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(015707312028) It is My Life, Baby!

Although It's My Life, Baby! was decent mid-'60s electric Chicago blues, coming so soon after Junior Wells' 1965 classic Hoodoo Man Blues -- one of the greatest blues LPs ever -- it was something of a disappointment. Wells' chief right-hand man for Hoodoo Man Blues, guitarist Buddy Guy, was still on board for these recordings, but the band arrangements weren't quite as tight. More crucially, the material wasn't as good or innovative, giving far more weight to slow blues with standard progressions, and relatively little attention to the funk-soul-Latin influences that had supplied several of Hoodoo Man Blues' finest moments. Finally, the decision to mix studio recordings with live tracks (recorded at Pepper's Lounge in Chicago) could be questioned, as it lent the record an inconsistency, particularly as different bands were used live and in the studio. Taken on its own terms, however, it's certainly respectable, at times revving up the energy for an infectious bounce. "Country Girl," for instance, stands in peppy contrast to the relatively sleepy slow tunes; "Shake It Baby" revives some of the soul feeling of the Hoodoo Man Blues sessions; and "(I Got A) Stomach Ache" is funky in a silly but fun way. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide




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(015707315722) Vangard Visionaies: Junior Wells

Vanguard Visionaries compiles ten previously released tracks taken from Junior Wells' stint with the label in the mid- to late '60s. These sessions were originally available on the albums It's My Life, Baby! and Coming at You, the compilation Chicago/The Blues/Today, and a few Buddy Guy dates that were also released on Vanguard. Although the packaging of this series is third-rate (including a lack of liner notes), the music is timeless. ~ Al Campbell, All Music Guide




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(015707926225) Coming At You

Another eminently solid outing by the legendary harpist that captures his trademark barroom bravado in a studio setting. The band is quite tight -- Buddy Guy and Lefty Dizz are the guitarists, Douglas Fagan plays sax, and Clark Terry, believe it or not, occupies a third of the trumpet section -- and the set list is dominated by oldies from both Sonny Boys, Willie Dixon, and John D. Loudermilk (Junior invests his "Tobacco Road" with a lights-out toughness that the Nashville Teens could never even imagine). ~ Bill Dahl, All Music Guide




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(015707950824) Best Of The Vanguard Years

Best of the Vanguard Years collects Junior Wells' material from the Chicago! The Blues! Today! various-artists series, live and studio tracks from the albums It's My Life, Baby! and Comin' at You, and a smattering of rare and/or unreleased cuts. As a Wells retrospective, it's irredeemably incomplete, covering as it does his output for only one label, but the fine-quality material does make it an engaging listen, and it may be a good way for some collectors to plug holes in their Wells discographies. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide




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(015707950824) Best of the Vaguard Years




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(030206108729) Calling All Blues

Following his recorded debut as a leader for States Records, Junior Wells signed with Mel London, producing a number of sides for the producer's Chief and Profile imprints. Perhaps best-known for his spectacular harmonica playing, this period, documented on Calling All Blues, saw Wells emerging as an outstanding vocalist as well. A consummate performer with a firm grasp of the range of emotions the music can produce, Wells wrings every drop of feeling out of the lyrics. The singer growls, shouts, howls, moans across these 24 tracks including two versions of his great "I Could Cry" and other classics like "Little By Little," "Cha-Cha-Cha in Blue," and "Lovey Dovey Lovey One." While it has a great deal of overlap with the collections from Paula Records, Calling All Blues remains a fine introduction with no glaring omissions. The bulk of the compositions come from three sources: his employer, London; the "poet of the blues," Willie Dixon; and Wells himself. While the recording quality may be shaky at times, it's to be expected and in fact only adds to the feeling of authenticity emanating from the music. It's like stepping inside a hot, sweaty room for a forbidden peek at a late-night jam session. Wells and company imbue the material with such intensity, it can almost be overwhelming at times. For the most part, the singer leaves his harp alone, but the handful of harmonica moments are memorable. On the instrumental title track, he lays into his instrument, battling for space amongst piercing guitar and piano leads. Only when the music is tempered by the more popular forms of rock & roll and R&B on songs like "I'll Get You Too," "One Day (Every Goodbye Ain't Gone)," and "I Need a Car" does it begin to lose its potency. Leading up to the sessions that produced Wells' classic 1966 album Hoodoo Man Blues, this is electric blues at its fiery best. ~ Nathan Bush, All Music Guide




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(038153061227) Hoodoo Man Blues

One of the truly classic blues albums of the 1960s, and one of the first to fully document the smoky ambience of a night at a West side nightspot in the superior acoustics of a recording studio. Wells just set up with his usual cohorts -- guitarist Buddy Guy (billed as "Friendly Chap" on first vinyl pressings), bassist Jack Myers, and drummer Billy Warren -- and proceeded to blow up a storm, bringing an immediacy to "Snatch It Back and Hold It," "You Don't Love Me," "Chitlin Con Carne," and the rest that is absolutely mesmerizing. ~ Bill Dahl, All Music Guide




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(038153064020) Blues Hit Big Town

This 1998 CD reissue of Wells' debut recordings for the States label adds four previously unheard tracks along with the original 13-track vinyl lineup. Wells' legacy begins with these landmark sides, featuring Elmore James, Muddy Waters, Johnnie Jones, Otis Spann, Willie Dixon, and the Aces in the lineup at various points. Whether it's a slow one like his original take on "Hoodoo Man" or a jump number like "Cut That Out," the grooves are classic Chicago and a mile deep. Most telling are the acoustic duets with Louis Myers recorded between the 1953 and 1954 studio sessions and the fine instrumentals like "Junior's Wail" and "Eagle Rock." Although at the start of a long career, it's obvious that Junior Wells was already a young man with a style all his own, ready to make blues history. File under essential. ~ Cub Koda, All Music Guide




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(038153078720) Live At Theresas 1975

Recorded at two separate gigs in January 1975 but not issued until 2006, this captures Junior Wells on-stage at Theresa's, one of the most esteemed Chicago blues clubs. It's a little rawer than most live albums; the sound is good, and Wells is in good form, but his band is a little rough (and, particularly on the tracks with guitarist Sammy Lawhorn, a little off-key). But the flaws really aren't too significant, as this is a pretty enjoyable set of electric Chicago blues in its unadulterated vintage form. Wells offers his trademark exuberant blues with touches of rock, soul, and funk, performing a few of his most popular tunes ("Messin' with the Kid," "Snatch It Back and Hold It") and a bunch of classic covers that are more identified with other performers (Slim Harpo's "Scratch My Back," Big Bill Broonzy's "Key to the Highway," St. Louis Jimmy Oden's "Goin' Down Slow," Little Walter's "Juke," Tampa Red's "Love Her with a Feeling," and "Help the Poor," the last popularized by B.B. King). It might have been good to hear more Wells' originals, but on the other hand it's cool to hear him bring his persona to that group of outside material, and a few five-minute-plus numbers allow him to stretch out more than he did in the studio. There's also some entertaining banter with the audience (and a version of "Happy Birthday") that adds to the intimate, earthy club ambience, though you do feel that a talent as major as Wells should have had slightly tighter backup musicians than the ones (including Buddy Guy's brother, Phil Guy, on guitar) playing on this CD. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide




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(081227029920) Buddy Guy & Junior Wells Play The Blues

Considering the troubled background of this album (Eric Clapton, Ahmet Ertegun, and Tom Dowd only ended up with eight tracks at a series of 1970 sessions in Miami; two years later, the J. Geils Band was brought in to cut two additional songs to round out the long-delayed LP for 1972 release), the results were pretty impressive. Buddy Guy contributes dazzling lead axe to their revival of "T-Bone Shuffle"; Junior Wells provides a sparkling remake of Sonny Boy's "My Baby She Left Me," and Guy is entirely credible in a grinding Otis Redding mode on the Southern soul stomper "A Man of Many Words." ~ Bill Dahl, All Music Guide

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(089408335426) Better Off with the Blues

Wells sings with a salty edge and clarity that are convincing and engaging, and he maintains his good humor even when saddled with less than first-rate material. He provides winning renditions of Ray Charles' "The Train," Merle Haggard's "Today I Started Loving You Again" and Jimmy Reed's "Honest I Do," plus a good reworking of his own "Messin' With The Kid" and "Goin' Home." But the song that tears the house down is "Oh, Pretty Woman," featuring flashy, exciting guitar from Rico McFarland and Wells' swirling harmonica adding secondary fire. Indeed, Wells' harp playing's another bonus; it's focused and aggressive here. This is pretty good for a 1990s session. ~ Ron Wynn, All Music Guide




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(089408339523) Come On In This House

Junior Wells' penchant for clowning around sometimes conflicts with his craftsmanship, but he's all business on Come on in This House, his most unadulterated blues record since his highly acclaimed Hoodoo Man Blues of more than 30 years vintage. This is what has come to be known as an "unplugged" session -- that is, predominately, although not exclusively, acoustic instrumentation. Producer John Snyder's concept was threefold: to team Wells with some of the era's top younger traditional blues guitarists -- Corey Harris, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Sonny Landreth, Bob Margolin, and John Mooney; to have those musicians, in various combinations, accompany Wells on a variety of slide guitars; and to concentrate on vintage Chicago and Delta blues from the repertoires of Rice Miller, Little Walter, Tampa Red, Arthur Crudup, and Wells himself. The result is a virtual slide-guitar mini-fest and a demonstration of the timeless appeal of classic blues done well. Wells' vocals are deep and manly; his harp playing is high-pitched, like a child's pleading. A surprising highlight is the only contemporary tune on the disc, Tracy Chapman's "Give Me One Reason." New Orleans drummer Herman Ernest III, who appears on 11 of the 14 cuts, does a masterful job laying down understated rhythmic grooves. ~ Steve Hoffman, All Music Guide




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(089408341229) Live at Buddy Guys Legends

Backed by a funk-minded, James Brown-influenced band, Junior Wells is in good form on these live recordings from Buddy Guy's Legends in Chicago. Wells (who was 61 when this CD was recorded) really comes alive in front of a live audience, and he's certainly in a very extroverted mood on such familiar material as "Hoodoo Man," "Little By Little" and his signature tune, "Messin' With the Kid." Wells has been one of Brown's most ardent admirers for a long time, and he frequently shows his love of the Godfather's soul/funk innovations without letting us forget that he's a bluesman first and foremost. Although this CD doesn't offer a lot of surprises, it's an invigorating documentation of the energy and passion Wells brings to the stage. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide




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(089408344428) Keep On Stepin

The title's a bit of a ringer here; this is actually what Telarc considers the best tracks Wells recorded for their label between 1993 and 1997 -- music taken from his last four albums before his untimely death in early 1998. Wells won a fair amount of trophies with this quartet of albums, and while the material isn't anything that's going to make hardline fans want to toss out their copies of Hoodoo Man Blues, the music and production are exemplary on every track. Guest appearances proliferate on every number and the work from Sonny Landreth, John Mooney, Derek Trucks, Lucky Peterson, Corey Harris, Bob Margolin, and Carlos Santana keeps these tunes on a firmly contemporary footing. ~ Cub Koda, All Music Guide




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(4995879240397) Messin with the Kid: The Chief/Profile/U.S.A. Sessions 1957-1963

These three labels represent the earliest juke sides of Junior Wells recorded in Chicago. Sidemen on these sessions include Otis Spann, A.C. Reed, Syl Johnson, Popsy Dixon (currently drumming and singing with the fabulous Holmes Brothers), Earl Hooker, and Jack Myers. While it's true there isn't anything here that quite touches Hoodoo Man Blues, these blues are raw, greasy, unfiltered, and passionate. Wells' vocals are strong throughout and the ensembles literally tear the roof off. What they may lack in finesse (thank goodness they lack some of it), they more than make up for in passion, honesty, and sheer guts. Get it. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide




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(696998567528) Live Around The World: The Best of Junior Wells

Culled from various live recordings Junior Wells made in his final year or so, Live Around the World: The Best Of is not a "best-of." Instead, it intends to present the legendary Chicago bluesman in a late-career renaissance -- or, as Donald E. Wilcock says in his affectionate liner notes, "This album is not the last gasps of a dying legend." To a certain extent that's true, because Wells does not sound tired, weary, or disengaged. He turns in spirited, energetic performances throughout and his harp playing remains a marvel, never following expected routes, always melodic and invigorating. That doesn't mean the album itself is invigorating, something that is a worthy bookend to Hoodoo Man Blues, since it suffers from the problem that plagues so many contemporary blues albums -- clean, precise production with perfectly separated instruments, plus the band's tendency to veer into funk vamps instead of dirty grooves. Even if Wells sounds good, the music as a whole feels too polished for its own good, which is really not the way Chicago blues should sound. That said, this is certainly no worse than the average contemporary blues album and in many ways, even better, thanks to Wells. He was a powerhouse right until the very end, and if you just listen to him play, Live Around the World does seem like a fitting epilogue to his career, although it's hard not to wish that this were a collection of greasy, intimate club dates instead of slick concert dates in Osaka and Paris. Perhaps then the band would have sounded as alive as Wells. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide




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