Walter "Papoose" Nelson

Walter Charles Nelson Jr. (July 26, 1932 – February 28, 1962), known as Walter "Papoose" Nelson, was an American R&B guitarist, best known for playing with Fats Domino on many of his hit records.

He was born in 1932 in a poor part of the Ninth Ward of New Orleans, Louisiana. His father, Walter Nelson, was a jazz and R&B guitarist who played with Smiley Lewis. Sister Dorothy married the singer, songwriter and producer Jessie Hill, and his younger brother Lawrence became a songwriter who recorded in the early 1960s as Prince La La. He learned to play guitar from his father, and by 1949 was playing in Professor Longhair's band in clubs, where he developed an addiction to heroin. He first recorded with Fats Domino in 1951, and played on most of Domino's recording sessions for the rest of the decade, sometimes contributing arrangements. He also gave guitar lessons, most notably to Mac Rebennack (Dr. John).

He died while on tour in New York City from an accidental overdose of heroin in 1962, aged 29; his brother Lawrence died from a similar overdose the following year, and his replacement in Domino's band, Roy Montrell, died the same way in 1979.

Walter "Papoose" Nelson at Find a Grave

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