Little Walter's induction into the R&R Hall of Fame

[derekmtheriault]

UGottaListen2b4udie!!!

[ChavezRey]

James Cotton should be in too, the guy has been keeping the blues and roots of rock 'n roll alive for decades.

[harataikiphilosopher]

@ChavezRey JC should DEFIANTLY be in there! as far as harp playing go JC is the greatest.

[puppymilkshake]

a true legend. perfection personified!!! chicago blues is the truth!

[DexterChapman]

watched cadillac records like 3 times within the last week.. great movie

[hnh4]

Well, that wasn't a very good performance... not good at all... they're just playing, where's the feeling?

[texwales]

First time I've seen this. I have to agree with the comments about the band. Pretty appalling by any standard. No respect is the phrase that comes to mind. I suspect there was at least one in the band who looked back at the tape and was mortified.

[diddywahdaddy]

Not only could he make the harp sound like nothing else (even towing the limits up to make it sound like a sax!!), but he had one hell of a honey voice as well. So much power in one sole man. Incredible. I wish he could have lived much longer and be able to enjoy the respect and wealth he truly deserved. I feel so humble.

[diddywahdaddy]

Not only could he make the harp sound like nothing else (even towing the limits up to make it sound like a sax!!), but he had one hell of a honey voice as well. So much power in one sole man. Incredible. I wish he could have enjoyed the respect and wealth he truly deserved. I feel so humble.

[BlueRevival]

He fucked up the vocals. Did he even listen to the vocals?

[ONENIGGER2ANOTHER]

Paul Schaefer and his band of hacks needs to NEVER attempt a Blues song again on this planet. Fucking Rubbish!

[kentishtown1]

ben harper is the wrong choice of voice for this.

[callmejeffbob]

wow; it's incredible that the band never seemed to notice that they were not in sync with James Cotton. They should have at least listened to Juke so they knew where the turnaround is on the first verse. They also messed up My Babe. I guess they figured "hey, it's just blues. How hard can it be?". Well both those tunes have some nuances and vary from a straight 12 bar blues. If not a rehersal, please at least listen to the record once or twice.

[Herve1955]

Incroyable! Le Rock & Roll Hall of Fame a été créé en 1986 et il a fallu 22 ans pour y faire entrer Little Walter! Au regard d'autres bluesmen qui y sont (légitimement) c'est un peu logn quand même

[325Chuck355]

dude... nobody asked for your take on the song...

[TheBluesman17]

7:51 love it how he cuts James off eh

[Harpman99]

Man these cats f-ed that first song up bad big time! That was supposed to be "Juke". Notice how they never play the changes with Cotton. But as ususal with the blues, the show must go on. That was definitely not Cotton's fault.

[Aplustradomus]

I wasnt impressed with the band...

[cedricleecason]

I read these comments about Cotton was off, well he wasnt off, and IF, a thats a BIG IF, he was off it would look like the band would have caught up with him if they are a "kick ass band". See my point. The harp, Cotton, was lead instrument and if the lead does something, then the rest of the band needs to caught up, if they are a "kick ass band" LOL...ha, yeah right. Like I said b4, Coton was the only one on target. Shame.

[pgorton22]

i cant believe someone would even attempt to copy the great little walter. thats like steppin on his grave

[willieraye]

THIS SMUCK CAN'T READ HIS Q-CARDS

[cedricleecason]

The band?! LOL Yeah right! Cotton was the only one playing it right, NOBODY ELSE WASNT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[CadillacDave2009]

I'm sure that it sounded a lot better there than it did here on YouTube. How could anyone suggest Kim Wilson over James Cotton - someone who was there. Cotton always plays through the PA. That's his sound. As student of James Cotton's and Chicago Blues Musician, they're baying homage to a great pioneer and trying to take away from his greatness. It's a great performance and great rendition. LONG LIVE LITTLE WALTER! SHIT! I'm going to play some Walter tonight at House of Blues.

[cedricleecason]

@CadillacDave2009 Thats right, Cotton always plays thru PA, for years! Love Cotton!

[cedricleecason]

Where's the SOUL of the band? That was too bad, almost messed up Cotton, but it didnt...Love James Cotton!

[cedricleecason]

What..a little amp like he always does?

James Cotton and Junior Wells along with Little Walter and Big Walter taught us you can still have your sound without an amp. Cotton uses and have been using PA system and sounds great thru them. That band was off not Cotton!!!!!!

[tosha723]

He seemed to live such a hard life you can see how he aged so early but I tell you one thing HE IS THE GREATEST HARMONICA PLAYER EVER, AND ONE OF THE GREATS IN BLUES!!!!

[ddecto]

I've never heard James Cotton sound so horrible. His tone usually isn't that far off of Walter's. They shoulda added some overdive into the mic. He should've been using a bullet and a little amp like he always does. Why was he using the PA-system?

the vocals are fine, but that lap steel had no business being so distorted, it sounded like Duane Allman tone on steroids.

[tosha723]

are u kidding me?

[blokeatone]

Nope Ben ain't Little Walter, Hes Ben Harper Great singing

Great Playing !!! All the zipper brained armchair experts, suck

eggs. Man Rick Estrin is cooool tooooo............

[broncofangj]

I feel ya man...sounds pretty damned good to me, there is no perfecting what Little Walter did.

[mikespikeforlife]

James cotton is one funky old fatty

[luvtocmoon]

I just finished watching the movie Cadillac Records. I LOVED IT. I'm not much of a blues fan, but the story was so powerful. I admire the passion and love of music Little Walter had and I'm sorry he left so soon. The stories of these musicians should all be put on the big screen to teach us that we should all ride the blues through music and not drugs and alcohol which is killing us all. Thank you Little Walter for sharing your life even if it's 50 years later.

[12nites12]

worst speech ever (it reminds me of primary school speechs), worst accompanying band ever ( by the way, what where they thinkin when they decided to use that sound for a blues guitar???): WORST ceremony ever, for the BEST ever. The word shame is not enough. Kim Wilson should 've done the speech and singin, he's the only one who really understands Little Walter.

PD:I did like the video!

[davetaylorbluespiano]

Hey! the ceremony might have been crap- but at least LITTLE WALTER is where he belongs- in the HALL of FAME! Respec' to the Max! A truly great artist, and amazing music that will always be listened to. His influence is also heard in so much Rock and Pop of the last 50 years. Thank you LW.

[backwoodsgps]

awesome as beethoven

but with a better beat

hearin' is believin'

[Blackfunvideos]

sounds like a high school band to me

[gokickrock]

u are such a hater

[dunskie]

Reading the comments, I expected a lot worse.

That was'nt bad at all.

Far from a train wreck.

Nice little tribute to Walter.

[sconbone12]

The ceremony performance is a shame. who are these shitty musicians accompanying James C.? They can´t even play a traditional blues sceme. He and LW have deserved something much much better for this occasion. It´s embarassing. shame on them. Little Walter would have shot at them. RIP Little Walter

[blackdragonbaron]

why not have the whole james cotton band up there with super harp instead . with slam allen on vocals!. ......(no offense to ben harper .)

[TBeanIV]

fuck the organ they should have put some boogie woogie piano in thier Fuck

[panther514]

firstclass trainwreck ...Cotton smoked...but those soul-less sheet reading lames backing him stunk to high heaven...Columbus Short should have performed also...Harper's timing and delivery of the song was good and terrible...there are genres of music that can't be faked ..Blues is at the top of the list

[chess1458]

I Like Your Screen Name

[urinecakeheroes]

I agree w/ Odin029. This band should have been able to hear when James Cotton changed too early. It took them a long time to align themselves accordingly. To their credit though, I rarely hear good blues from a band that isn't an 24/7 blues band. The tribute video used interview footage of Rick Estrin from Little Charlie & the Nightcats. THEY (among many others) should have been the ones trading licks w/ James Cotton! Whoever organized this is F***ING useless.

[Odin029]

Personally I thought My Babe worked ok. Ben Harper did a good job, and the band was ok I guess. That first number was jumbled after the first couple of bars, and Cotton was sitting out front so he couldn't have corrected it. He's probably used to the band following him and going whereever he goes while Paul and his group were just sticking to the script.

Can't play blues by a script.

[magicdancer32208]

Hey ya'll I agree with all of you...what the hell do these people think they are doing, they cant carry Little Walters bath water!

[iosefini]

They messed it up somehow right from the beginning. The sound of Cotton is good but the band could not play the blues right.

[sweetgee2001]

This performance is horrible.... Mr. Cotton looking around to see if anybody has any soul to this mess they are playing.... For shame they suck the blues right on out..... Who in the hell is on theat guitar making it sound like rock n roll.... RIP Little Walter... Sorry for this disgrace.

[tasteycheri]

Why the hell are they just putting him in the Hall of Fame...and everybody else was inducted in the 80's...He should've been put in long before Elvis Presley...he didn't do nothing but copy what they had already done...

[Aplustradomus]

@tasteycheri PREACH!

[Frowned]

@tasteycheri Why the fuck do people think they have to put Elvis down in order to raise everybody else up? Elvis didn't do ANYTHING that those old black guys weren't doing; covering each other's songs, flat out ripping each other off. The only reason Elvis gets shit on by people like you is because he got rich doing it and because he was white, neither of which were under his control.

[ONENIGGER2ANOTHER]

@Frowned Yeah you right: set that stupid Bitch NASTYCHERI down! People forget that Elvis was about 1 degree removed from being a Poor Broke Ass Farm Nigger himself. His Daddy aws a sharecropper and they attended a predominately Black church. Elvis did justice by soaking up the Black influences and spitting them out in his own style.

[ONENIGGER2ANOTHER]

@tasteycheri Get some Ex-Lax Bitch cause you are sure full of shit! Elvis was his own and EVERYONE is influenced by peers and those who went before: Ignorant slut.

[jeanise10]

i cannot believe this guy did not prepare himself better he was so tied, he sang the song okay but his reading was awfull dig

[deeisapimp]

RIP LITTLE WALTER

[checker764]

Last time I checked, Paul Shaffer and his band of talented but generic studio musicians didn't have a record deal either.

[mrjoeljoel]

Get off your ass and get a fucking record deal so you can fuck up someone's induction if you don't like how they are playing.

[tamacchielastre]

paul shaffer is scandalous

the whole band sucks

[THEMOJOMANsince1959]

tamacchielastre NOT ONLY DOES THAT BAND SUCK SO DOES LETTERMAN his a smart ass and just makes fun of people. PAUL SHAFFER is a SMILIN' KISS ASS.

[kitty18muah]

omg what was they doing......dude signing my babe completely ruined it...they should had columbus short sing it he did wonderful in the movie cadallic records!!!cas they f.cked up really bad!!!

[JPGR66]

This is what I call "celebrity parasites".

Trying to come off as cool by associating themselves w/truly talented and innovative musicians,like Little Walter for example.

The irony here is that,Little Walter blew his harmonica to get rid of people like Paul Schaeffer and the like. Life's a bitch ,ain't it ?

[Garveergor]

The late nite band sucks. Sterile, no soul, too studio oriented. Will Lee on upright bass is god awful. Yuck. Would be good behind a Pat Boone version of this song, though.

[VeldigdeiligfraNorge]

god jul

[VeldigdeiligfraNorge]

god jul

[bluerondoo]

Ben Harper's solo is fuckin gay.

[mikelawct]

band sucks, terrible. they butchered the songs, walter HATED slide guitar, he would have hated this tribute. Good thing he's dead cause he would have kicked their asses for playing like fools. Nice try though.

[RobeeMan]

James Cotton is one of my heroes and I love him but he can fuck up too.Legends can fuck up!

In my opinion it's always the music that comes first.Cotton should have corrected the tune once he saw that Paul Schaeffer and his band don't get it, he should have followed them and Juke would have been restored.This way it's just a mess to my ears.

My Babe works just fine. :-)

[woodsheddin]

you're fucking whacked.....thoe asswipes were there to back up cotton on walter's tune for the fucking hall of fame induction and they should have had that tune locked up tight. shit, all they had to do was hang on the one and the do the turnaround. christ, they're supposed to be pros and they can't follow a VERY SIMPLE blues progression!?! I hate paul shaffer and will lee with a vengeance!

[SkankinMojo]

Little Walter the best harmonica player in the world and theres very little video footage of him - I just can't understand that!!!

[woodsheddin]

should have had conan's band back him. why does that twit paul schaffer always get the call for these events. he's such a heartless, soul-less shitheel.

they dropped the ball right out of the gate. Cotton played it just like he has for thirty-plus years....hell, he's probably been playing it near as long as little walter lived!

I hate paul schaffer to no end!!! his band is supposedly made up of the best players, but they can't even follow cotton when he makes the changes blatantly obvious

[Ledvolta]

hardly kick-ass... but thanks for posting. :) Cotton still rules. It wasn't a complete disaster; they tried.

[EricCirca6566]

To me it looks like the band rehearsed it but probably without James Cotton. James threw them a curve ball that they weren't expecting. Little Walter jumps the time on the second verse but Jimmy Rodgers and Muddy catch it right away. If you count the time on the original, the second verse is eleven and a half measures and the third verse is thirteen measures. The original Chicago guys always listened to who ever they were backing up.

[dickdeluxe]

Shaeffer and crew must not have ears-Juke is an 8 bar tune and Cotton was playing it right-he recovered to their mistakes and carried on but of course the actual tune was lost. Too busy looking in the mirror admiring themselves to bother to actually LISTEN to the tune of the honoree?

[Bohumill2]

I understand you. But They want give it something from them. Their feeling.

Little Walter....KING!!!!

[sjziro]

Juke is a 12 bar blues progression...

[iceman273]

The band had 2 leaders. It was obvious James Cotton was the front man, but Paul Schaeffer was telling the band where to change the chords. The band might have caught on with Cotton's change if it wasn't for Schaeffer. His presence was totally useless.

I'm not going to defend Cotton, it was lame that he jumped time. But he's probably used to his band following him when he does that.

What really surprizes me is that it seems like these guys did not rehearse before the show.

[iceman273]

Listening to the intro irritated me so much that I had to listen to it 3 times to be certain about what was going on. Then I read the comments here, and finally I've listened to little walter's original recording. James Cotton starts with an 8 bar intro and goes on with 12 bars. In essence, he jumps time.

If it was a real blues band backing him, they would have caught it right away. Cotton is not screwing up, just throwing in one of the delicacies of the blues unintentionally.

[michaelenos]

Ok so you have to listen to Walter's originals because a lot of the post war stuff was done on a 4-track recorder with one take. A lot of the blues purists I played with would play the "mistake" because it was a tribute to the roots of the music. They did the best with what they could....Schaeffer and his band are not "blues" guys but nice tribute. Ben Harper should have backed off on that solo...a little over the top

[tynertyner]

This is hard to watch. The jam is such a bust. Sometimes these sessions work, but this is an ill prepared headache. No synergy or distinction. What's with Anton's shuffle? The audience isn't fooled. Come on Paul...this ones for Walter.

[mmowoa]

The band SUCKS. The band doesn't know to play blues.

Cotton is great. A living legend. Cotton is a living part of the blues 'himself'.

[KudzuRunner]

After telling Joe Filisko about this fiasco earlier this week, I had to go back and make sure I was right. (I argued w/my buddy Trip H. about it too.) Look, folks: anybody who knows the slightest thing about "Juke" and also knows anything about Cotton's playing knows exactly what Cotton is doing when he cuts into the bar 9 riff at the beginning of bar 5. He's not trying to f--k up the band, even though the band does indeed f--k up. He's playing "Juke." He's making an obvious....

[KudzuRunner]

...predictable edit. It's nothing fancy. Cotton hasn't "screwed up." That's an idiot's comment. And when Cotton follows his V/IV riff with the cadence (2 d, 34d, 14b....) leading to the turnaround, there isn't a blues musician in the world who doesn't know exactly where Cotton is. So where is Paul Schaefer? Assuming he can hear Cotton--and he surely can--then he surely knows what is going on. Eight bars into this song, he knows that Cotton is four bars ahead of the band....

[KudzuRunner]

(Part III)..and yet he chooses to let the train wreck continue. (Please note that I'm relaxed as I point all this out.) It seems to me that any bandleader charged with this sort of gig should have been prepared for the obvious challenges. We're not talking about trying to accompany a guy like Honeyboy Edwards, who makes changes whenever he feels like it. Cotton is playing straight ahead 12 bar blues. He just dropped 4 bars from the intro, in an incredibly obvious and straightforward way....

[KudzuRunner]

(Part 4)...Let's restate the obvious: 1) Cotton, the headliner, did nothing wrong; nothing that a competent blues band couldn't have followed; 2) Had Kim Wilson and the band, or Pinetop Perkins's band, or Jimmy Thackery and his band, or Darrell Nulisch & friends, or any of a hundred different working blues bands, been backing Cotton, the train wreck would have been averted. This is all painfully obvious to anybody who plays and knows this music.

[whest]

If you could remove your head from your backside and desist from name dropping (six instances!)perhaps you could finally address the issue that the band were told it was a twelve bar.A regular blues band would have stumbled along just like the house band in spite of the urban myth to the contary.What exactly would you have had the conductor done?

Actually please don't answer that-enough is enough!

[checker764]

"...the band were told it was a twelve bar."

Are you in the band? That would certainly explain your reluctance to admit they screwed up.

I think the real problem, as originally stated near the beginning of these comments, is that the band probably ASSUMED that the song would be played as 'just 12 bar blues', and didn't bother to rehearse it. If they had, they'd have known that Cotton plays it with an 8 bar intro. Or at least understood that they might have to listen to and follow him.

[whest]

No man,I ain't in the band (lol) and have absolutely no connection with anyone who is!

I am simply amused by the knee jerk reaction of the blues community to convict the band of a crime they did not commit.They may not have been Lockwood or Myers but they would have bashed through it.They did right to hang together rather than breaking rank to try and cover up.That would have been even worse and may even have caused them to abort!

[StevenAtkins]

Some people need to chill.

Some people need to calm down.

Most of all, some people need to listen to the original recording by Little Walter from 1952.

If they did, and listened carefully, they would know that Little Walter isn't in the same groove as the band. Just like Cotton and The Letterman Band here.

It's simply how the song goes. They're playing it the way Little Walter recorded it

Perhaps, it is even being done ON PURPOSE, this being a TRIBUTE TO LITTLE WALTER and all.

[whest]

O.K I get it!!!!!!!!

Cotton screws up and we all get together and blame the band.Makes perfect sense,particularly as Cotton is a venerable old codger .Never mind that the band were told it was a twelve bar and that if one of them had broken rank and tried to follow Cotton there would have been an even bigger cock up!Can you imagine the reaction if a white harp blower had done like Cotton-all you apologists would have crucified him!None of the musicians were suitable Cotton included!!!!!!

[checker764]

No, you obviously don't get it. Cotton was right BECAUSE HE'S JAMES COTTON. This is HIS music, and he was playing it the way it's supposed to be played, and the knuckleheads backing him weren't, and that's the end of it.

[whest]

You are responding with your heart not your head!I love Cotton (particularly circa '66) as much as anyone,but blaming others for his 'eccentricities'is sentiment gone mad.Muddy would have kicked his arse.You may have emotion on your side,but I have reason on mine.

[checker764]

No, you have a technical argument on your side. If blues was about technical perfection, you'd have a case, but Little Walter's music wasn't, James Cotton's music isn't, and the blues has never been about technical perfection. If Cotton was playing from of sheet music and got it wrong, then he'd be wrong. But that's not what he does, and whoever hired him for this gig knows it, so saddling him with a bunch of studio musicians who ONLY play "technically accurate" music was the REAL mistake.

[checker764]

Additionally, I don't know how it's done elsewhere, but here in Chicago, Juke is COMMONLY played with an 8 bar intro, exactly as Cotton played it. He's done it that way hundreds of times, Billy Branch does it that way, and others do as well. The average amatuer blues band in Chicago, even if they'd never heard the song, would have picked up on what the front man was doing and adjusted appropriately. The fact that these musical technicians were unable to is shameful.

[cedricleecason]

@checker764 AMEN!!!

[tjjtaylor]

Walter was an improvisational master, Cotton's no slouch either. The rest of those t.v. jerkoffs could'nt improvise a fart after a ham and been dinner.

[bladesman34]

That backing band was a total disgrace. They didn't even know they were out! the only one who knew was Cotton.

[scatteredfrog]

At the same time, however, can you really take an induction tribute seriously? As for Paul Shaffer...the guy is in high demand, and he has impeccable taste in music...not worthy of playing Little Walter? Well, they gotta play what they're told to play. And who says that James Cotton was their first choice, anyway??

[scatteredfrog]

At first I thought everybody was just being whiny because it wasn't exact...but I listened to it a second time, and "Juke," at least, was kind of a train wreck...seems Mr. Cotton got totally lost, and completely blew the last verse he performed. It sounds like the band just wanted to jump straight to the end to put everybody out of their misery.

[checker764]

Cotton wasn't lost, he knew EXACTLY what he was doing. The band mangled this - they didn't follow the front man, one of the first rules of blues playing. Cotton played a perfect 8 bar intro, and then played the rest of the song exactly like the record, with perfect timing. If the band didn't know the song, or how to follow Cotton, it wasn't Cotton's fault. And rather than listen to Cotton to find their place, they compounded the problem by bailing out in the middle of the song. Disgraceful.

[JJ4POPE]

no way i could ever watch this video again..

[happachu]

I love how Cotton looks at the corny vocalist with a "WTF" look when he started singing it his "way". Poor Marion Jacob must be rolling in his grave about this.

[colne05]

Couldnt agree more,what a mess! There are so many great blues musicians in the USA who could have done justice to the occasion,and they need the work.Same old story again,you either got it or you aint.Its even worse in the UK,take it from me i know.God bless Little Walter.

[shrimpdaddy]

check canada man if you want to find it Bharath and the rythm four.

[shrimpdaddy]

i think it is a wonderfull irony that these so called professional perfect musicians couln't play what they considered simple blues... I certainly hope it makes them take a step back and look at them selves and have a listen again to what they think is so simple. walter created on stage if he wanted an unorthodoxed change the band followed if he switched from 8 to 12 bars if he hung on the one changed the grove or wanted stops or fills it was there cause the band listened.

[bluesdrummer715]

Best band in NYC? We opened up for Cotton 2 weeks ago and he definitely should have had his own band. I never liked that Letterman Band. they're like White American Cheese, on white bread. They groove like a 3 legged cat on a pond of ice! They have no respect for the legend!! Knowing Cotton, backstage he let'em have it! Anton needs to listen to Francis Clay, Fred Below, and Wille big Eye's Smith! Will Lee needs a long lesson of Willie Dixon. And clown boy needs some Otis Span records! DISTUSTING

[shrimpdaddy]

has anyone ever tried to play a song while a band was playing a different song? i can't beleive these guys played a 12 bar blues from front to back and never once listened to cotton for changes he was telegraphing shots and changes all through and finally he decided toi end the damn train wreck. I am completly disgusted with the letterman band after this. if they had some little pop star up there they would have learned the tune note for note.

[stonefwp]

Clapton knows nothing

[stonefwp]

Paul Shaeffer and company have no business backing up Cotton. These guys obviously don't know the genre and aren't watching Cotton and their not playing with him. He signaled breaks-- which they missed, too.

[BlindLemonJaffaCake]

Actually having listened to it again, it was totally shit! A disgrace to LW.

[hottdancer1]

I think Little Walter was truly an incredible musician. Somehow, every single time I listen to him play.... I can't help but feel him. It's like he's standing in the room. My friend wrote an amazing script about Little Walter which I read... what a life... I think they might make it his movie this year. Last I heard they were sending it over to Will Smith and Ludacris!!!!! Yeah! His story NEEDS to be told!

[Clarky3009]

right on

[hottdancer1]

I think Little Walter was truly an incredible musician. Somehow, every single time I listen to him play.... I can't help but feel him. It's like he's standing in the room. My friend wrote an amazing script about Little Walter which I read... it was amazing... I think they might make it this year! Last I heard they were sending it over to Will Smith and Ludacris!!!!! Yeah! His story NEEDS to be told!

[SianReynolds]

Is it me or did Cotton screw up the beginning? Notice how he left the head too soon?

[BlindLemonJaffaCake]

Yeap, I agree, I think Mr Cotton screwed it up more than once. In fact I think the whole thing was a complete mess to be honest. Not much better than rubbish for such an important occasion. To be honest Bharath and his rhythm four should of done the gig, they're the best in the world at LW. And I don't think the audience had a clue how important this was, they looked totally clueless to me. Nevermind, Little Walter was the best and anyone who knows about blue harp will know that anyway.

[FunkCowboy]

Ben Harper is deadly awesome. Plus, Paul and the boys kick some serious ass.

[SianReynolds]

As a speaker/presenter, I'd rank Ben up there with Andy Kaufman on valium. What a painful yawn.

[nortowns]

look at all the white people in the audience i wil bet that most of them had never heard of little walter or any of the blues artist who were black  and as far as the greatest greatest blues harmonica player it is sonny boy williamson but little walter is a close second

[otis1006]

kim wilson and who ever he would have picked for a band, would have been the best band for the job.

[bonecone]

Well yeah. As Muddy Waters said, Kim is the best harp player since Little Walter!

[bonecone]

But James Cotton is the right for this to play...

[retrofool]

It's EVERYBODY'S FAULT ! A God Damn train wreck of a tribute to WALTER. As bad as any you would hear walking into any dive "bluesbar"on any given night.They may have asked Cotton to cut the tune's time or he just plain got lost/forgot. Thankfully they did a good visual montage and had Walter playing over it or a civilian might be wondering what all the fuss was about.Clearly NOBODY rehearsed here! " It's JUST BLUES..we can fake that"...yeah right...

[247blue]

cotton was definitely the right choice for the job. both cotton and little walter had signature sounds and historically they are connected . cotton is the last of the major harp players from that generation. there are a number of harp players that could have imitated little walters juke and my babe , including kim wilson, steve guyger , rod piazza, dave waldman, rick estrin,etc but the award is about creation, walter never played the same thing twice, juke is a frozen improvisation

[247blue]

absolutely not, ben harper has his own sound and wasnt faking anything, i was refering to the other musician hired guns and session players that play everything and im sure that all of those musicians are great in their own right but they don't have enough background in the blues to catch that shortcut that cotton took on one of the most well known blues instrumentals ever created.

[leanground]

Great clip, rarely seen Little Walter is a treat for sure...there are no blues without him. Cotton was very good, paying tribute to an old friend.

[247blue]

i got to give credit to the people that put together the film clip. little walters playing a quarter to twelve but the clip was taken from either the coco taylor or hound taylor performance in europe for a totaly different number. video synced pretty good. the club video of walter must be from sam lays stash, cool

[247blue]

i know what the problem was . They don't a version of juke in any fakebooks. so they could'nt fake it. well you just cant fake those real blues. can anybody explain "what bravery is to fear little walter was to the blues" bravery is the opposite of fear does that mean little walter s the opposite of the blues. must be too philosophical or profound for me to get.

[fps16]

I think he meant that bravery transcends fear and Little Walter transcends the blues. I am not sure if you were suggesting that Ben Harper has to fake the blues or musical talent, but I highly recommend seeing him in concert.

[philipwight]

what an utter disaster - an insult to Walter's memory

[HarmonicaBoss]

Thanks Scott,

This video proves how the most accomplished musicians, who think blues is simple and easy to play, are kidding themselves. Paul Shafer's band needs to stay away from blues and get back on the set with Dave to play pop cover tunes. And ben harper needs to leave that distorted lap slide with his guitar tech. Cotton was smoking throughout but the band's Juke rendition was a train-wreck ! Poor cotton winds up looking like it's his fault. Hey Paul put down the joint and listen to JUKE!

[goldbugggg]

That "distorted lap slide" is a harmonica, he's playing slide with a harmonica in tribute to little Walter.

[HarmonicaBoss]

you don't know what you're talking about.

[goldbugggg]

What...i looks like a harmonica, and it does sounds pretty bad, but im assuming a guy that plays as much and as well as ben harper isn't just going to sound that bad. Pause it at 8:32, it looks like a harmonica.

[valois89]

It is his fault - he tries to play Walter's solo but he misses 4 bars at the beginning and doesn't even notice it.

[HarmonicaBoss]

no it isn't - that band CAN'T play blues - the drummer is playing the wrong beat - cotton is the only one playing blues.

go back to school kiddo !

[slmccabe]

you got that right. Bored rich NY TV personalities do not a blues band make. They did not do the music, Little Walter or James Cotton justice.

[bucolicjones]

Yup. I would say Walter has never been equalled. I've been listening back to his stuff since watching this video and I'm amazed. He made his own sonic world that is involved and intricate and has all the facets of great art with it's balance of emotional beauty and controlled technique. His stuff is sensitive, sexy and elegant - velvety almost! I also love the juxtaposition of his sensitive tonal palette over the snarling guitars and gutbucket drums of both his and Muddy's punky bands!

[HarmonicaBoss]

testify !

[bucolicjones]

BTW - I have always hated that patronising Clapton quote that Walter's stuff was very crude! Has anyone ever heard anything Clapton has done in terms of technique and emotion that can rival Walter? Was Clapton considered a genius by Muddy Waters and Miles Davis amoungst many others. I think not! The Clap will always remind me of an emotionally constipated Surrey accountant, playing the blues at weekends to let off steam (sometimes before, sometimes after the weekly game of golf). Gaaargh!

[checker764]

Agreed - Clapton saying Little Walter's playing was "crude" only makes obvious the fact that he doesn't understand it, or was confusing Little Walter with someone else. Little Walter's playing was the exact opposite of "crude" - it was the most sophisticated and nuanced blues harmonica that had ever been heard up to that point, and it is those very qualities that make it so influential and still worthy of study today. It's the fact that it WASN'T "crude" that earned him a place in the R&R HOF!

[whest]

What Clapton went on to say but is not shown is'..he didn't have much technique,not even on the harmonica'.That shows what a great insight Clapton has into Walter's playing.Don't agree withyou abot the instrumentsaying 'thank you to the player'-mawkish slop!

[bucolicjones]

I thought it was a rather poetic way of exploring the way, as Mike Rowe put it in his book Chicago Blues, Walter played "As if his life depended on it". It personifies the harmonicas role in the Walter/harmonica relationship. As Walter plays the instrument it is thanking Walter for his virtuosity. In effect, it's sound soothes this troubled man and in consequence soothes the listener. I rather think, that when Billy Holiday sings her voice thanks her too! As does Parker's sax and Davis's horn!

[bucolicjones]

"He is one of life's rare musical instances where you can hear the instrument saying to it's player in every note "Thank you....thank you for all you've done for me I can never repay you" having just re - listened to his chromatic solo on "I Just want to make love to you" I heartily concur!

[bluezboy2]

Christ, what a shitty ass band!!!!!!!!!! They sound just like one of those a "canned" backing tracks, and what the hell was Ben doing reading from index cards, with no real passion about who he was reading about? Award shows are such a damn boring joke. Sheeeesh!

[KudzuRunner]

I hate to second the complaints about the band, but my god: Cotton played the blues, jumped time, but did so in a way that any bandleader (P.S.) should easily have caught. Instead, they kept rolling and let him hang out there. A day of infamy! Not really: just a day when the blues--and the blues harmonica--show they still have the power to mess with the blues.

[jasonricci]

Kick ass band? Cotton kicks ass those kids suck! All hail LW fuck the hall of fame anyway...

[ystrdytdytmrw]

everyone read from either cards or actual full sized scripts the entire night, which i prefer to deer in the head light tele prompters personally.

an elegant and soulful induction all the way around.

[ystrdytdytmrw]

"fate has no enemies,

and death knows no jokes."

DAMN

[Niradog6]

If only Robert Lockwood Jr. could have been there....

[checker764]

I think it's noteworthy that there are absolutely no references during the induction to any of Little Walter's sideman work with Muddy Waters or anyone else. And no audio or video clips of anything other than his own work as a solo artist? Even the live performance by Cotton and Harper features two of Walter's own hit records, "Juke" and "My Babe". It kind of makes one wonder if maybe the committee had second thoughts about the the notion of a "sideman" induction after it was first announced.

[247blue]

They should change the sideman status to front man. Little Walter was the Charlie Parker of the blues harmonica. He never played the same thing twice. During a six year period he had 14 R&B hits in the top ten under his own name, some sideman. Cotton left out two of the opening licks on Juke- the band should've caught it, Cotton should've used his own band. Little Walter probably wants to come back and raise some sand about this mess. Maybe they used Ben Harper because he has Harp in his name?

[247blue]

Cotton didn't really jump time at the beginning of Juke,he more or less did it like the record. They should've had cotton with his own band, knowing little walter he probably wants to come back and raise some sand about this mess. Walter was a creator He never played the same thing twice. Charlie parker of the blues harmonica, He had 14 top ten R&B hits in 6 years under his own name. Some sideman. Hey, maybe they used Ben Harper because he got Harp in his name.

[Rockers1957]

What a train wreck - a real shame - and IMHO the band needs to get with it - not the front man, man! Hope they took Cotton out for dinner after the show - cause I'm sure he threw-up whatever was in his stomach after the show! Love to LW and Cotton!

[wellcharge]

Letterman's band is a good set of musicians, not actual blues players, they're rock session players, so what would you expect !!but if you pay attention you'll see that Cotton is the one that's jumpin' time and not the band.

[rgahrens]

If Little Walter himself were playing with this band, they STILL wouldn't consider dynamics. Sad really....

[REDHOT34]

Whats the slide guitar doing on that stage during a ceremony honoring a harp player. and they had that crappy pianist from David Letterman.

[12gagedan]

Uh. Muddy played a lot of slide. Slide and harmonica go pretty well together (have for years). Further, Ben Harper is a modern-day innovator. I'd rather see innovators honoring Walter, than an imitator.

[harmonicamasterclass]

It's great that Little Walter is being remembered! The band was painful to listen to... Yes, great musicians that can play blues, but are not blues players. How could you NOT hear where cotton was! It's funny how this section of the show remembering a great blues musician has a band that totally misses the point of backing a great blues musician :-) Still... cool that Walter, and thus other blues harp players, get some recognition.

[checker764]

Re: the band's backing, yes, that is a bit ironic, isn't it?

All these "professional musicians" think the blues is SO easy...but those guys, skilled as they are at playing, missed the essential part of blues in general and Little Walter in particular: LISTENING.

In fairness, it was *Cotton* who jumped time, but as you say, if they'd ever heard "The National Anthem of Blues Harp" before, or listened to any authentic blues guys, it would have been impossible to miss Cotton's changes.

[shrimpdaddy]

you don't play blues with sheet music you watch the front man! Cotton did amayzing under the circumstaces. There are a million proffessional blues bands out there including cottons own band why did tyhey insist on thinking that this band can back anybody. cause they are highest paid band don't mean they can play chicago blues. Long live the aces man!

[Soul74]

I agree that the band should have been following Cotton and not Shaeffer, but come on. There is no sheet music there. And Will Lee (bass) and Anton Figg (drums) are some of the most badass players out there.

[whest]

Like you say Cotton changes out of the first chorus too soon.The whole thing including the ameteurish reading of the citation from cue cards is a disgrace to Walter's memory.There are plenty of good cats who would have done a decent job.Walter was about sublety not thump!!!!!!!!!

[Soul74]

I thought that speech was beautiful.

[shrimpdaddy]

Bharath and the rhythm four would have been the choice for this occasion not taking anything away from cotton.

[therhythmfour]

Thanks man but Cotton has a bit more experience than me,(understatement of the year) having known him and played around town with the guy everything ...

[BigAlexB1Blues]

Long Live Little Walter.

[blueguitar69]

Cotton still sounds great, but the band is totally lost.