Big Walter Horton or Walter "Shakey" Horton (April 6, 1917– December 8, 1981) was an American blues harmonica player. is the 96th day of the year (97th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar (see: 1917 Julian calendar). ... is the 342nd day of the year (343rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 Gregorian calendar). ... “Blues music” redirects here. ... A harmonica is a free reed wind instrument. ...

Born Walter Horton in Horn Lake, Mississippi, he was playing a harmonica by the time he was five years old. In his early teens, he lived in Memphis, Tennessee and claimed that his earliest recordings were done there in the late 1920s with the Memphis Jug Band, although there is no documentation, and many have since disputed this claim. (He also claimed to have taught some harmonica to Little Walter and the original Sonny Boy Williamson, although these claims are unsubstantiated, and in the case of the older Williamson, somewhat suspect.) As with many of his peers, he spent much of his career existing on a meagre income and living with constant discrimination in a segregated America. In the 1930s he played with various blues performers across the Mississippi delta region. It's generally accepted that his first recordings were made in Memphis, backing guitarist Little Buddy Doyle on recordings for the Okeh and Vocalion Records labels, in 1939. These recordings were in the acoustic duo format popularized by Sleepy John Estes with his harmonicist Hammie Nixon, among others. On these recordings, Walter's style is not yet fully realized, but there are clear hints of what is to come. He eventually stopped playing the harp for a living due to poor health, and worked mainly outside of music in the 1940s. By the early 1950s, he was playing music again, and was among the first to record for Sam Phillips at Sun Records in Memphis, who would later record rock and roll superstars Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, and country giant Johnny Cash. The early Big Walter recordings from Sun include performances from a young Phineas Newborn on piano, who later gained fame as a jazz pianist. Horn Lake is a city in DeSoto County, Mississippi, United States. ... For other uses, see Memphis (disambiguation). ... This music article needs to be wikified. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... John Lee Williamson (March 30, 1914- June 1, 1948) was an American blues harmonica player and the first to use the name Sonny Boy Williamson. ... The shared flood plain of the Yazoo and Mississippi Rivers The Mississippi Delta is the distinct northwest section of the state of Mississippi that lies between the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers. ... Okeh Records began as an independent record label based in the United States of America in 1918; from the late 1920s on was a subsidiary of Columbia Records. ... 1921 Vocalion label Vocalion Records was a record label historically active in the United States and in the United Kingdom. ... John Adam Estes, commonly known as Sleepy John Estes or Sleepy John, was a blues guitarist and vocalist born January 25, 1904 in Ripley, Tennessee. ... Hammie Nixon was born in 1908, in Brownsville, Tenn. ... Sam Phillips, born Samuel Cornelius Phillips (January 5, 1923 – June 30, 2003), was a record producer who played an important role in the emergence of rock and roll as the major form of popular music in the 1950s. ... Label of the fourth Sun Records Sun Records has been the name for four 20th century record labels. ... “Elvis” redirects here. ... Carl Lee Perkins (April 9, 1932 – January 19, 1998) was an American pioneer of rockabilly music, a mix of rhythm and blues and country music that was recorded most notably at Sun Records in Memphis beginning in 1954. ... For the song of the same name, recorded by Tracy Byrd and later by Jason Aldean, see Johnny Cash (song). ...

During the early 1950s he first appeared on the Chicago blues scene, where he frequently played with fellow Memphis and Delta musicians who had also moved north, including guitarists Eddie Taylor and Johnny Shines. When Junior Wells left the Muddy Waters band at the end of 1952, Horton replaced him in Muddy's band long enough to play on one session with Muddy in January of 1953. Big Walter's style had by then fully matured, and he was playing in the heavily amplified style that became one of the trademarks of the Chicago blues sound. His harmonica playing is characterized by a deep, rich tone, and precise articulation, using the full register of the harp and utilizing the higher notes of the harp with great dexterity. His tone was consistently deeper or 'heavier' than Little Walter's, but with phrasing that was more in keeping with the Memphis traditions, and less adventurous and improvisational than the jazzier explorations employed by his chief harmonica rival Little Walter. He also made great use of techniques such as tongue-blocking. Many blues harmonica aficionados consider Horton's solo on Jimmy Rogers' 1956 Chess recording "Walking By Myself" to be his greatest moment, and a high point of post-war Chicago blues. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see Memphis (disambiguation). ... Edward Taylor (January 29, 1923 – December 25, 1985) was an American blues guitarist and singer. ... Johnny Shines (1915-1992) was an American blues guitarist. ... Junior Wells (December 9, 1934 – January 15, 1998), born Amos Blakemore, was a blues vocalist and harmonica player based in Chicago who was famous for playing with Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, Magic Sam, Lonnie Brooks, The Rolling Stones and Van Morrison. ... McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1915 – April 30, 1983), better known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician and is generally considered the Father of Chicago blues. He is also the actual father of blues musician Big Bill Morganfield. ... Year 1952 (MCMLII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Also known as "Mumbles", and "Shakey" because of his head motion while playing the harmonica, Horton was active on the Chicago blues scene during the 1960s as blues music gained popularity with white audiences. From the early 1960s onward, he recorded and appeared frequently as a sideman with Eddie Taylor, Johnny Shines, Johnny Young, Sunnyland Slim, Willie Dixon and many others. He toured extensively, usually as a backing musician, and in the 1970s he performed at blues and folk festivals in the U.S. and Europe, frequently with Willie Dixon's Chicago Blues All-Stars. He has also appeared as a guest on recordings by blues and rock stars such as Fleetwood Mac and Johnny Winter. In the late 1970's he toured the country with Homesick James Williamson, Richard Molina, Bradley Pierce Smith and Paul Nebenzahl, and appeared on National Public Radio broadcasts. His musical output was somewhat inconsistent over the course of his career, unpredictably wavering between brilliant and workmanlike, and much of his best work was done as a sideman. Some of the best compilations of his own work are Mouth-Harp Maestro and Fine Cuts. Also notable is the low-key but excellent Big Walter Horton and Carey Bell album released by Alligator Records in 1972. Edward Taylor (January 29, 1923 – December 25, 1985) was an American blues guitarist and singer. ... Johnny Shines (1915-1992) was an American blues guitarist. ... Albert Sunnyland Slim Luandrew (September 5, 1907–1995), was a blues pianist born on a farm near Vance, Mississippi. ... Willie Dixons style of blues was one of the inspirations for a new generation of music, rock and roll. ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... This article is about the band. ... John Dawson Johnny Winter III (born on 23 February 1944 in Beaumont, Texas, USA) is an American blues guitarist, singer, and producer. ... Homesick James Williamson, April 30, 1910, USA blues musician. ... NPR redirects here. ... Carey Bell (November 14, 1936 - May 6, 2007) was an American musician who played the harmonica in the musical style of Chicago blues. ... Alligator Records is a Chicago-based independent blues record label founded by Bruce Iglauer in 1971. ...

A quiet, unassuming man,^{[citation needed]} Horton is remembered as one of the most gifted harmonica players in the history of blues music. He died in Chicago in 1981, and was buried in the Restvale Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois. The Burr Oak and the Restvale cemeteries are located in Alsip, Illinois a suburb about 20 miles southwest of the city of Chicago. ... Incorporated Village in 1927. ...

External links

• Complete Walter Horton discography {pdf file) accessed August 23, 2006
• Horton biography by Michael Erlewine accessed August 23, 2006