Louis Joseph Walker Jr. (1949 – 2025) was better known as ‘Joe Louis’ Walker, the acclaimed blues songwriter and guitarist. He grew up in the Fillmore in S.F. near Bill Graham’s legendary auditorium and jammed with Hendrix, Garcia and all the blues greats while still in his teens. He also did some hard living along the way, and time in repentance singing gospel during his prime years.
I got to know Joe in 2003, by booking him into a tv show pilot and interviewing him at his house. His not so casual advice then “Ric, you gotta save the blues, man! You’re young enough.”
It was funny thing to say, and Joe was a pistol. Normally, asides are easily forgotten, but years later it made sense validated by this site and documentary. In 2017, we reconnected backstage at the New Orleans Jazz Festival and Joe threw in the advice he had received from Willie Dixon, B.B. King and others who told him “A bad version of you doing you is better than a great version of you doing me.” Joe had a knack for the sound bite.
The last time I saw him was backstage at the King Biscuit Blues Festival in 2018 in Helena, AR. He had to take a shot due to his diabetes. He seemed in really great spirits as we talked right through it. Over many years on blues radio whenever his vocal comes on, the authenticity and lived experience stand out. Joe was always a down to earth and gregarious guy. The Blues Center lost one of its own on April 30th. Let us all celebrate his great recorded legacy cherish the man in memory as the years go by…