by Gerald_Waving my Freak-flag High Brewster
Member since:
February 18, 2007

Blues Harp Master, Mr. Junior Wells! (December 9, 1932 – January 15, 1998) ~ Featuring Buddy Guy

November 04, 2009 07:11 PM UTC (Updated: November 10, 2009 07:53 PM UTC)
views: 0 | 1 person recommends this | comments: 32

Junior Wells (December 9, 1932 – January 15, 1998)

As much respect and esteem I hold for Blues guitar masters such as Buddy Guy, aka "Friendly Chap", the Blues just don't seem to be complete without the harp!  And few did THAT better than Mr. Junior Wells!

 Amazing performance by Junior Wells at American Folk-Blues Festival: The British Tours 1963-1966 (sorry, I'm not sure who is on guitar)

 



The Hoodoo Man (Jr Wells) and Friendly Chap (Buddy Guy) crossed the pond to join their English Bretheren in the Blues in the persons of John Mayall, John McVie, Mick Taylor, etc., in a tribute to his mentor, Sonny Boy Williamson, "Don't Start Me Talkin'"



 



 

Junior Wells - Help Me (1978) Another tribute to Sonny Boy Williamson
Montreux.  Buddy Guy - guitar; Jimmy Johnson - guitar; Dave Myers - bass; Odie Payne - drums



 



 

Junior Wells - Trouble No More - Lonesome Pine 1987 with Doug McDonald on guitar



 



 


Junior Wells performing Cryin' Shame, with Buddy Guy, guitar, and David Myers, bass, from the movie Chicago Blues, in 1970.



 



 

Jr Wells ~ Blues At Theresa's
Junior Wells performing at Theresa's Lounge in Chicago in the mid 1970s. Buddy Guy and Phil Guy are on guitars. A real Blues gem.



 



 

* I'd like to thank James B for drawing my attention to a glaring omission to this collection, corrected here by an 1978 recording of  Buddy Guy and Jimmie Johnson, guitar; Dave Myers - bass; Odie Payne - drums joining Junior in a performance of "MESSIN' WITH THE KID"   ***Note ~  For some unfathomable reason, the cameraman remained focused upon Jimmie Johnson all during Buddy Guy's scathing guitar solo, save for a all-too-brief momentary close-up.

 
 



 

 

*
ONE MORE!  DO IT AGAIN!
 
James, since you ask so nice, here's a slow-blues duet featuring both Buddy and Junior (who's looking rat-sh*t sharp, as always), a song entitled "THE REASON WHY":





 



OH HELL!  Might as well have a couple more!

Junior with massive band -  featuring Carl Snyder - keys; Dan Fields - tpt; Johnny Cotton - Tbn; John Powell - sax; Doug McDonald - gtr; Steve Ditzell - gtr; Noel Neal - bass; Marty Binder - drums  ~  Lonesome Pine Special TV show in 1987

 



 



 

Comments: 32

Debbie W. Nov 4, 2009, 8:26pm UTC
Very nice. Thanks for sharing
Franklin Newman Nov 4, 2009, 8:38pm UTC
Yes, that was great.
Georgiana S. Nov 4, 2009, 9:35pm UTC
Wonderful1 Did you see "Cadillac Records"?, jr is portrayed in that.
I've missed that one--so far!
Georgiana S. Nov 5, 2009, 6:27pm UTC
Good little film, showing on cable and out on DVD now.
Timothy V. Nov 4, 2009, 11:18pm UTC
Great harp player! I'm a huge fan of blues music.
Spencer T. Nov 5, 2009, 6:15am UTC
Happy blues in the morning
waking up senses galore
got my morning coffee
dancin cross the floor.

Good stuff
James B. Nov 5, 2009, 10:05am UTC
cool!
James B. Nov 5, 2009, 10:04am UTC
Outstanding. I think I remember that Wells and Guy were together from 1963-1966 (based on the memory of release dates of some of an albums I have), but I could be wrong.

I heard them live, once- it was really a great show. Buddy Guy is one of my favorite players and I've been lucky enough to hear him many times, mostly in St. Louis. I also visit his Chicago club (Legends) whenever I can.

Thanks again for starting my day off right! "The blues are all right," and more...
James B. Nov 5, 2009, 10:08am UTC
I tried to edit "some albums" to "an album" but I guess I'm not awake yet, after all. I have one main LP of theirs from, I'm sure, the '60s, and also a set of compilation LPs of their work. I have pretty much every Buddy Guy release. One of my favorites is his version of Messin' with the Kid.
Did I leave that out? Unforgivable! I'll have to select a version with which to rectify that egregious error!
James B. Nov 5, 2009, 6:25pm UTC
I wasn't complaining, but I wouldn't complain if you added it either! :)

Uh-huh...
Look at what you did
You can call it what you want but
I call it messin' with the kid

(and there goes that great descending riff, sometimes on guitar, sometimes guitar and bass, sometimes on horns, but always killer.)
Oh, I know YOU were'nt complaining--I was! But as you can see, I corrected the oversight with at least ONE version of the classic.
James B. Nov 6, 2009, 12:57am UTC
Ahhh, music to my ears. Thanks so much!
Barbara B. Nov 5, 2009, 5:26pm UTC
Thank you so much for this great music from Mr. Junior Wells.
I've not heard him in such a long time Gerald !!
My pleasure, Barbara. As for all the photos of Jr., they're all obtained through Google, just to draw attention to the post.
Kenny T. Nov 5, 2009, 6:03pm UTC
You are so right Mr. G. It just ain't the blues without no harp!
James B. Nov 6, 2009, 1:06am UTC
Why Kenneth, it appears you have some inside knowledge of the subject.

I happen to play a little harp... a very little, not much technique, more straight harp than cross, to go with folk guitar, though I do play some blues guitar (fingerstyle, flatpick, electric, acoustic). I messed around with a chromatic for a while, but mostly play, when I play, diatonics: Lee Oskars and some Hohner Blues Harps. I'm more of a bad guitar player than a bad harp player, though... but my son kicks on guitar (we jammed tonight for the first time in ages, no school tomorrow for some reason). He's learning bass for his High School jazz band at the moment, and also performs classical guitar with a guitar octet (St. Louis Bella Corda).

Hit the note for all of us, man!
Kenny T. Nov 6, 2009, 6:38am UTC
James, Gerald will tell you I have been a bad white boy harp player for many years. Most of those years the emphasis would be on the bad. I have gotten better with age (and practice). Gerald and I jammed many a time. Back in the day he was a pretty fair picker. I never got along very well with the chromatic myself, but I do enjoy blowing on my Hohner's and Lee Osker's. Sounds like you have a musical family. Man that is really cool!
Kenny T. Nov 6, 2009, 6:42am UTC
Junior was my idol. I don't remember how many Hoodoo Man Blues LPs I went through trying to pick up his chops!
Kat blows a mean harp, an' that's no lie! Can play the keyboards a bit, as well, but his keyboard learning was more in the classical vein. We spent many an hour throughout the last 35-odd or more years jamming in the manner of Chicago-style blues, and I can testify without hesitation that Ken knows his way around a Marine band well enough that Junior would be proud. Unfortunately, I cannot make similar claims to my guitar prowess.
Since the 90s, as Ken can tell you, we both had our eyes opened to chamber music, the 18th century equivalent of blues and rock, with such masters as Luigi Boccherini, Georg Phillip Telemann, Carulli, Josef Haydn, Wulfie Mozart, Looey Beethoven, and the like, but Kat has never abandoned his blues chops and his harps the way I've let my guitar skills stagnate!
You see, I haven't played the guitar since Kat moved up to Washington 5 or so years ago (I guess San Francisco wasn't cold and wet enough for him!). If he ever came to his senses and moved back to the fabulous Bay Area, perhaps I'd start picking up the guitar again, and I wouldn't be wasting 50 years of experience! I got used to jammin' with that bad-ass harp!
Angela A. Nov 5, 2009, 7:19pm UTC
Great!
James B. Nov 6, 2009, 1:12am UTC
One more!

Do it again!
I did one (or two) better, James--how about 3 more? They're gettin' harder to find on YouTube, it seems!
Lilith Dorsey Nov 6, 2009, 9:09am UTC
One of my favorites, thanks!
Sandi S. Nov 6, 2009, 12:24pm UTC
COOL!
Wells was a great player. I don't hold him personally responsible for the Set List from Hell number, "Messin' with the Kid." :) James Cotton is the only one still alive from the generation of harp players who were contemporaries of Little Walter.
Lil' Walter Jacobs started out teasin' the "new" youngster on the scene, but soon grew to respect his prowess with the harmonica!
EDWINA (MISSIE) B. Nov 9, 2009, 7:24pm UTC
thanks for sharing
Chas Andrews Nov 24, 2009, 2:58pm UTC
thanks

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