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beginner forum: for novice and developing blues harp players > LW Walter - Don't Have to Hunt No More
LW Walter - Don't Have to Hunt No More
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MindTheGap
2109 posts
Feb 11, 2017
7:42 AM
Is that the title, or is it 'Hurt no More'? No idea.

Anyway I was listening back though old licks and phrases I'd recorded when I was trawling through 'The Repertoire'. And found this gem. It may be known to you, if so that's good.

The blurb suggests is was to be Juke II, but not released. Again, no idea on that. If that's the case you could see why Chess would want to follow up success with something very similar, people have always done that. It certainly sounds like "Juke S01E02". Think of the band 'Black Lace' following the smash hit 'Agadoo' with 'Do the Conga' - aaah, the memories.

Getting round to the point slowly, the point is that it is full of fairly easy to follow patterns that would be good for a beginner to have in the bag - especially for playing amped. They are quite repetitive within each 12-bar round, and yet quite varied between rounds, which is a Good Thing for us. And some licks that I've not heard anywhere else actually.

No, we won't sound like LW - how would I ever dare suggest it - but we might sound like ourselves playing some nicely constructed phrases. See what you think.

Last Edited by MindTheGap on Feb 11, 2017 7:45 AM
Fil
277 posts
Feb 11, 2017
9:24 AM
Looks like it's Hunt No More. I just picked it off iTunes. It's part of an album...the Complete Chess Masters (1950-1957). You're right. There is a lot to learn from it.
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Phil Pennington
SuperBee
4499 posts
Feb 12, 2017
1:04 PM
I guess 'Juke II' is probably 'off the wall'. That's the 'other' great little Walter instrumental, and in some ways it's a sequel that represents an improvement on the original hit.
In this tune (don't have to hunt) the opening chorus is very reminiscent to me of 'off the wall', so I can well-believe it's an alternative take, or a recording of the development of Off The Wall. I haven't specifically researched it, but it seems likely. There's even a chorus where the harp peters out and the drum takes a solo.
Anyway, I agree, nice piece.
SuperBee
4502 posts
Feb 12, 2017
6:19 PM
I'm reading about it now. Apparently the intended title was 'don't want to hurt no more'.
And the record had been intended for release but was indeed replaced with 'Off the Wall'.
Quote from The Chess Label Part II (1953-1955): "Little Walter and his Jukes made a return visit to Universal in early March of 1953. The company initially slated "Don't Want to Hurt No More" (misrendered as "Don't Want to Hunt"—since it was an instrumental, the misspelling wasn't exactly self-evident) and "Tonight with a Fool" for release, on Checker 767. The instrumental side was one of Walter's best, but "Tonight with a Fool" (a phrase not to be found in the lyrics) was a run-of-the-mill downtempo number, with words apparently made up in the studio. Plans were hastily changed after the record had already been advertised, and the company went instead with Checker 770, "Off the Wall" and "Tell Me Mama," a much snappier piece with catchier lyrics. Both sides of 770 are now considered classics. (The hasty abandonment of 767 caused confusion later, when it showed up for the first time in the midst of a "reissue" series of Checker singles in the mid 1960s.)"
MindTheGap
2110 posts
Feb 12, 2017
11:26 PM
Ah ha. Thanks for filling in the background. I did think that 'you don't have to hunt no more' was an odd title. Yes, I get that's it's more akin to Off the Wall having listened to them side-by-side.

In terms of garnering phrases, I think 'Hurt/Hunt' is a richer source than 'Wall' - they are a bit more straightforward.


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