Little Walter

LITTLE WALTER d1968. Legendary Chess Records label American blues harmonica player known as "The King of all Post-War blues harpists", whose revolutionary approach to his instrument earned him comparisons to Charlie Parker and Jimi Hendrix for his innovation and impact on succeeding generations. His virtuosity fundamentally altered many listeners' expectations of what was possible on a blues harmonica. He suffered with alcoholism and had a notoriously short temper which severely affected his career & fame and fortune from the late 1950s (only touring in Europe twice) in 1964 and 1967. A few months after returning from his second European tour, he was involved in a fight while taking a break from a performance at a nightclub on the South Side of Chicago. The relatively minor injuries sustained in this altercation aggravated and compounded damage he had suffered in a previous violent encounter. He died in his sleep the following morning aged just 37 on February 15th 1968 at the apartment of a girlfriend in Chicago. The official cause of death indicated on his death certificate was "coronary thrombosis" (a blood clot in the heart) ; any evidence of external injuries was so insignificant that the police reported that his death was of "unknown or natural causes". He was later inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in 2008 in the "sideman" category, making him the first and only artist ever to be inducted specifically for his work as a harmonica player.