Junior Walker, leader of the Motown group Junior Walker and the All Stars, dies of cancer

Jet, Dec 11, 1995

Junior Walker, alto saxophonist and leader of the Motown group Junior Walker and the All Stars, recently died of cancer at his home in Battlecreek, MI. He was 64.

Born Oscar G. Mixon, he chose the name Autry Dewalt Jr. as an adult and used the stage name Junior Walker as an entertainer. He gained acclaim in the '60s for his brilliant saxophone solos.

Junior Walker and the All Stars recorded Motown hits such as How Sweet It Is, These Eyes and What Does It Take (To Win Your Love). The group's popular 1965 tune, Shotgun, also the title of an album, was most recently re-released on the motion picture soundtrack of the movie Malcolm X.

Walker had recently returned from a tour with The Four Tops, the Temptations and other Motown stars.

He is survived by his mother, Marie Walker, nine sons, four daughters and two stepdaughters.

Died: Sam Smith, 73, a former state lawmaker who became the first Black to serve on the Seattle City Council, of complications from diabetes in Seattle . . . . Marion W. Garnett, 76, a Cook County Circuit Court judge, of cancer at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago . . . . Joseph Galiber, 71, a New York state senator who represented the Bronx for 27 years, of a heart ailment at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City.