[Harp-L] Cadillac Records, Little Walter

[Mick Zaklan]

Hesitate to post on this since I haven't seen the movie and may never
bother seeing it. Never got a chance to see Little Walter work; he passed
away a couple of years before I started playing.
We all have a lot of affection for this guy because of his contributions
to our instrument and to the blues genre. Given his bad habits, though; I
imagine that there were people who didn't hold very fond memories of him.
Actually, I don't have to imagine; I met some of these people. I did a
little hanging out with Walter's back-up band, the Aces (Louis and Dave
Myers and Freddy Below), back in the 1970's. Every time I attempted to
grill them about Walter; they either changed the subject or brought up other
harp players that they appeared to feel were superior to Walter and/or
underrated (Junior Wells and Forest City Joe). Clearly, they were angry
about something. At least Dave and Louis were; Freddy Below was as sweet
and positive a guy as I've ever met.
Never found out what their beef was; could be that they felt their
contribution to Walter's music was under-appreciated by the critics and the
public. I think they probably felt that about everybody they ever backed
up. I do, however, recall Johnny Young telling me about Walter pulling
Louis Myers aside in between sets and slapping him across the face for a
mistake made onstage. When I asked why Louis would take that from a smaller
man; Johnny told me that Walter packed a pistol and was not shy
about showing it during arguments. That people were afraid of this guy.
Of course, this doesn't excuse a movie for incorrectly portraying a man
as a murderer. Frankly, I was surprised that the movie even contained a
Little Walter character. Without the fabrication of a murder subplot, I
suspect that any Little Walter footage would have wound up on the cutting
room floor. I think audiences in general would recognize the names of Muddy
Waters, Chuck Berry, and Etta James (apparently "At Last" is now a
must-know or must-have for any wedding band or deejay) way before they would
know about somebody named Little Walter. Personally, I wasn't expecting a
Walter character in the movie and it was a real kick to hear his music in
the trailer along with an actor actually portraying the guy. As others have
pointed out, I guess we should thankful he is in the movie.

Mick Zaklan
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