Juke (song)
Encyclopedia
"Juke" is a harmonica
instrumental
recorded by then 22-year-old Chicago
bluesman Little Walter
Jacobs in 1952. Although Little Walter had been recording sporadically for small Chicago labels over the previous five years, and had appeared on Muddy Waters
' records for the Chess
label since 1950, Juke was Little Walter's first hit, and it was the most important of his career. Due to the influence of Little Walter on blues harmonica, Juke is now considered a blues harmonica standard
.
and his band, which at the time consisted of Waters and Jimmy Rogers
on guitars, and Elga Edmunds on drums, in addition to Little Walter on harmonica. The originally released recording of "Juke" was the first completed take of the first song attempted at the first Little Walter session for Leonard Chess
; the song was released at the end of July on Chess's subsidiary label Checker Records
as Checker single #758. The song was recorded by recording engineer Bill Putnam
at his Universal Recorders studio at 111 E. Ontario St. on the near north side of Chicago
, Illinois
. (Coincidentally, several years earlier Putnam had recorded one of the few other harmonica instrumentals ever to become a hit record, "Peg O' My Heart
" by The Harmonicats
.)
After recording two takes of "Juke" (the second, vastly different alternate take finally being issued for the first time over 40 years later), at the same session Little Walter recorded "Can't Hold On Much Longer", which took considerably more takes than "Juke" to complete. After the completion of Little Walter's recordings, Muddy Waters recorded his only song that day, "Please Have Mercy", backed by Little Walter and the band.
Juke became the most important and influential song for blues harmonica players of the era, and was expected to be in the repertoire of any serious blues harmonica player; at least in Chicago, blues harmonica players were judged on their ability to play it. In addition, Juke popularized the Chicago blues
harmonica technique still in use today by harmonica players around the world: using a small hand-held microphone cupped to the harmonica to produce a dynamic, rich and slightly distorted amplified harmonica sound.
guitar pattern, and is originally in the major key of E; since Walter played in second position (cross harp), the harmonica he used is actually in the key of A. "Juke" is a standard 12-Bar blues song, set for the most part in the time signature of 4:4, but its time changes once to 3:4 and once to 2:4. "Juke" contains 8 choruses.
The harmonica playing in "Juke" is deep-toned and features long saxophone
-like phrases. "Juke" is a dynamic song, building and releasing in intensity several times. The opening eight bars of the song, or "head", consist of a repeated six note phrase commonly and frequently played by jazz and swing horn players in the 1930s and '40s, but of undetermined origin. The remainder of the song is an improvisation of Little Walter's own invention.
"Juke" was originally titled on the recording session log as "Your Pat Will Play"; later it was discovered that this was a mistake, a mis-hearing of Little Walter's intended title, "Your Cat Will Play". The song was re-named "Juke" upon release in July of 1952, probably by label owner Leonard Chess.
Junior Wells
later claimed that he was playing "Juke" prior to Little Walter's recording of it, although Wells never recorded his version. Snooky Pryor's 1948 recording "Snooky and Moody's Boogie," begins with the same repeated ascending riff that Little Walter uses in the first eight bars of "Juke", although the remainder is distinctly different. (Pryor himself claimed in an interview that Walter "picked up 'Snooky and Moody's Boogie' and made 'Juke' out of it.") Jimmy Rogers, guitarist on "Juke", claimed that parts of "Juke" were based on an unrecorded intermission/theme song frequently played by piano player Sunnyland Slim
, which he called "Get Up The Stairs Madamoiselle".
"Juke" has been covered by Big Walter Horton
, James Cotton
, Billy Branch, Paul Butterfield
and Carey Bell
, among others.
the zeitgeist of its time, but also possesses the enduring power of transcending time."
In 1986 "Juke" was awarded a Blues Music Award by the Blues Foundation
for Classics of Blues Recordings--Singles or Album Tracks.
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
recorded by then 22-year-old Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
bluesman Little Walter
Little Walter
Little Walter, born Marion Walter Jacobs , was an American blues harmonica player, whose revolutionary approach to his instrument has earned him comparisons to Charlie Parker and Jimi Hendrix, for innovation and impact on succeeding generations...
Jacobs in 1952. Although Little Walter had been recording sporadically for small Chicago labels over the previous five years, and had appeared on Muddy Waters
Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
' records for the Chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
label since 1950, Juke was Little Walter's first hit, and it was the most important of his career. Due to the influence of Little Walter on blues harmonica, Juke is now considered a blues harmonica standard
Blues standard
A blues standard is a blues song that is widely known, performed, and recorded by blues artists. The following list identifies blues standards and some of the blues artists that have recorded them...
.
Recording
In May 1952, Little Walter had been a regular member of the Muddy Waters Band for at least 3 years. "Juke" was recorded on 12 May 1952 at the beginning (not the end, as commonly thought) of a recording session with Muddy WatersMuddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
and his band, which at the time consisted of Waters and Jimmy Rogers
Jimmy Rogers
Jimmy Rogers was an American Chicago blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player, best known for his work as a member of Muddy Waters' band of the 1950s.-Career:...
on guitars, and Elga Edmunds on drums, in addition to Little Walter on harmonica. The originally released recording of "Juke" was the first completed take of the first song attempted at the first Little Walter session for Leonard Chess
Leonard Chess
Leonard Chess was a record company executive and the founder of Chess Records. He was influential in the development of electric blues.- Early life :...
; the song was released at the end of July on Chess's subsidiary label Checker Records
Checker Records
Checker Records is an inactive record label that was started in 1952 as a subsidiary to Chess Records in Chicago, Illinois. The label was founded by the Chess brothers, Leonard and Phil, who ran the label until they sold it to General Recorded Tape in 1969, shortly before Leonard's death.The label...
as Checker single #758. The song was recorded by recording engineer Bill Putnam
Bill Putnam
Milton Tasker "Bill" Putnam was a renowned American audio engineer, songwriter, producer, studio designer and businessman who has been described as "the father of modern recording"...
at his Universal Recorders studio at 111 E. Ontario St. on the near north side of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. (Coincidentally, several years earlier Putnam had recorded one of the few other harmonica instrumentals ever to become a hit record, "Peg O' My Heart
Peg o' My Heart
"Peg o' My Heart" is a popular song written by Alfred Bryan and Fred Fisher. It was published on March 15, 1913 and it featured in the 1913 musical Ziegfeld Follies. The song was first performed publicly by Irving Kaufman in 1912 at The College Inn in New York City after he had stumbled across a...
" by The Harmonicats
The Harmonicats
Jerry Murad's Harmonicats were an American harmonica-based group. Originally they were named The Harmonica Madcaps and the group consisted of Jerry Murad , Bob Hadamik , Pete Pedersen , and Al Fiore, . They reformed later as a trio with Murad, Fiore, and bass harmonica player Don Les...
.)
After recording two takes of "Juke" (the second, vastly different alternate take finally being issued for the first time over 40 years later), at the same session Little Walter recorded "Can't Hold On Much Longer", which took considerably more takes than "Juke" to complete. After the completion of Little Walter's recordings, Muddy Waters recorded his only song that day, "Please Have Mercy", backed by Little Walter and the band.
Successes
In an apparent acknowledgement of the Little Walter's pioneering instrumental skill, the instrumental "Juke" was promoted as the "A" side of the single, with the vocal "Can't Hold On Much Longer" as the "B" side. Within weeks of its release, Juke had reached the number-one spot on Billboard's R&B chart, unheard of for a harmonica instrumental; no other harmonica instrumental ever achieved this position, before or since. Juke was not only a major success for Little Walter, but it was the biggest hit for Chess or any of its associated labels until that time, and only the third Chess record to hit #1. Juke stayed in the #1 spot for 8 weeks, surpassing both previous Chess #1s, which had occupied the #1 position for a combined total of 6 weeks. The record stayed on the Billboard charts for a total of 20 weeks, and was one of the biggest R&B hits in the U.S. in 1952.Impact
The hit song launched Little Walter's successful solo career, and he immediately left the Muddy Waters band to form his own band, which was initially known as "The Jukes" in order to capitalize on the success of his hit single. Beginning with the massive success of Juke, Little Walter would go on to eclipse the chart success of his former boss Muddy Waters through the rest of the 1950s.Juke became the most important and influential song for blues harmonica players of the era, and was expected to be in the repertoire of any serious blues harmonica player; at least in Chicago, blues harmonica players were judged on their ability to play it. In addition, Juke popularized the Chicago blues
Chicago blues
The Chicago blues is a form of blues music that developed in Chicago, Illinois, by taking the basic acoustic guitar and harmonica-based Delta blues, making the harmonica louder with a microphone and an instrument amplifier, and adding electrically amplified guitar, amplified bass guitar, drums,...
harmonica technique still in use today by harmonica players around the world: using a small hand-held microphone cupped to the harmonica to produce a dynamic, rich and slightly distorted amplified harmonica sound.
Song
"Juke" is played as a swinging shuffle featuring a boogie-woogieBoogie-woogie
Boogie-woogie has the following meanings:*Boogie-woogie, a piano-based music style*Boogie-woogie , a swing dance or a dance that imitates the rock-n-roll dance of the 1950s*"Boogie Woogie" , a song by EuroGroove and Dannii Minogue...
guitar pattern, and is originally in the major key of E; since Walter played in second position (cross harp), the harmonica he used is actually in the key of A. "Juke" is a standard 12-Bar blues song, set for the most part in the time signature of 4:4, but its time changes once to 3:4 and once to 2:4. "Juke" contains 8 choruses.
The harmonica playing in "Juke" is deep-toned and features long saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
-like phrases. "Juke" is a dynamic song, building and releasing in intensity several times. The opening eight bars of the song, or "head", consist of a repeated six note phrase commonly and frequently played by jazz and swing horn players in the 1930s and '40s, but of undetermined origin. The remainder of the song is an improvisation of Little Walter's own invention.
"Juke" was originally titled on the recording session log as "Your Pat Will Play"; later it was discovered that this was a mistake, a mis-hearing of Little Walter's intended title, "Your Cat Will Play". The song was re-named "Juke" upon release in July of 1952, probably by label owner Leonard Chess.
Junior Wells
Junior Wells
Junior Wells , born Amos Wells Blakemore Jr., was an American Chicago blues vocalist, harmonica player, and recording artist...
later claimed that he was playing "Juke" prior to Little Walter's recording of it, although Wells never recorded his version. Snooky Pryor's 1948 recording "Snooky and Moody's Boogie," begins with the same repeated ascending riff that Little Walter uses in the first eight bars of "Juke", although the remainder is distinctly different. (Pryor himself claimed in an interview that Walter "picked up 'Snooky and Moody's Boogie' and made 'Juke' out of it.") Jimmy Rogers, guitarist on "Juke", claimed that parts of "Juke" were based on an unrecorded intermission/theme song frequently played by piano player Sunnyland Slim
Sunnyland Slim
Albert "Sunnyland Slim" Luandrew was an American blues pianist, who was born in the Mississippi Delta, and later moved to Chicago, Illinois, to contribute to that city's post-war scene as a center for blues music...
, which he called "Get Up The Stairs Madamoiselle".
"Juke" has been covered by Big Walter Horton
Big Walter Horton
Walter Horton, better known as Big Walter Horton or Walter "Shakey" Horton, was an American blues harmonica player. A quiet, unassuming and essentially shy man, Horton is remembered as one of the premier harmonica players in the history of blues...
, James Cotton
James Cotton
James Cotton is an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, who has performed and recorded with many of the great blues artists of his time as well as with his own band.-Career:...
, Billy Branch, Paul Butterfield
Paul Butterfield
Paul Butterfield was an American blues vocalist and harmonica player, who founded the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in the early 1960s and performed at the original Woodstock Festival...
and Carey Bell
Carey Bell
Carey Bell was an American blues musician, who played the harmonica in the Chicago blues style. Bell played harmonica and bass for other blues musicians during the late 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s before embarking on a solo career...
, among others.
Honors
On December 19th, 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[s] the best qualities that make the recording arts such a vital part of our culture — and each not only uniquely reflectsthe zeitgeist of its time, but also possesses the enduring power of transcending time."
In 1986 "Juke" was awarded a Blues Music Award by the Blues Foundation
Blues Foundation
The Blues Foundation is an American nonprofit corporation, headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, that is affiliated with more than 175 Blues organizations from various parts of the world....
for Classics of Blues Recordings--Singles or Album Tracks.