Jr. Walker

Jr. Walker , also Junior Walker , actually Autrey DeWalt Mixon (born June 14, 1931 in Blytheville , Arkansas , † November 23, 1995 in Battle Creek , Michigan ) was an American tenor saxophonist .

Life

With his band Jr.Walker and the All-Stars he was the only instrumental musician under contract with the style-forming soul label Motown Records who was able to make recordings under his own name with this company (otherwise known exclusively for its singers). The biggest success of the band Jr.Walker and the All-Stars was their debut Shotgun , which reached number 1 on the Billboard R&B charts in 1965 . In the further course of the 1960s the band was able to launch some commercially successful "party hits", including their own pieces like I'm A Road Runner (1966), but also cover versions of popular Motown singers like Marvin Gaye , such as How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) , also from 1966.

The All Stars were - apart from the early years, which are not documented on phonograms - not a band with a permanent cast, but consisted of various studio musicians from Motown who were available for the respective session . For example, on the recording of Shotgun , bassist James Jamerson, who only achieved worldwide fame posthumously, plays .

Jr. Walker's most famous solo is not to be heard on one of his own productions: In 1981 he played (allegedly as a so-called first take and without being familiar with the rest of the piece) a short studio session for the guitarist and spiritus rector of the British-American band Foreigner , namely Mick Jones , the result of which went around the world a short time later as part of the song Urgent . Colleagues like David Sanborn and Grover Washington, Jr. praised these 16 bars as one of the most important saxophone solos in pop and rock .

Discography

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
		US	R&B
1965	Shotgun	US108 (35 weeks) US	R&B1 (22 weeks) R&B
1966	Soul session	US130 (7 weeks) US	R&B7 (10 weeks) R&B
	Road runner	US64 (13 weeks) US	R&B6 (18 weeks) R&B
1967	"Live!"	US119 (11 weeks) US	R&B22 (6 weeks) R&B
1969	Home cookin '	US172 (4 weeks) US	R&B26 (8 weeks) R&B
	Greatest hits	US43 (18 weeks) US	R&B19 (23 weeks) R&B
1970	What Does It Take To Win Your Love	US92 (22 weeks) US	R&B12 (21 weeks) R&B
	Jr. Walker & The All Stars Live	-	R&B22 (15 weeks) R&B
	A Gasssss	US110 (5 weeks) US	R&B28 (9 weeks) R&B
1971	Rainbow funk	US91 (14 weeks) US	R&B12 (17 weeks) R&B
	Moody Jr.	US142 (16 weeks) US	R&B22 (20 weeks) R&B
1973	Hot shot	-	R&B45 (4 weeks) R&B
1976	Peace & Understanding Is Hard To Find	-	R&B47 (5 weeks) R&B

More albums

• These eyes
• 1969: Gotta Hold on to This Feeling
• Greatest Hits Vol 2
• 1974: Anthology
• 1976: Sax Appeal
• 1977: Whopper Bopper Show Stopper
• 1978: Smooth
• 1979: Back Street Boogie
• 1983: Blow the House Down

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)			Remarks
		UK	US	R&B
1962	Cleo's Mood Shotgun	-	US50 (6 weeks) US	R&B14 (7 weeks) R&B	Chart entry only in 1966
1965	Shotgun Shotgun	-	US4 (14 weeks) US	R&B1 (17 weeks) R&B
	Do the Boomerang Shotgun	-	US36 (7 weeks) US	R&B10 (9 weeks) R&B
	Shake and Fingerpop Shotgun	-	US29 (8 weeks) US	R&B7 (13 weeks) R&B
	Cleo's back shotgun	-	US43 (8 weeks) US	R&B7 (14 weeks) R&B
1966	(I'm a) Road Runner Shotgun	UK12 (12 weeks) UK	US20 (12 weeks) US	R&B4 (14 weeks) R&B
	How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You) Road Runner	UK22 (10 weeks) UK	US18 (11 weeks) US	R&B3 (14 weeks) R&B
	Money (That's What I Want), Pt. 1 Road Runner	-	US52 (6 weeks) US	R&B35 (4 weeks) R&B
1967	Pucker Up Buttercup Road Runner	-	US31 (8 weeks) US	R&B11 (8 weeks) R&B
	Shoot Your Shot Shotgun	-	US44 (7 weeks) US	R&B33 (3 weeks) R&B
	Come See About Me Home Cookin '	-	US24 (11 weeks) US	R&B8 (12 weeks) R&B
1968	Hip City, Pt. 2 Home Cookin '	-	US31 (11 weeks) US	R&B7 (12 weeks) R&B
	Home Cookin ' Home Cookin'	-	US42 (6 weeks) US	R&B19 (5 weeks) R&B
1969	What Does It Take (To Win Your Love) Home Cookin '	UK13 (12 weeks) UK	US4 (16 weeks) US	R&B1 (16 weeks) R&B
	These Eyes What Does It Take to Win Your Love	-	US16 (13 weeks) US	R&B3 (12 weeks) R&B
1970	Gotta Hold On to This Feeling What Does It Take to Win Your Love	-	US21 (10 weeks) US	R&B2 (10 weeks) R&B
	Do You See My Love (For You Growing) A Gasssss	-	US32 (10 weeks) US	R&B3 (12 weeks) R&B
	Holly Holy A Gasssss	-	US75 (5 weeks) US	R&B33 (4 weeks) R&B
	Carry Your Own Load A Gasssss	-	-	R&B50 (1 week) R&B
1971	Take Me Girl, I'm Ready Rainbow Funk	UK16 (9 weeks) UK	US50 (9 weeks) US	R&B18 (9 weeks) R&B
	Way Back Home Rainbow Funk	UK35 (5 weeks) UK	US52 (9 weeks) US	R&B24 (10 weeks) R&B
1972	Walk in the Night Moody Jr.	UK16 (11 weeks) UK	US46 (12 weeks) US	R&B10 (10 weeks) R&B
1973	Gimme That Beat (Part 1) Peace & Understanding Is Hard to Find	-	-	R&B50 (2 weeks) R&B
1979	Wishing on a Star Back Street Boogie	-	-	R&B89 (2 weeks) R&B

More singles

• 1962: Twist Lackawanna
• 1963: Good Rockin '
• 1964: Satan's Blues
• 1972: Groove Thang
• 1973: I Don't Need No Reason
• 1973: Peace and Understanding (Is Hard to Find)
• 1974: Dancin 'Like They Do on Soul Train
• 1976: I'm So Glad
• 1976: You Ain't No Ordinary Woman
• 1977: Hard Love
• 1979: Back Street Boogie
• 1983: Blow the House Down

literature

• Dr. Licks ( d.i. Allan Slutsky): Standing in the shadows of Motown , Hal Leonard, Milwaukee 1989, ISBN 0-88188-882-6
• Stambler, Irwin: The Encyclopedia Of Pop, Rock And Soul . 3rd revised edition, New York City, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989, pp. 724f - ISBN 0-312-02573-4

Web links

• Short biography, overview of the most important chart positions

swell

1. ↑ ^{a b} Chart sources: UK US