MARKSVILLE, La. (KLFY) — Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser was joined by Marksville Mayor John Lemoine, Wilbert Carmouche with the Avoyelles Parish Commission of Tourism and legendary blues musician Buddy Guy to unveil a marker honoring the life of another Louisiana music legend, Marion Walter Jacobs, better known as Little Walter.

“It is such a pleasure to be here surrounded by these legendary blues musicians to honor one of their own,” Nungesser. “I know the work of these gentlemen and their impact on music in Louisiana and all over the world. It is amazing to me to hear the many stories of Little Walter. He left home at such an early age, taught himself to play and revolutionized the harmonica. He was an amazing man.”

“Standing on the corner of Leviege and Benjamin Streets, we are close to where Little Walter was born,” said Lemoine. “It is our pleasure to honor one of our own with this sign that states, ‘Historical Marker, Little Walter, 1930, Birthplace of Marion Walter Jacobs, known as Little Walter.’”

According to Carmouche, this site was selected because Leviege is Little Walter’s mother’s family name, and it is believed this section of Marksville is where the family lived.

Buddy Guy, who requested the historical marker, was joined by musicians Bobby Rush, Kenny Neal, Billy Branch and Scott Holt, as well as the daughter and granddaughter of Little Walter, Marion Diaz and Monique Diaz. He and Little Walter both worked for Chess Records in Chicago and with Muddy Waters’ band.

As a child Little Walter developed a deep love for music and started playing harmonica at a young age. He was largely self-taught as a teen. He soon became a regular in the New Orleans blues scene. In the late 1940s, Little Walter moved to Chicago, which was the epicenter of the blues scene at the time. There, he joined forces with legendary blues guitarist Muddy Waters and became a key member of Waters’ band. His dynamic playing transformed the harmonica into a lead instrument in blues bands, setting a new standard for harmonica players to follow.

“They would sell harmonicas in little stores at a price you could afford, but no one would buy them,” said Guy. “Then, Little Walter came out with ‘Juke,’ a hit song in the 1950s, and the price went up and people couldn’t afford them anymore. Little Walter made the harmonica what it is today. Every harmonica player you hear today doesn’t sound like Walter. In my opinion Little Walter is the best that ever played the harmonica.”

In 1980, Little Walter was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. In 2008, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as the first, and to date, only artist inducted as a harmonica player.

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