T-Bone Walker

USA, 1929–1975

American blues guitarist and an early adopter of the amplified guitar as a lead instrument. His single-note phrasing established much of the vocabulary later used across electric blues.

MusicRoots documents 1 artist who influenced T-Bone Walker and 6 artists T-Bone Walker influenced in turn. Every connection cites a published source.

Who influenced T-Bone Walker?

• Blind Lemon Jefferson — As a teenager Walker guided the blind Lemon Jefferson and learned from him.

Which artists did T-Bone Walker influence?

• Jimi Hendrix — T-Bone Walker pioneered the showmanship — playing behind his back and with his teeth — that Hendrix made iconic.
• B.B. King — B.B. King said that hearing Walker made him realise what kind of guitarist he wanted to be.
• Chuck Berry — Berry's stage moves and guitar figures trace back to Walker.
• ZZ Top — T-Bone Walker's Texas electric-blues guitar was a direct forebear of Gibbons's own gritty tone.
• Albert King — T-Bone Walker's pioneering electric-blues lead was the model King built his own string-bending style on.
• Steve Miller — Miller took lessons from T-Bone Walker — the electric-blues foundation of his playing.