The Unexpected Official Cause Of Death Of Blues Legend Little Walter

According to Britannica, Marion Jacobs settled in Chicago around 1946 and played in Muddy Waters' blues band between 1948 and 1952. NPR reports that once Little Walter had a taste of success, which incidentally happened while he was on tour with Waters, he quit the band entirely. With success, it appears Jacobs' head got a bit big and he had epic fallouts with everyone in his path, including his guitarist Louis Meyers, who suspected that the harp player was skimming off the top of their earnings.

By 1954, Jacobs didn't mind embracing his reputation: he penned the song "Sloppy Drunk" with lyrics that unabashedly declared (via Lyrics.com), "I would rather be sloppy drunk, than anything I know...Give me another half a pint boy, then you will see me go...Now I love that moonshine whiskey now, tell the world I do...Now this is the reason why that I drink, I'm just trying to get along with you." 

News of Jacobs's attitude and drinking problems in the small world of the music business reached far and wide. In 1958, his drinking led a woman to shoot him in the leg, causing him to limp for the rest of his life. Furthermore, Jacobs's aggravation went beyond the ins and out of the day in the life of a musician. Jacobs was not happy in the 1950s as rock n' roll started to take off, resulting in the decline in blues music sales (via CelticGuitarMusic.com).

His former bandmate, Muddy Waters, had stated (via CelticGuitarMusic.com), "Little Walter was dead 10 years before he died." And yet the opportunity for success still loomed on the horizon for Jacobs. The Rolling Stones invited him to tour with them in England. It appears he did well across the Pond but comrades in the Chicago scene refused to play with the hot-tempered musician, pointing out that his voice was "embarrassing" and "worn out" (via NPR). Those in the music scene also knew that Jacobs was struggling with addictions beyond alcohol. Although the world-famous Rolling Stones were loyal fans and on his side, it still seemed that Jacobs couldn't catch a break.

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