Big Walter Price (August 2, 1917 − March 7, 2012) was an American blues singer, songwriter and pianist. Born near

Gonzales, Texas Gonzales is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, with a population of 7,165 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the county seat of Gonzales County, Texas, Gonzales County. Gonzales was the site of several integral events in the T ...

, he moved to

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

in 1928, where he released his first song, "Calling Margie", in 1955. In that year, he moved to

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, where he lived until his death. In the 1960s he signed with

Peacock Records Peacock Records was an American record label, founded in 1949 by Don Robey in Houston, Texas, United States. History Robey established the record label in 1949 after two years of being blues singer Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown's manager, and Brow ...

and released several singles. One of these was "Shirley Jean", which one commentator noted about Price was "on which his reputation rests". His song "Pack Fair and Square" was covered by

the J. Geils Band The J. Geils Band (formerly known as The J. Geils Blues Band) was an American rock band formed in 1967, in Worcester, Massachusetts, under the leadership of guitarist John "J." Geils. The original band members included vocalist Peter Wolf, h ...

on ''

'' album. He died in 2012 aged 94 (though he claimed to be 97).

References

External links

Big Walter Price
on

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

1917 births 2012 deaths People from Gonzales County, Texas American blues pianists American male pianists American blues singers American blues singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from Texas 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians American male singer-songwriters {{Texas-bio-stub