Biography
Born on 19 March 1919 in Pickens, Arkansas, and passing away on 10 January 1990 in Toledo, Ohio, the musician spent his earliest childhood in Louisiana. After his mother’s death around 1926 he relocated to Detroit, where he had already begun playing harmonica. For years he drifted through Louisiana, Arkansas and east Texas as a hobo. His small frame earned him the nickname Little Walter well before Walter Jacobs adopted the same moniker. Drafted into the army, he asserted that he served in both the European and Pacific theaters until a foot wound secured his release. Back in Detroit he assembled the Boogie Blues Boys, a group that included his cousin, guitarist L.C. Green. In 1948 Mitchell cut sides for Joe Von Battle alongside second harp player Robert Richard and pianist Boogie Woogie Red. Four years later he supported Green at a Dot Records date in Gallatin, Tennessee. The two continued working together through the remainder of the 1950s. Afterward Mitchell gigged around Detroit with Baby Boy Warren, Eddie Burns and the Griswold brothers. Although his discography is modest, surviving copies command strong interest among collectors.