The Grave of Walter Horton, Blues Legend

"Big" Walter Horton (04-06-1918 - 12-08-1981) was a Blues Musician. He was born on a plantation in Horn Lake, Mississippi. Horton received his first harmonica from his father when he was five. He stopped going to school in the first grade and was soon playing for tips. By the time Horton was a teenager, he was living in Memphis, Tennesse where he played with the Memphis Jug Band as well as Johhny Shines, Furry Lewis Honeyboy Edwards and Eddie Taylor.

During the 1940's Horton stopped playing the harmonica professionally and pursued a living outside of music, though he did give lessons to James Cotton and Little Walter. He travelled to Chicago, Illinois and like many other blues musicians of the day would play for tips on Maxwell Street.

In 1951, Horton cut some tracks for Sam Phillips on Sun Records. The tracks were unreleased by Sun, but they eventually appeared on a compilation released by Ace Records. He also recorded several tracks for Modern Records. Horton joined Jimmy Reed's band in 1952 at the request of Eddie Taylor and was briefly a member of Muddy Waters' group when Junior Wells was drafted by the United States Army.

Horton went to Memphis, Tennessee after being fired by Muddy Waters. He cut several more songs for Sun Records and would return to Chicago for good in 1953. He did session work at the request of Willie Dixon and over the years would appear on recordings by Otis Rush, Koko Taylor, Sunnyland Slim, Tampa Red and countless others.

During the 1960's Horton toured and performed with Willie Dixon's Chicago Blues All-Stars, and he also appeared on the Fleetwood Mac album Blues Jam in Chicago. When not doing session work, Horton would gig locally and play for tips at Maxwell Street.

In 1978, Horton would once again be working with Muddy Waters and in 1980 he appeared in the Blues Brothers movie as a member of John Lee Hooker's band during the performance of "Boom, Boom" at Maxwell Street. Horton passed away on the 8th of December in 1981 from heart failure. He is buried at Restvale Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois

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