Walter Horton
April 6, 1917 – December 8, 1981
Big Walter Horton was a Mississippi-born blues harmonica player who is considered to be one of the blues’ most influential musicians. Horton’s career began in the late ’20s and by 1939, he began making records, the first of which, backed by guitarist, Little Buddy Doyle. He all but retired from the music business during the ’40s, but in the early ’50s, he became one of Sam Phillips’ first signings to his fledgling Sun Records. Horton soon moved north to Chicago where he became a fixture over the next two decades. There he performed or recorded with the likes of Muddy Waters, Johnny Shines, and Willie Dixon and was memorialized in the acclaimed Vanguard Records survey of Chicago blues, Chicago/The Blues/Today!. He also lent his skills to early rock recordings by Fleetwood Mac and Johnny Winter. Horton continued performing and recording throughout the ’70s and even appeared in a scene alongside John Lee Hooker in the 1980 film, The Blues Brothers, starring Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi. Big Walter Horton was 64 when he died of heart failure on December 1, 1981.
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