Big Walter Horton boogie versions
Hi there friends. A question for Big Walter Horton experts here.
Could you list various versions of boogies Big Walter recorded?
I'd appreciate pointers to albums/songs.
I'm planning to prepare a tribute song in the style of Big Walter's boogie and looking for his reference songs to dig into.I'm familiar with two versions of songs names "Walter's boogie". What else should I check?
Below are some references I was able to find on the net
1. 1954 - “Easy”: One of his early boogie instrumentals recorded for Sun Records in Memphis. 2. 1954 - “Hard-Hearted Woman”: Another early recording showcasing his boogie style, made for States Records in Chicago. 3. 1964 - “Walter’s Boogie”: Included in his solo album for Alligator Records. 4. 1968 - “Rockin’ My Boogie”: A harmonica duet with Charlie Musselwhite recorded in 1965 and featured in various compilations. 5. 1970 - “Big Walter Horton with Carey Bell”: An album featuring Carey Bell that includes boogie performances. 6. 1972 - “An Offer You Can’t Refuse”: A live album recorded with Paul Butterfield, which includes a track called “Walter’s Boogie, This Is It.” 7. 1977 - “I’m Ready”: An album by Muddy Waters where Horton played harmonica, contributing his boogie style. 8. 1980 - Final recordings: Made shortly before his death, which include various performances in the boogie style - Discogs.
Walter recorded numerous instrumentals that utilize the basic themes of his original "Walter's Boogie" on Sun. In my opinion the best one is the one on the "Can't Keep Loving You" record, and (also from that record) "Getting Out of Town" contains many of the same ideas but in an acoustic format and with some utterly amazing "wah wah" hand stuff.
I've spent 40 years somewhat obsessively studying those two songs (among many others of Walter's) and I still am amazed at how nuanced and powerful they are all these years later. There are dozens of versions of people all over the globe doing "shuffles in the style of Big Walter" from their bedrooms on youtube but I have yet to hear anyone who has done more than scratch the surfact of what he's doing in these tunes.
Even Kim Wilson's version (which is probably the best attempt) only approaches the attack and the growl and the vocal quality of what Walter was doing.
It's actually kind of fascinating to me how no one has been able to really recreate Big Walter's sound. Little Walter's seemingly more virtuosic style has been very effectively imitated by many folks, but I have yet to hear anyone really get Big Walter's sound or phrasing.
It still is astounding to me that no one (a far as I know) has yet attempted a cover of Walter's version of "In The Mood", which I consider one of the greatest harp instrumentals of all time. Just try to recreate what he's doing with the 3 hole draw in that song... it's bonkers how good it is.