The 1958 compilation The Best of Little Walter not only represented the king of blues harmonica at his musical best, but it also was filled with hit singles: ten of the 12 tracks hit the Billboard R&B Top Ten from 1952 to 1955, and the other two ‘Can’t Hold Out Much Longer’ and ‘Blue Lights’ were flip sides of chart hits. As great as the recordings of Walter’s Chess labelmates Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, and Sonny Boy Williamson were, they never had hits in the numbers Walter did. Walter was a captivating younger artist who generated more excitement, and innovations, with the harmonica than anyone before him or after.
This collection includes Walter two No. 1 hits, ‘Juke’ and ‘My Babe,’ and three that reached No. 2 (‘You’re So Fine,’ ‘Blues With a Feeling’ and ‘Sad Hours’). The earliest sides, from 1952, feature Walter with Muddy Waters, Jimmy Rogers, and Elga Edmonds, when Walter was still a sideman in Muddy’s band. On later sessions he is joined by the Aces (Louis and Dave Myers and Fred Below), Robert Jr. Lockwood, and Willie Dixon, among others. The LP was the first to be issued on Checker, a subsidiary label of Chess, and was later reissued with the same cover and same catalog number but on the Chess label itself. Other reissues appeared on both labels with different numbers.
Tracks:
My Babe/Sad Hours/You’re So Fine/Last Night/Blues With A Feeling/Can’t Hold Out Much Longer/Juke/Mean Old World/Off The Wall/You Better Watch Yourself/Blue Lights/Tell Me Mamma
Released as Checker LP 1428 in 1958. Later released as Chess LP 1428, Checker LP-3004, and Chess LP CH-9192.
For session details of each track, see The Blues Discography 1943-1970 by Les Fancourt & Bob McGrath.
— Jim O’Neal