(Walter Jacobs, Arc Music Corp., BMI)
Recorded May 12, 1952
Little Walter (harmonica)
Muddy Waters, Jimmy Rogers (guitar)
Elgin Evans (real name: Elga Edmonds) (drums)
Originally Checker single 758
Walter had such an advanced idea of his own abilities that as early as 1952, while still in Muddy’s band, he was already pestering Chess to let him record as a leader. Barely out of his teens, young Marion Walter Jacobs had undeniable talent; he was a take-no-prisoners harp player, full of flashing brilliance. Though personally rather unstable, he had already musically outstripped his only possible rival, Sonny Boy Williamson. With studio time as cheap as it was, Leonard Chess saw no reason not to let him try. Walter cut the smash instrumental “Juke,” the first record issued under his own name, at a split session with his Muddy bandmates that also produced the Muddy Waters single “Please Have Mercy”. Fortunately or unfortunately, “Juke” was the hit, reaching #1 on the R&B charts; before the year was out, Walter took his place alongside Muddy and Wolf as the third major player on the Chicago blues scene. (Incidentally, this tune inspired the title of the excellent British magazine, “Juke Blues”.)
On December 19, 2007, The Recording Academy announced that it was inducting Little Walter's recording of Juke into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2008, as a song that "...exemplify the best qualities that make the recording arts such a vital part of our culture — and each not only uniquely reflects the zeitgeist of its time, but also possesses the enduring power of transcending time."
In 1986, "Juke" was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in the "Classics of Blues Recordings – Singles or Album Tracks" category.