When I reflect on the harmonica players who have called Chicago and nearby settings home, the numbers are astounding.  And without any reservation, it is appropriate to indicate that the impact of the Chicago blues school of harmonica playing endures to inspire and frame innumerable musicians to this day. 

Years ago, whether they were native to Chicago or not, a harmonica player in the halcyon days of the city’s blues were amid a frat of players whose immense individual and collective skills forged the outline of a sound that is now universally established.  They may have moved on from Chicago at some point, but at one time, they greatly contributed to the inimitable Chicago blues harmonica sound and its illustrious status.  Want me to rattle off the names that immediately and quite easily come to mind?  John Lee “Sonny Boy I” Williamson, Billy Boy Arnold, James Cotton, Billy Branch, Howlin’ Wolf, Little Walter, Junior Wells, Paul Butterfield, Charlie Musselwhite, Sonny Boy Williamson II (Rice Miller), Big Walter Horton, Sugar Blue, Little Mack Simmons, Carey Bell, Lester Davenport, Little Arthur Duncan, Snooky Pryor, Little Willie Anderson, Corky Siegel, Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, Louis Myers, George “Harmonica” Smith, and Jimmy Reed are 20 plus of the more well-known blues harmonica artists who popped into my head with ease.

But for every well-known Chicago blues harmonica artist, there have been hordes that were and are tremendously gifted yet, for whatever basis or life situations, never or have not yet attained the distinction their more famous associates enjoyed.  Bluesmen such as Good Rockin’ Charles, Easy Baby, Gerry Hundt, Earring George Mayweather, Dusty Brown, Matthew Skoller, Martin Lang, Big Leon Brooks, Rob Stone, Morry Sochat, Joe Nosek, Mervyn “Harmonica Hinds”, Birmingham Jones, Rick “Cookin” Sherry, and Middle Walter all embody blues harmonica knowhows of the uppermost meriting, yet their spaces in the Chicago blues harmonica pecking order are not as prominent, though again, their qualities on the blues harmonica certify that their positions in affecting the Chicago blues harmonica sound and standing are as deep as any others’.

Which brings me to a Chicago blues harmonica artist whose music I somewhat obsessed upon this week, and while listening to his blues offerings, I decided that I wanted to devote this week’s blues artist profile to this deeply talented man, someone who languished among that category of Chicago harmonica bluesmen who were not as familiar as others; Golden Wheeler.

Recently, I had been listening to the Wolf Records release entitled Chicago Blues Harmonica (Wolf Records 120.848 CD), one that includes blues by Snooky Pryor, James Cotton, Lester Davenport, Dusty Brown, Little Mac Sommons, Birmingham Jones, Billy Branch, and Golden Wheeler, and I was completely transfixed by the extent of harmonica styles and uniform high quality of all the music on the disc.  This 1996 17-track collection is a blues lover’s joy yet, as I savored every cut, Golden Wheeler’s two selections, “I’m Ready” and “Dirty Blues” completely captivated me.  As I’ve not provided a blues artist profile of Golden Wheeler before, now that I have again been struck by the elevated eminence of his blues, the time to do so seems right.

Golden Wheeler came into the world in mid-December, 1929 in Baconton, Georgia, a town in Mitchell County, a region in the lower southwestern portion of the state.  At a very early age (if I remember correctly, Wheeler has stated that it was four years-old), the young lad got his first glimpse into the magic of the music that would come to dominate his life.  Apparently, a woman who stayed at his family’s home had a suitor by the name of Bubba Wilson, himself both a blues guitar player and vocalist.  The music greatly intrigued the young Wheeler, and he also found that it had the profound effect upon him of making him feel good.  Fast forward a few years and Wheeler was trying to make a few dollars by driving a taxi cab.  Understand, Wheeler is not even 12-years-old at this point, yet he was attempting to earn something of a living driving.  The story goes that a harmonica player who had a show on a nearby radio station often found Wheeler driving him to his gig and, on the way, he would perform on the harmonica in the cab and sing.  It is also known that this artist, a man by the name of Buster Brown (from Cordele, Georgia, having a hit record with a tune entitled “Fannie Mae”), would try his best to get the young Wheeler to sing, but to no avail.  However, Brown’s presentation of his harmonica-based blues persuaded Wheeler to go out and purchase a harmonica and attempt to learn to play it.

At the age of 12, as is seen with so many of the blues artists profiled here, Wheeler left home, and for periods of time established himself in both Ohio and New Jersey.  He continued to practice on the harmonica and perfect both his instrumental skill set and his vocals, also playing whenever and wherever he could.

It wasn’t until 1954 when Wheeler was 25 years of age that he arrived in Chicago.  As any blues fan knows, the blues was abounding all over the big city’s south and west sides at that time, with uncountable bars, taverns, and other formal and informal venues offering the music.  While In Chicago, it is said that Wheeler’s brother-in-law arranged for an evening out to listen to the blues.  At a south side place, Wheeler and his relative took in a performance by the reigning king of Chicago blues harmonica, Little Walter, and the impression it left Wheeler forever shaped his blues style.

Wheeler was greatly impacted by Walter’s vast talents, for sure, but also by his band accompaniment, via a group that featured two guitars (eschewing a bass guitar) and drums.  Wheeler found the sparseness of Walter’s band ideal, and a friendship was soon formed. 

Wheeler at one time stated that Walter not only meaningfully tutored him on blues harmonica, but on life itself, including how to survive in Chicago.  The urban setting was drastically different to the other areas that Wheeler had called home.

As Wheeler was working a day job as a mechanic to support his family, he also continually found time in the evening to go out to hear the blues.  In 1955 at a house party (a very familiar tradition in Chicago where the blues was regularly played), Wheeler made the decision that the music had too great a pull on him and that he wanted to formally put his toes into Chicago’s highly competitive blues-playing arena. 

In 1956, Wheeler recruited Johnny Swan, Big Red, and Donald Griffin for his first professional blues band.  His blues band played a variety of the city’s joints, and he also stayed active on the house party circuit, where he enlisted his brother and fellow bluesman James Wheeler, Willie Black, and Eddie King on the jobs. 

So started a long career in the blues in Chicago for Wheeler, and though he remained in a mechanic’s role for the next three-plus decades, he remained active in the blues, as well.

Important to a full understanding of Wheeler’s music is that is firmly immersed in the old style of blues referenced earlier, always with a band providing an effortless border of sound that complemented Wheeler’s easy-going vocals, and sparse, tasteful, yet wholly nourishing harmonica competencies.  Wheeler’s music always has a very intertwined excellence to it, yet Wheeler’s harmonica always found a strength and depth of feeling within a grooving band, one that continuously interlaced itself round his harmonica and vocal stylings.

In 1993, Wheeler saw the first solo release of his career with Delmark Records’ Bone Orchard under the name Big Wheeler, a fantastic outing that saw him surrounded by a group of contemporary bluesmen whose reverence for Chicago’s 1950s blues style ran very, very deep.  The group included drummer Steve Cushing, and both Johnny Burgin and Dave Waldman on guitar.  The 14-cut collection is an ideal place to start in understanding Wheeler’s sizeable blues attributes, as well as those of his eminent bandmates.

1993 also saw a self-produced release by Wheeler entitled Turn My Life Around, a nine-song outing that included Chicago bluesman Jimmy Johnson on guitar, bass, and keyboards.  At some point, Wolf Records re-released this set under the same title with two additional songs from a group that included Chicago bluesmen Willie Kent, John Primer, and Tim Taylor.  Wolf Records also released a dual-outing CD with the blues of saxophone man A.C. Reed and Big Wheeler entitled Blues Session Vol. 14. 

In 1997, Wheeler saw yet another Delmark Records release with Jump In, a superb 12-song collection that found his brother James Wheeler on guitar, Allen Batts on piano, Bob Stroger on bass, and Baldhead Pete on drums.  The set is again a marvelous continuation of Wheeler’s vast blues sensibilities, and his vocals and harmonica are idyllic, with the band playing completely deferential and satisfyingly behind his strutting Chicago style blues.

Unfortunately, Wheeler was lost to the blues world in July, 1998 at the age of 68 due heart failure

Goden Wheeler’s place in the Chicago blues world is secure due to his lofty musical standards and unvaryingly first-rate output, again representing the legions of the great city’s blues harmonica players who never ascended to the top ranks of the genre.