Jr. Walker & The Allstars

Born in 1942, Walker was inspired to take up the saxophone by the jump blues and R&B bands he heard in the early 50s. In his mid-teens, he formed his first instrumental group, the Jumping Jacks, adopting the stage name Junior Walker after a childhood nickname. By 1961 he had achieved a prominent local reputation, which reached the ear of label owner and former Moonglow, Harvey Fuqua. He signed Walker to his Harvey label, allowing him free rein to record a series of raw saxophone-led instrumentals. In 1964 Walker followed Fuqua to Motown, where he perfected a blend of raunchy R&B and Detroit soul typified by his 1965 hit, "Shotgun". With its repeated saxophone riffs and call-and-response vocals, it established Walker as the label's prime exponent of traditional R&B, a reputation that was confirmed by later hits like "Shake And Fingerpop" and "Road Runner". The latter was produced by the writing team Holland/Dozier/Holland, who also encouraged Walker to record instrumental versions of hits they had written for other Motown artists. Walker's style became progressively more lyrical in the late 60s, a development that reached its peak on the 1969 US Top 5 hit, "What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)?" This also marked the pinnacle of his commercial success, as subsequent attempts to repeat the winning formula were met with growing public indifference, and from 1972 onwards the All Stars recorded only sporadically. Hot Shot in 1976, produced by Brian Holland, marked a move towards the burgeoning disco market, which was confirmed on two further albums that year. It was by way of Jr. Walker's music that I fell in love with the sound of saxophone music. Thank you Jr. Find out more about this Motown artist at: http://classic.motown.com/


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