Slim (3 to 6)
Tenor Saxophone – Harold Ashby (3 to 6), John Cameron (1, 2, 7, 8), Red Holloway (1, 2, 7, 8)
Vocals – Alfred Harris (9, 10, 12 to 14), James Bannister (11, 15),
 Tommy Brown (3 to 6), Big Walter Horton (1, 2, 7, 8)

For those who prefer the vintage Chicago Blues sounds, the tough tracks laid down by Windy City harmonica players from the 1950's forward leave many choices; Little Walter Jacobs, Sonny Boy Williamson, James Cotton, Snooky Pryor, Billy Boy Arnold, and plenty of others come to mind, but one of the oft-forgotten heroes is Big Walter Horton. Never garnering the recognition he deserved, Horton exemplified what blues harmonica is all about; tone, taste, and timing. Ask many present day players who influenced them and Horton's name will be heard, but for someone who mastered the instrument as few others had before or since, he missed out on the credit he was due.

Born in Horn Lake, MS, in 1918, he played around the South with many well-known bluesmen including Robert Johnson and Honeyboy Edwards, and claimed to have recorded with the Memphis Jug Band in the pre-war years, although no proof of these statements has come to light. He'd visited Chicago by the late 1930's and early 1940's and returned to the Memphis area where he took up residence, supposedly blowing amplified harp by then. By 1951, he'd come to the attention of Sam Phillips, who was running the Memphis Recording Service and waxed a number of exceptional tracks including "Easy," perhaps one of the finest harp instrumentals ever cut, issued under the heading of Jimmy & Walter on Sun 180, in 1953. The earlier tracks Horton recorded for Phillips were primarily for lease to other labels and wound up on a few other imprints , including RPM, Modern, and Chess. By 1954, he'd moved to Chicago, and landing at Maxwell Street on Sundays, he became a familiar figure and was soon offered a shot with Muddy Waters, when Junior Wells (then holding the harmonica chair in Muddy's band) was drafted. However, showing up for rehearsal under the influence of alcohol didn't set well with Waters, who ruled with a tight fist. Muddy quickly ended the association, but Horton would later go on to record with Waters, and numerous other Chicago players, including Jimmy Rogers, whose biggest selling record, "Walking By Myself," featured Horton. Scuffling to make ends meet was never easy for Big Walter, but he continued to record occasionally and landed with the States label, where these tracks stem from.

While "Harmonica Blues Kings" boasts 16 tracks, only four of them belong to Horton as bandleader and frontman. It's been said that he did his best work while in the company of others, certainly true in some respects, but his superb "Hard-Hearted Woman," a muscular and masterful slow blues, and the loping shuffle of "Back Home To Mama," remain as classics of post-war Chicago Blues. Along with the two issued sides (States 145) are a pair of alternate takes that remained in the can, but these are nearly as brilliant as their issued counterparts with the thick, greasy, harrowing tone Walter was known for. With Willie Dixon handling affairs for the States label while on sabbatical from his usual ship steering at Chess, Horton was placed alongside Tommy Brown, a vocalist with one of the more versatile voices in the annals of Chicago Blues. Previously having recorded for Savoy, Regent, and other labels, Brown had never worked with a harp player on sessions, but Horton's contributions to Brown's four sides here are remarkable. "Southern Women" finds Big Walter blowing thick, rounded swells and swoops all around Brown's fine vocal, and "Remember Me" offers more incredible harmonica work, but this record hardly made a dent in the market when issued. The slow and grinding "Card Game," with its stop-time groove and fabulous dynamics, and "Nosey Neighbors," both remained unissued for years, although Horton was again in top form. The stellar band included Harold Ashby's tough sax, Memphis Slim on piano, Lee Cooper handling the guitar chores, and Willie Dixon holding the bottom end together on bass.

James Bannister and Alfred Harris, the other featured artists here, are still little more than asterisks in Chicago's rich blues history. Bannister was a drummer and vocalist who had recorded with Dennis Binder for Sun in 1952 (first released on the Sun Blues Box) prior to his States session in 1954, but available information, while scant, points to Bannister preferring sax players for the urban approach he seemed to favor. Alfred "Blues King" Harris supplies the gritty, amplified harp work for the remaining 8 tracks, and takes the vocals for a small handful, including "My Life Blues," the romping "Up Side The Wall," and the easy-walking "Sundown Boogie Blues." Bannister's one issued recording (States 141) coupled "Gold Digger" with "Blues And Trouble," both in a rumbling Chicago style, and it is indeed Bannister who provides the drilling drum work on the second half of this disc, while Earl Dranes supplies the brutally distorted guitar. Although only two of these eight titles made it onto record in 1954, the balance is vital and gripping blues by two little-known purveyors who sadly recorded very little.

Big Walter continued to eek out a living through the remaining years of his life, recording and playing with a number of artists, including Johnny Young, Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, Willie Dixon's Chicago Blues Stars, Ronnie Earl and others, until his death in December of 1981. Although he may have managed too sparse a recording itinerary of his own, his playing was always top-shelf and immediately recognizable, and when he was placed on sessions for other artists, his work was superb and stunning. The pairing of James Bannister and Alfred "Blues King" Harris was much more in a down-home groove when compared to the Horton and Brown tracks, but everything here is valuable and well-worth finding. Unfortunately, liner notes by Jim O'Neal shed little new light on either Horton or the others gathered for this CD, and major drawbacks include little in the way of discographical details, and at only 47 minutes, when 75-to-80 minutes is available on CD's now, it certainly seems short. However, when there's precious little available from Big Walter Horton's premier years of the 1950's, this becomes essential listening. www.delmark.com will provide more on the label's activities and their full catalog of jazz and blues releases. ---Craig Ruskey, mnblues.com

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1. Easy - 3:17
2. Have A Good Time - 3:19              play
3. Mean Mistreater - 3:04
4. In The Mood - 3:08
5. West Side Blues - 3:09
6. Louise - 4:05
7. Tin Pan Alley - 2:54
8. Walter's Boogie - 2:56
9. Everything's Gonna Be Alright - 3:40
10. Poor Boy - 3:53
11. Got My Mojo Working - 3:10          play
12. Last Night - 4:40
13. Loaded - 2:55
14. One Room Country Shack - 4:57

Personnel:

Tracks (1-8)
Big Walter Horton - Harmonica, Vocals
Robert Nighthawk - Guitar (Rhythm)

Tracks (9-14)
Paul Butterfield - Harmonica, Vocals
Jerome Arnold - Bass
Sam Lay - Drums
Otis Smokey Smothers - Guitar
Smokey Smothers – Guitar

"An Offer You Can't Refuse" is one of the best blues harmonica compilations put together. Walter Horton's material on this recording is some of the best music I have ever heard in my life. Horton's control, note choice, and near endless well of ideas give a textbook example of what every harmonica player (and musician) needs to do in order to be a competent musician. Horton's treatment of "Easy" is a bit sparser than the one he did with Jimmy Deberry long ago; he takes a more restrained approach, but still lets it loose on certain parts of the song. Absolutely brilliant work.

"Have a Good Time" is a straight ahead exchange with Robert Nighthawk backing (as throughout the record), Horton lays it hard and down-home through his solos showing just how to treat the song. Horton's virtue is that he leaves a good amount of space to let his notes breathe through his solos, so that they don't bunch up and sound insignificant. "Mean Mistreater" is a slow blues in 1st position that is soulful and pretty. This is how all you harp players need to solo over a slow blues, beautifully done; Nighthawk's backing is simple and dead-on as well. All you SRV clone twits can learn a thing or two from Robert Nighthawk, it ain't always about the soloing!

"In the Mood" is an upbeat frisky deal that has Horton throwing notes down with authority. Great singing and solid backing with Horton doing some very hard (yet musical) lines make this alone worth the price of the CD. "West Side Blues" is a steady, high and lonesome blues feel with very tasteful soloing on Horton's part. Horton plays the melody through much of this song, but makes it sound wonderful. "Louise" is another steady feeling blues with Horton singing and dominating; beautiful lines, with acoustic harp make this a winner. "Tin Pan Alley" is a sweet lowdown song, Horton's soloing is slow and well paced. "Walter's Boogie" rounds out the Horton section; uptempo, and seriously well done, Horton lays a lesson in tone and control that is near scary at times. Very well done.

The Butterfield section was taken from a 1963 night club gig with Smokey Smothers and Sam Lay. A nice recording, not Butterfield's best, but a good sneak preview of what was to come from the illustrious Butterfield. A great recording that's worth your money. If you are learning to play harmonica, this CD should be in your library; it will do more for you than most instructional books could ever do. –by “pl500”

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1. Jumpin' Blues (2:17)
2. Black Gal (3:00)
3. Hard Hearted Woman (2:42)                       play
4. Go Long Woman (3:03)
5. What’s The Matter With You (take 1) (2:17)
6. Cotton Patch Hot Foot (instrumental) (2:37)
7. Little Boy Blue (take 2) (3:00)                 play
8. I'm in Love With You Baby (Walter's Blues ) (take 1) (3:10)
9. Blues In The Morning (take 1) (2:52)
10. Now Tell Me Baby (take 1) (3.07)
11. I'm in Love With You Baby (Walter's Blues ) (take 2) (2:40)
12. What's The Matter With You (take 2) (2:30)
13. Little Boy Blue (take 1) (3:00)
14. Now Tell Me Baby (take 2) (3:06)
15. Have A Good Time (2:21)
16. Need My Baby (in a session) (5:24)
17. Need My Baby (in a session) (2:50)

Personnel:

Tracks: 01-14 (Recorded in Memphis, 1951)
Big Walter Horton - Harmonica & Vocals 
Joe Hill Louis - Guitar, Bass & Percussion  
Willie Johnson, Calvin Newborn Jr. - Guitar 
Billy Love, Phineas Newborn - Piano
Willie Nix, Phineas Newborn Sr. - Drums  

Tracks: 15-17 (Recorded in Chicago, 1956)
Big Walter Horton - Harmonica & Vocals 
Otis Rush, Wayne Bennett - Guitar
Lafayette Leake - Piano
Willie Dixon - Bass 
Al Duncan - Drums  
Harold Ashby, Red Holloway - Tenor Sax  

These are the Modern/Cobra masters -- 17 cuts from the sessions Walter did with Sam Phillips in 1951, including several alternate takes. This is mostly great acoustic harp, but it does contain the songs "Have a Good Time," and "Need My Baby" with Walter playing amplified harp -- and great songs and solos these are! Worth finding. ~ Michael Erlewine, All Music Guide

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01 - Little Walter's Boogie
02 - Bring It On Down To My House
03 - West Winds Are Blowing
04 - Jimmy DeBerry's Kansas City Blues
05 - Hard Hearted Woman
06 - Baby Please Don't Go
07 - Take A Little Chance
08 - They All Ask For Me
09 - Easy
10 - Before Long
11 - Train Of Consciusness
12 - Electrocution Blues
13 - Everybody's Fishin'
14 - Goin' Up On A Harvest

Personnel :
Walter Horton : vocals, harmonica
Jimmy DeBerry : vocals, guitar

with :
Coley Gray : harmonica
Bryant Hawkes : drums
Melvin Lee : bass
Homer Jackson : drums

Jimmy DeBerry, 17 November 1911, Gumwood, Arkansas, USA - 17 January 1985, Sikeston, Missouri, USA. De Berry was an active if peripheral member of the Memphis blues community from its heyday during the 20s until the early 50s. He grew up in Arkansas and Mississippi before moving to Memphis to live with his aunt in 1927. Teaching himself to play ukulele and then banjo and guitar, he associated with the likes of Will Shade, Charlie Burse, Jack Kelly, Frank Stokes and a very young Walter Horton. While in East St. Louis in 1934, he lost the lower part of his right leg in a train accident. Five years later, he recorded for Vocalion Records with his Memphis Playboys in a style that updated the hokum music from the earlier part of the decade. Over the next 15 years De Berry spent time in St. Louis and Jackson, Tennessee, returning to Memphis to make radio appearances with Willie Nix and Walter Horton. In 1953 he recorded two sessions for Sun Records; at the first session, he and Horton recorded the classic “Easy”, an instrumental adaptation of Ivory Joe Hunter’s “I Almost Lost My Mind”. The blues ballad “Time Has Made A Change”, with accompaniment from pianist Mose Vinson, came from the second session. In 1972 producer Steve LaVere reunited De Berry and Horton for sessions designed to recreate their earlier partnership, an endeavour that met with little success. ---last.fm

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01. Walter Horton - Walter's Shuffle (3:36) 
02. Walter Horton - Little Boy Blue (4:54) 
03. Walter Horton - It's Not Easy (4:48) 
04. Walter Horton - Two Old Maids (4:25) 
05. Walter Horton - What's on Your Worried Mind? (7:49) 
06. Walter Horton - Walter's Swing (7:57) 
07. Walter Horton - Hard Headed Woman (3:58) 
08. Walter Horton - Walter's Jump (2:09) 
09. Walter Horton - Leaving in the Morning (3:13)

"When Big Walter played the blues fell all over you." The words are from record producer Sam Phillips, who recorded Big Walter Horton in the early 50's. But Phillips wasn't the only one who felt that way. Indeed everywhere Big Walyer played, his music was so emotional, so creative and so subtle that people simply couldn't forget him.

Born in 1917 in Mississippi, Big Walter was playing professionally by the age of 12 when he recorded with the great Memphis Jug Band. Even then, he had the ability to present his music in a sensitive, soulful way. His youth was spent travelling throughout the Delta, jamming wherever he could - at house parties, fishfries, roadhouses.

When he began working with Sam Phillips in the early 50's, Horton's self-taught playing style played a major role in the rhythm and blues renaissance. His solos could last ten minutes or longer, elaborating on a simple melody with constant invention, subtlety and technique.

Eventually Big Walter left Memphis for Chicago to play with the likes of Jimmy Lunceford, Earl Hines, Johnny Shines, Jimmy Rogers, Otis Rush and other Chicago legends. After that, he began playing what's know known as the Chicago Blues, and shared the stage with one of the greatest of all Chicago bandleaders, Muddy Waters.

It was then that his friendship with Willie Dixon began. One that would last some 20 years. Also known as "Boss of the Blues Harmonica," Big Walter could make his harmonica purr, roar and cry. And he never strayed from exploring the gut-level feelings the blues are famous for. According to Willie Dixon, Big Walter "was the best blues harmonica player in the world." - Courtesy of M.Hohner, bluesharp.ca

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1 	Everybody's Fishing 		2:59
2 	Don't Get Around Much Anymore 	 	2:10
3 	Relaxin' 		4:10
4 	We Gonna Move to Kansas City 		4:14
5 	Walter's Swing 	 	4:16
6 	Hobo Blues 	 	1:15
7 	Stop Clownin' 		3:29
8 	Need My Baby 	 	3:05
9 	La Cucharacha 	 	3:00
10 	Worried Life Blues 	 	3:52
11 	Put the Kettle On 		3:40

Personnel:
      Walter Horton: Harp, Vocals
      John Nicholas: Guitar
      Mark Kazanoff: Saxophone
      Larry Peduzzi: Bass
      Terry Bingham: Drums
      Ron Levy: Piano

Horton was tragically underrecorded as a bandleader; this album certainly attests to his talents in that regard, whether romping through a joyous "Everybody's Fishin'" or elegantly exmaining the tonal possibilities of the Duke Ellington chestnut "Don't Get Around Much Anymore." John Nicholas provides sympathetic backing on both guitar and piano, and Kaz Kazanoff is the stellar saxman. ---Bill Dahl, allmusic.com

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