Picture yourself in a crowded juke joint or blues bar on the southside of Chicago in the late '40's. Muddy Waters is about to play. He's already gone electric; I mean, he had to, to be heard over all the talking and yelling and what not. His harp player has about blown out a lung trying to be heard over all that din. Walter Jacobs has been doing a bit of experimenting himself, in an attempt to amplify the sound of that little instrument. Tonight he actually grabs the microphone off the stand, bumping it up close enough in his clasped hands to touch the harp. He cranks up the volume and starts to blow. The sound coming out of the amp is unlike anything anyone's ever heard. It's got a deep, heavy, honking, sexy wail, nothing at all like the unamplified harmonica sound of "country" blues. Men and women alike dance ecstatically, screaming and crying in excitement, over this new and intoxicating sound, this amazingly sensuous and insinuating beat. Necessity is the mother of invention; the guy was simply tired of people yelling that they couldn't hear him. So, being the innovator he was, he came up with a simple adjustment in technique. This small act completely revolutionized the blues. Walter Jacobs, probably more than any other individual, has influenced every person who has ever played electric blues. When it comes to harp players, he is the undisputed king, the god, the creator, the originator. You can listen to anyone who's ever played amplified harp since it begun, somewhere late '40's, and you will hear Little Walter's riffs. Most people would probably admit that Little Walter is the reason they play harp at all!This set contains all his best stuff, done after he went out on his own. Imagine this for a three-piece band: drums/bass/harp. That's it; no guitar. He actually played sets with this lineup, and blew the doors off. Most of the tunes on the set here do contain guitar, but it's clear that the lead is Walter and his harp. He wasn't content to just play ten-hole Marine band harps either; he incorporated the rich sound of the chromatic harp into his repertoire. All blues fans and most of all, those enamored, bewitched, and obsessed with the wonderful sound of electric harp need to own this record and commit it to memory.
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