Willie "Big Eyes" Smith was born in Helena, Arkansas in January 1936, migrated to Chicago, and taught himself harmonica at 17, an unusually late start for a professional. By 1955 his harp playing landed him on Bo Diddley's Diddy Wah Diddy for the Checker label, a Chess Records subsidiary. Then he made a pivot that looks like career sabotage on paper: he switched to drums to play on Muddy Waters Sings Big Bill Broonzy. This episode explains the economics behind that choice, why harmonica players and guitarists flooded the Chicago scene while reliable drummers were scarce, and how Smith's lack of ego made him exactly the anchor Muddy Waters needed.

Smith was a permanent member of Muddy Waters' band from 1961 to 1980, apart from a brief break that included a 1964 session with Otis Spann and a young Eric Clapton on Pretty Girls Everywhere. He p ...