This installment of Take 5 looks at five songs by the popular Blues Hall of Famer, Junior Wells. Wells was a significant part of the post-World War II Chicago blues scene. He played with Muddy Waters, recorded with Muddy and Elmore James as sidemen. Other recordings had the likes of Earl Hooker playing guitar. Later his album "Hoodoo Man Blues," on Delmark, was one of the first album of a working Chicago blues band that was recorded as an album, not a collection of singles. For a number of years, he toured with Buddy Guy with a band that included A.C. Reed on saxophone and Phil Guy on second guitar. This was one of the best blues bands that ever was. Then after the partnership with Buddy ended, he led his own, very popular band throughout the world. Here are five choice recordings or performances by him.
We open with his original recording of "Hoodoo Man Blues," with Elmore James on guitar, Little Johnny Jones on piano, Louis Myers on guitar, Dave Myers on bass guitar and Fred Below on drums.
Next up is his original "Messin' With the Kid," which Muddy Waters would record an answer to.
The collaboration with Buddy Guy first included a session for the legendary "Chicago, The Blues Today" recordings, "Hoodoo Man Blues," and the Vanguard album "It's My Life Baby." Here is Junior with Buddy on guitar doing a Little Willie John song as "Country Girl."
A popular Junior Wells recording on Delmark, "Southside Blues Jam," tried to capture the feel of an informal jam at Pepper's Lounge. This was one of pianist Otis Spann's last recordings. Here is his reworking of "Stop Breaking Down" that goes back to Robert Johnson, but Junior likely got it from John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson's recording.
Junior also did a terrific job on Tracy Chapman's "Give Me One Reason." It is a song representing his later solo career of this brief retrospective of a Blues Hall of Famer.
Various Artists Ann Arbor Blues Festival 1969 Third Man Records
To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the legendary Ann Arbor Blues Festival in 1969, Third Man Records has issued a both LP and CD releases. They collect 24 songs by such blues legends as Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, B.B. King, James Cotton, Son House, Magic Sam, T-Bone Walker, Junior Wells, Big Mama Thornton, Clifton Chenier, Son House, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Lightnin' Hopkins, Pinetop Perkins, J. B. Hutto & His Hawks, Roosevelt Sykes, Luther Allison, Otis Rush, Big Joe Williams, Charlie Musselwhite and more. This release is the first-ever release of music recorded live at this landmark event, except the Magic Sam track that was issued on Delmark.
John Fishel recorded the Festival except for Son House's performance which Jeff Todd Titon did. In the accompanying book to the deluxe LP edition (I am not sure what is included with the CDs), it is stated "These recordings were stored in Jim Fishel's basement and have remained largely unheard for 50 years. In preparing this compilation, we treated the original tapes to an all-analog restoration process – including speed correction and equalization – prior to digitization. However, these are field recordings in the literal sense of the term: audience chatter is audible and there are some technical problems that proved difficult to fix. Every effort has been made to improve the sound without sacrificing the integrity of the performances." In other words, these may not be the highest fidelity, but as good as one is likely to be able to get. Listening through headphones may be the best way to enjoy this music.
The two Ann Arbor Blues Festivals (the second one held in 1970) were signature events. All the succeeding blues festivals pale in comparison to these line-ups full of artists who are in the Blues Hall of Fame in Memphis. There is a broad range of blues performances presented although there is a strong Chicago blues focus. The Chicago blues focus includes Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, James Cotton, Magic Sam, Junior Wells, Pinetop Perkins, J. B. Hutto & His Hawks, Roosevelt Sykes, Luther Allison, Otis Rush, and Charlie Musselwhite. Freddie King is not included at the request of the estate. At the request of the family, the Otis Rush performance is from a preview of the 1970 Festival. There are down-home performances from Roosevelt Sykes, Lightnin' Hopkins, Son House, Arthur Crudup, Big Joe Williams, and Shirley Griffith. Sleepy John Estes and Yank Rachell performed, but the tape for it was lost. Clifton Chenier is accompanied solely by his accordion.
Despite any audio blemishes, the music here is often spectacular starting with Roosevelt Sykes opening with "Dirty Mother For You." He humorously wondered how he got by the censors when Decca issued the original 78. Sykes was in great form here. Arthur Crudup sounded fine singing "So Glad You're Mine," It was followed by the blistering slide guitar of J.B. Hutto on "Too Much Alcohol," and then Jimmy Dawkins' driving rendition "I Wonder Why." With Lefty Dizz on guitar, Junior Wells does a rousing "Help Me (A Tribute To Sonny Boy Williamson)." B.B. King (with Onzy Matthews on organ and Sonny Freeman on drums) is terrific on "I've Got A Mind To Give Up Living." B.B. King requested Mississippi Fred McDowell play "John Henry," resulting in a terrific performance in McDowell's rhythmically charged style.
Pinetop Perkins had recently joined Muddy Waters' band when he performed a rousing rendition of "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie." Members of Muddy's band backed him. Luther Allison may have been the most significant discovery of Ann Arbor, and his medley of "Everybody Must Suffer/Stone Crazy," is outstanding. I had a chance to see Luther at an Ann Arbor Blues Festival benefit concert a few months later, and it was a revelation. On "Tu m' as promis l'amour (You Promised Me Love)," Clifton Chenier shows he does not need backing musician in delivering a superb blues in French. Howlin' Wolf's rendition of "Hard Luck Blues," is an extended performance with Hubert Sumlin playing brilliant guitar. Wolf's band included Lucky Lopez on guitar, Bobby Fields on sax, and Calvin' Fuzz' Jones on bass. Otis Rush tears through "So Many Roads, So Many Trains," with Ernest Gatewood on bass and Sam Lay on drums. These performances are on Vol. 1, which is also split into two LPs.
Muddy Waters was impressive with "Long Distance Call" with its fattening frogs for snakes ending. This was a typical set opener for him at the time and opens Vol. 2 (also on 2 LPs). His band included Paul Oscher on harmonica, Pinetop Perkins on piano, Sammy Lawhown and Pee Wee Madison on guitars, Sonny Wimberly on bass and Willie' Big Eyes' Smith on drums. Charlie Musselwhite follows with a terrific instrumental, "Movin' and Groovin'," which also includes some spectacular lap steel guitar from Freddie Roulette, and piano from Skip Rose on piano. His band also included Louis Myers on guitar, Dave Myers on bass and Fred Below on drums. It is followed by Magic Sam's "I Feel So Good (I Wanna Boogie)." Shirley Griffith reworked the Billy Eckstine-Earl Hines classic "Jelly Jelly Blues" into a solo blues.
Mojo Elem may be best known as Luther Allison's bass player. Here he delivers a rollicking rendition of J.B. Lenoir's "Mojo Boogie," with Luther Allison playing some boogie chords while Elem sings in a high tenor. T-Bone Walker, with Luther Allison's band, follows with a terrific lengthy, "Call It Stormy Monday." Allison trades guitar licks with Walker plus sings a line or two as well. Walker also plays guitar on Big Mama Thornton's terrific "Ball and Chain." After Big Joe Williams' propulsive delta blues "Juanita," Sam Lay does a solid "Key To The Highway," with Luther Tucker on guitar and Jeff Carp on harmonica.
Lay's band also backs Lightnin' Hopkins who complains about folks at the Festival messing around with mojos before launching into a rollicking "Mojo Hand." While titled "Off the Wall," James Cotton's energizing instrumental is the same song he recorded as "The Creeper," It displays his fabulous harmonica and showmanship. Son House's "Death Letter" is the closing performance. I believe Freddie King may have closed the Festival, but one wonders how anyone (even King) could follow the baring of the soul in Son's riveting performance.
John Fishel recollects in the book, "Shortly after the Festival, I started college at the University of Miami. As luck would have it, James Cotton came to town a few months later for a performance, and I was assigned to interview him for the local underground newspaper. I asked him what he thought about what had happened in Ann Arbor: 'Oh man, I think that's the best festival I ever went to in my life! Everybody was just ready for it." After 50 years, I can still say that's the case for me. I hope you're ready for it too and that these performances prove as revelatory today, inspiring a new generation of blues listeners, musicians, scholars, and fans. That's the legacy of the 1969 Ann Arbor Blues Festival." That legacy is handsomely documented here.
I mentioned there is an accompanying book and the packaging includes many photos, an appreciation of the Festival and the story of the Festival, performer biographies with suggested further listening, and information on the artists and their accompanying musicians. One would be hard-pressed to think of a more significant historical blues release than this one. Get a copy for yourself and then get another as a gift for the blues lover in your holiday gift list.
I received a download to review from a publicist. This historic package is being released today, the 50th Anniversary of the Ann Arbor Blues Festival. For more information visit https://thirdmanstore.com/records. Here is a promo video for this package.
I purchased the vinyl version of Junior Wells' Delmark album “Southside Blues Jam” upon its original release in 1970. The release was an effort to capture what a listener might hear at the baled Chicago blues club, Theresa’s, on a Monday night when Junior Wells and others including Buddy Guy would be featured. Wells and Guy were joined by Louis Myers on guitar, Ernest Johnson on bass, Fred Below on drums and Otis Spann on piano for what was his last studio appearance on record. Delmark has reissued an expanded “Southside Blues Jam” with the original eight selections supplemented by 7 bonus tracks, one of which is an alternate take, another is a warm-up fragment and another is some studio patter.
It was a recording that was quite easy to enjoy. There was a loose spontaneous feel to the performances that Junior and company put their stamp on starting with a easy driving rendition of “Stop Breaking Down” that Junior learned from the first Sonny Boy Williamson’s recording (adapted from Robert Johnson) to a cover of Guitar Slim’s “Trouble Don’t Last” where Buddy takes the lead vocal with Junior adding a rap to the performance. Topicality was heard in the issued take of “I Could Have Had Religion” where Junior dwells on Muddy Waters being out of action at the time and “Blues For Mayor Daley.” There are covers of songs from Muddy as well as a nice rendition of the second Sonny Boy Williamson’s “In My Younger Days.” Wells mixes his blues harp (very much in the spirit of the second Sonny Boy) with his mix of vocals and James Brown funk while Guy and Spann are in strong form.
The unissued performances have their appeal, although listening to them one can understand why the selections on the original CD were chosen. There is a decent cover of Little Walter’s “It’s Too Late Brother,” with Well’s exhorting Spann to rumble on the bass keys as he talks about the blues being funky. “Love My Baby,” a reworking of Arthur Crud-up’s “So Glad Your Mine,” and set to the “Hootchie Kootchie Man” groove with blistering string bending from Guy and Spann’s rumbling piano behind Wells’ vocal. The alternate of “I Could Have Had Religion” is a more traditional performance about a mistreating woman without the reference to Muddy Waters’ health. It has solid Louis Myers’ guitar, while “Rock Me” is done as a dedication to Muddy Waters. The closing “Got to Play the Blues” is an amusing original set to the groove of B.B. King’s (then contemporary recording), “Why I Sing the Blues” with Wells singing about singing the blues and throwing in impersonations of other singers.
This expanded “Southside Blues Jam” is handsomely packaged (credit Kate Moss) with a booklet that contains Bob Koester’s recollections of the session and Michael Cuscuna’s Rolling Stone review of the original LP release and the sound is quite good. This reissue, with its additional tracks, will be welcome to a wide range of blues lovers including those having the original LP.
I received my review copy from Delmark. This review originally appeared in the January-February 2015 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 358). Here is Junior with Buddy Guy doing "Little By Little" on a PBS show in 1971.
Delmark 60 Years of Blues is one of two compilations in which Delmark Records celebrates its 60 years. Blues has been a strong part of Delmark’s catalog including recordings by Speckled Red and Big Joe Williams that were part of what the label originally called “Roots of Jazz.” In fact, when the historic Junior Wells Hoodoo Man Blues was issued it was part of this series (I still have my monaural vinyl LP of Hoodoo Man Blues). Such a compilation provides a glimpse of the label’s history as well as a sampler of some of its more current (and upcoming releases). Additionally, Delmark provides us with some unissued tracks from earlier albums and selections from forthcoming releases.
There are plenty of delights here ranging from Studebaker John’s opening lament When They Played the Real Blues, to Giles Corey psychedelic funk blues from a forthcoming new release. Recent releases by Linsey Alexander and Quintus McCormick are spotlighted along with selections from Eddie C. Campbell, Lurrie Bell (Channeling Otis Rush), Sharon Lewis and Tail Dragger. Among the delights is a previously unissued Rock Me Baby from Junior Wells from the sessions that produced Southside Blues Jam, an alternate take of the Little Walter Trio (with Muddy Waters and Baby Face Leroy Foster) doing I Just Keep Loving Her, Big Joe Williams on a 7-string guitar doing a strong 44 Blues, a previously unissued “Key to the Highway” by Detroit Jr., and Sleepy John Estes (with Hammie Nixon) performing Stop That Thing from the forthcoming Live in Japan CD. There is a fabulous track by Magic Sam from the recent Live at the Avant Garde album” and this compilation closes with Toronzo Cannon’s fervent Hendrix-inspired (but no Hendrix copy) John The Conquer Root. Over an hour of solid blues to be heard here.
I received from Delmark and last Monday I covered a similar compilation devoted to jazz. Here is Eddie C, Campbell performing.
It was fall of 1967 that I picked up a monaural vinyl album by Junior Wells, Hoodoo Man Blues on Delmark at a downtown Cleveland record store. It was one of those albums that helped me an enthusiast of blues music and a fan of Mr. Wells. Hoodoo Man Blues has long been acknowledged as a classic of the post-war Chicago blues and has been honored as a Grammy®Hall of Fame Inductee. It has been reissued several times including on CD, but Delmark has just reissued it again in a deluxe new expanded edition that includes a number of previously unissued tracks with some studio patter added in. Also included with the digi-pak packaging is a booklet that contains the original liner notes, the added notes for a prior CD release and new comments from Bob Koester along with many previously unpublished photos from the session.
The original release especially holds up sounding as contemporary and vital as ever. The session was engineered by Stu Black who did some Chess sessions one really can appreciate what a superb job he did on the two track stereo tapes the sessions were recorded with. The clarity that allows Buddy’s chords and fills to ring clearly even when at a subdued volume as well as the shimmer of Billy Warren’s cymbals (especially the wonderful rendition of In the Wee Wee Hours) and the at times guitar-like bass lines of Jack Myers. Of course Junior is front and center with some of the best vocals and harp playing he ever recorded.
Koester notes that this was the first recording of “a working Chicago blues band recorded in the studio for lp release with no 45 rpm singles planned and the artists given full freedom as to the running time of the tracks.” Its something they did not realize at the time when they did the session. As many know, Buddy Guy was listed under the pseudonym Friendly Chap on early releases of the album. It was the name suggested by Pete Brown, a British kid who worked at Koester’s Jazz Record Mart, and used because they thought Buddy was under contract to Chess. And there is the use of a Hammond B-3 Leslie speaker by Buddy Guy. It seems that their was an issue with Buddy’s guitar amp, and engineer Stu Black wanted to get the session rolling so he wired Guy into that speaker until Guy’s amp could be repaired. It certainly lent a distinctive tone to Wells’ rendition of Hoodoo Man Blues.
What a terrific band and the reissue contains the twelve tracks that appeared on vinyl followed by alternates of In the Wee Wee Hours, Hoodoo Man Blues, and Kenny Burrell’s Chitlins Con Carne, (that have been previously reissued) and three alternates of Yonder Wall. The two renditions of In the Wee Wee Hours, on which Junior plays chromatic, may have his strongest harp playing, a real nice vocal and solid drumming with nice cymbal work There is a new tune as well, “I Am Stranded,” a Jimmy Reed-styled number credited to Guy. An enjoyable performance but not as strong as the other songs, and the alternates are very good, but one would be hard-pressed to find any of them superior to the issued tracks. Minor bits of studio chatter are also included by probably will be ignored after the first times one listens to this.
Delmark is to be thanked for this expanded Hoodoo Man Blues. The additional material is a nice addition to the original classic album and listening to this one appreciates just how classic that album was. With the wonderful packaging, terrific sound and of course the timeless blues performances, this is an essential blues recording.
I received my review copy from the record company.
One of the frustrations of blues is discovering a terrific talent, yet being frustrated by the artist’s failure to be able to take a step to insure success as more than a fine recording artist. The one time I saw Byther Smith at the Poconos, he was with a pick-up band, which was a shame because it did not do justice to his strong West Side Blues guitar and vocals that are almost on the level of an Otis Rush. He has recorded other strong albums for Delmark, JSP and Black & Tan. This review appeared in the July-August 2004 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 269). Tomorrow, I will run my review of his 2008 CD/DVD on Delmark, Man on the Moon.
With an efficient backing trio laying down steady, funk-tinged grooves, Byther Smith blasts out some stinging blues guitar and pleads his blues with plenty of heart on his third Delmark album Hold That Train. While he does cover some overdone songs like The Thrill is Gone, Willie Dixon’s 300 Pounds of Joy and Howlin’ Wolf’s Killing Floor, most of the material handled here is not nearly as familiar, as he opens with the late A.C. Reed’s This Little Voice, Dixon’s Close To You, Andrew Brown’s You Ought to Be Ashamed, Junior Wells’ Come On In This House, and Detroit Junior’s So Unhappy. Other tracks include Mississippi Kid, set to the melody of Junior Wells’ Messin’ With the Kid.
More so than his prior discs, Smith’s performances here suggest recent recordings by Magic Slim with the simple grooves, punched out stinging guitar lines and solid singing, although Smith’s vocals are a bit higher pitched than those of Magic Slim. So Unhappy is a stirring slow blues where Smith pours his soul in while he evokes Slim Harpo’s Scratch My Back melody for his adaptation of What My Momma Told Me. I Don’t Like to Travel is a strong performance suggestive of Otis Rush’s classic I Can’t Quit You Baby.
The only complaint would be that the tracks start to sound the same if one listens to this in one setting. Use of horns and/or keyboards on some songs would have provided more varied listening.
There is a myth that there was very little new blues of note recorded in the 1970s. The fact is labels like Alligator, Delmark and Blind Pig produced fine albums, and labels like Stax and Jewel produced strong modern urban blues. Also, there were a number of recordings released in Europe, usually by touring American musicians, on labels like Isabel and Black & Blue. Three reissues from Barclay’s Maison de Blues series caught my attention when issued three decades ago, and these new CD releases allow me to replace my worn vinyl LPs.
Memphis Slim & Buddy Guy, Southside Reunion, was recorded when Buddy Guy and Junior Wells were touring Europe in September 1970. This 35 year old session brought together the expatriate Slim with the Buddy Guy-Junior Wells Band for what was a terrific session mixing Slim’s rolling barrelhouse piano, urbane singing and the tough sound Guy and Wells put together with one of the great blues bands of all time. Guy and Wells had Phil Guy on rhythm guitar, Ernest Johnson on bass, A.C. reed and Jim Conley on sax and Roosevelt ‘Snake’ Shaw on drums. When Slim kicks off a duet with Buddy on the opening When Buddy Comes to Town, the music takes off on a cooking shuffle that I doubt Buddy could come close to matching today with his more hard rock approach, and how many modern rhythm sections could handle the shuffle groove or settle in so able behind Slim on Leroy Carr’s classic, How Long Blues? Guy also handles the vocal on You’re the One while Wells ably supports on harp throughout. An alternate take of You’re the One, and Jamming at the Castle are bonus tracks and come across as worthy companions for a really magnificent reissue.
Professor Longhair was at the beginning of his re-emergence as a performer when he recorded the 1974 release Rock’n’Roll Gumbo, which was reissued on George Winston’s Dancing Cat label in 1985 with horns added to the reworking of Mardi Gras in New Orleans. The Maison de Blues reissue is musically the same as the Dancing Cat and had Fess pared with Gatemouth Brown on guitar (and fiddle for Jambalaya,) with a rhythm section of Julius Farmer on bass, drummer Sheba Kimbrough, who recently (October 2005) passed away, and Alfred ‘Uganda Roberts on congas. The music is marvelous as the empathy between Brown and Fess is obvious throughout whether on remaking Hey Now Baby and Tipitina or bringing a fresh take to Junco Partner, Ray Charles’ Mess Around, Stag-O-Lee, and Mean Ol’ World. After the mix of funk and blues grooves, the album closes with just Fess at the piano taking care of business on (They Call Me) Dr. Professor Longhair. This is perhaps my favorite Longhair album, and interestingly Rhino took seven songs from this when they did their two-CD Professor Longhair anthology.
The third reissue is Clifton Chenier’s Frenchin’ the Boogie, recorded at a time when Stanley ‘Buckwheat’ Duval was part of the band on keyboards. The Frenchin’ in the title refers to the fact that Chenier sings a number of blues and rhythm and blues classics in Creole French. There are several nods to Louis Jordan, Caledonia, Choo-Choo Ch’Boogie, and Laissez Les Bon Tons Roulet (a retitled Let the Good Times Roll) along with versions of Shake Rattle and Roll and Going Down Slow mixed with a waltz. Chenier was in peak form for this 1976 session, singing ebulliently and soulfully, putting as much soul in his piano accordion as Jimmy Smith on the organ and the Red Hot Louisiana Band rocking as hard as any band ever did. Like the other two releases, this is spectacular stuff.
The above was a relatively recent (March-April 2006) review from Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 280) of some reissues of blues recordings from Europe. They are still available (although perhaps easier to get as downloads than hard physical copies). I likely received review copies from Jazz & Blues Report.
First in my List of Outstanding Jazz and Blues Recordings of 2010. I start with Vintage Blues Recordings which includes not simply reissues but also releases primarily consisting of older material.
Junior Wells & the Aces Live in Boston 1966 (Delmark). The release of a sixties club performance by Junior Wells with the Aces (Louis and Dave Myers as well as drummer Fred Below) captures Wells in top form and displays the manner Wells interacted with his primarily white college audience was not far removed from how he interacted with the folks at Pepper’s Lounge. Albert King / Stevie Ray Vaughan: In Session (Stax). While the music has been available from the legendary encounter on CD, this combined deluxe DVD and CD includes much unissued video by the two. Tremendous meeting of two legends.
Little Smokey Smothers & Elvin Bishop Chicago Blues Buddies (Brown Derby). Compiled as a fundraiser for Smokey, who recently passed away, I wrote “a solid retrospective of a wonderful partnership with the release of the first-rate 1993 Chicago Blues Festival performances particularly welcome as are the tracks that Alligator and Black Magic graciously lent to this project … .”
Otis ReddingLive on the Sunset Strip (Stax) The classic live recordings which include the full sets of a legendary performance. “Over four decades later, Otis Redding’s music remains as gripping as when he performed on the Whiskey’s stage. Obviously those having the earlier reissues may not need this, but others who love “Sweet Soul Music,” will want this.”
Luther Allison Songs From the Road (Ruf) CD and DVD of previously unissued performances by one of the greatest live blues performers ever. “What a joy to listen and watch previously unissued performances by Luther Allison after all these years. It doesn’t get much better than this release which is quite reasonably priced and should be available from itunes or amazon and better retailers.”
Sista Monica Soul Blues & Ballads (Mo Muscle Records). A terrific retrospective for which I wrote, ‘There is a generous amount of music here with thirteen outstanding performances for about 70 minutes by one of the blues and R&B world’s finest singers here. I add that she could have selected from her earlier recordings, a dozen different performances and had as compelling a recording. She is just that dynamic and soulful. For those lacking anything by the Sista, here is a good place to start.”
Freddie King Texas Flyer (Bear Family). This is the second Bear Family box sets that has also tyhe commercially issued recordings by the legendary blues singer and guitarist. This set also has the live recordings he did for RSO and much previously unissued live performances. Between the two sets on Bear Family (The 7CD Taking Care of Business is the earlier one) one has about 15 hours of guitar blues of the highest level and one can reevaluate some of the stuff that one might have dismissed four decades ago. Special note should be made of the hard cover book with Bill Dahl's biographical and musical notes and pianist Dave Maxwell's recollections of working with King. The book also has some incredible photographs and full discographical information.
Little Willie John Mister Little Willie John + Talk To Me (HooDoo Records) Two early albums by the great rhythm and blues singer who died way too soon with a number of his classic songs including Fever, Talk to Me, Home at Last, All Around the World, and Drive Me Home. Christine Kittrell, Call Her Name:Complete Recordings 51-65 (Bear Family). Nashville was once known as much for its Rhythm and Blues scene as hillbilly music, and the queen of that scene was Christine Kittrell. Bear Family has compiled all of her recordings from 1951 to 1965 (many produced by legendary songwriter-producer Ted Jarrett) that shows a terrific singer that had some mostly regional success but was the equal of some of her better known contemporaries. On one selection, a John Coltrane rips out a sax solo that stands out.
Big Walter Horton Blues Harmonia Giant (JSP) 3-CD box that reissues this important harmonica masters early recordings for a variety of labels along with some of his choice accompaniments and a bonus CD of a live 70's performance with his primary disciple, Carey Bell. I blogged extensively on this reissue.
Bob Corritore Harmonica Blues (Delta Groove). Harmonica player Bob Corritore has championed traditionally styled Chicago blues for decades. This Delta Groove release showcases his considerable skills on the harmonica with a number of blues legends, a number of whom are no longer with us including Robert Lockwood, Nappy Brown and Koko taylor as well as Eddie Shaw, Louisiana Red, Big Pete Pearson and others. There is enough older material to place this in the Vintage category as opposed to a straight new release.
I had the pleasure to see Junior Wells a number of times over the years. The first several times it was when he had his partnership with Buddy Guy while I was living in Buffalo. First time was with a fellow University of Buffalo grad student in Toronto at El Macombo. Somehow we got seats on the side of the stage (apparently my friend had a close resemblance to one of the members of Downchild) and it was a treat to see and hear the two with the band when it included A.C. Reed on saxophone. Later, there would be shows at the Belle Star in Colden, NY, in the hills west of Buffalo including one where Jeff Beck was in the audience. Junior sang his ass off for about two hours, and Buddy played his butt off too (Buddy was one of Jeff’s favorite guitarists). At the time, both were prominent figures in the blues world, but there were times when they would clown a bit. The night with Beck in the audience (and he jammed with them the late second set), there there was just magic and no clowning. At the time when they were back home in Chicago, they each had their own gigs. Junior held forth at Theresa’s, a neighborhood bar.
Back in 2006, Delmark issued some previously unissued live Junior Wells recordings from Theresa’s that was a wonderful surprise to the many fans of Wells as well as blues fans in general. Live At Theresa’s 1975, was taken from recordings made for broadcast on Chicago station WXRT-FM. Wells on this recording was supported by a band that included Phil Guy on guitar and Earnest Johnson bass. Both were regular members of Wells’ touring band when he joined with Buddy Guy around this time.
On the two dates from January 1975, Byther Smith or Sammy Lawhorn are also on guitar and Vince Chapelle or Levi Warren are on drums. There are some fine performances of songs that were staples of Wells’ repertoire until his death, such as Little By Little, Come On in This House, It Hurts Me Too, What My Mama Told Me and Messing With the Kid. Smith takes a vocal on Help the Poor from B.B. King’s repertoire. The music is solid, and there is plenty of banter from Junior including singing Happy Birthday to photographer Mark Pokemper and acting as Pokemper’s pitchman. Junior and the band were in terrific form here.
With all the welcome publicity of the recent Junior Wells Live in Boston 1966 on Delmark, this disc should not be overlooked. It is as good and provides a sense of what Wells’ sounded like playing for a different audience then the college kids who saw him in 1966. It should also be relatively easy to find. When this came out, I selected this as among the outstanding blues CDs of 2006 and reviewed it in the December 2006 Jazz & Blues Report (issue 289) which I have modified for the current post.
For purposes of FTC regulations, I likely received the review copy from Delmark Records.
What a pleasant surprise it was to learn that Delmark was planning to issue a 1966 Boston appearance by Junior Wells. It was recorded shortly after the classic “Hoodoo Man Blues,” was issued but as Scott Dirks notes, instead of the band Junior was using in the clubs (that included Buddy Guy), he travelled with the Aces (Louis and Dave Myers, guitar and bass guitar respectively; and Fred Below on drums). The result is Junior Wells & the Aces, “Live in Boston 1966,” and is a release that will certainly raise the blood pressure of the many fans the late legend had. The hour long performance issued here includes twelves songs interspersed with Wells’ comments and introductions. For those who remember the live tracks on Wells’ Vanguard album “Its My Life Baby,” there with be some similarity although Louis Myers’ guitar style is very different from the more flamboyant fretwork of Guy.
The songs include “Feelin’ Good,” a staple of his repertoire followed by “Man Downstairs,” where he quotes “Mellow Down Easy,” in his solo. He has fun playing with audience at time and clear they are having a good time as he launches into “Worried Life Blues,” with Below helping kick it off with his identifiable drum roll. “Junior’s Whoop,” suggests his fusion of funk and traditional blues as the groove again evokes “Mellow Down Easy,” as urges his woman to come on and scats a bit followed by a tough harp break. Over forty years later, renditions of “That’s All Right,” and “Look On Yonder’s Wall,” would hardly be exciting, but Wells sings strongly on what likely would have staples of his club performances. No such complaint can be made about Wells’ “Messing With the Kid,” which is very similar to Wells’ “Chicago The Blues Today” recording, with Myers playing some of the same riffs as Guy behind the vocal. “Hideaway” is a feature for Louis Myers’ guitar and taken straight before Wells comes in on harp over half way through. Dirks suggests that both “If You Gonna Leave Me,” and “I Don’t Know” (note the Willie Mabon recording), sound like Junior put them together from fragments of songs and illustrates his ability to make these sound like finished songs and display his personality. Myers takes a nice solo on the former number, while Wells opens the latter number on a harp with a nice shuffle groove that evokes his mentor, Sonny Boy ‘Rice Miller’ Williamson’s “Don’t Start Me Talkin,’” and even sings a couple lines in a Rice Miller vein. Myers handles one vocal here, “Got My Mojo Workin’.”
Sound is a slight bit muffled, but that is due to the source material and the restoration does a really good job in presenting the music. It is also handsomely packaged in a digipak. Scott Dirks writes that the power of Junior’s personality comes across here and this writer certainly will not disagree with that assessment. The one omission is lack of information of where this was recorded other than in Boston. (Today, October 6, I learned that it was recorded at the fabled Club 47 in Cambridge). This is a wonderful addition to the Junior Wells discography and certainly should appeal to his fans and fans of solid Chicago blues.
I received a review copy directly from Delmark Records.
Paul Oscher (seen at this past 2009 Pocono Blues Festival) returned to the Pocono Blues Festival as part of the Friday Night Festival opener. The following is a review of his Electro-Fi CD,Alone With the Blues, that appeared in the July-August 2004 Jazz & Blues Report (www.jazz-blues.com). The review (written a couple years of his Pocono Blues Fest appearance) captures a bit of the avriety that Oscher brings to a live performance as he recalls some stories from his time in Muddy's Band as well as recollections of some folks he admires. His story about playing 3 card Monty with Junior Wells is priceless. He is someone that you really should endeavor to try to catch live. And his CDs are outstanding. This CD should still be readily available.
This writer remembers catching Paul Oscher’s impressive performance at the Pocono Blues Festival in 2002. Oscher, was the harmonica player in the Muddy Waters Band between 1967 and 1971 and the first white to be a regular member of the blues legends band. He lived in Muddy’s house and shared the basement with the great Otis Spann, from whom he learned blues piano just like Muddy was his model for his slide guitar playing. Not nearly as known as other Muddy Waters’ alumni, it is a reflection of the fact that fame is often elusive. With the release of his new Electro-Fi album, Alone With the Blues, one can hope that Oscher’s time has finally arrived. This is a varied album with a number of solo performances mixed in with some small group sides. The mood ranges from his chromatic explorations on Richard Carpenter’s Walkin’ (yes the tune known from Miles Davis’ recording), a telling reworking of Jimmy Rogers’ That’s Alright, the zydeco groove of My Sweet Suzanne with his chromatic harp replacing the accordion, his recasting of the Standing at the Crossroads theme into how John Lee Hooker might have reworked the song back in 1950, Blues and Trouble, a slow Muddy Waters-styled blues with some strong slide playing, Chuck Willis’ You’re Still My Baby (on which he plays guitar and rather full-bodied rack harp), and the title track, an instrumental tour de force based on the instrumental After Hours, on which Oscher plays assorted harmonicas and the melodica. David Maxwell and ex-Muddy sidemen, Calvin Jones and Willie Smith, back his rendition of Robert Nighthawk’s Anna Lee, while he plays the accordion on Mississippi John Hurt’s Louis Collins. The versatility does not obscure the fact that Paul Oscher’s playing is of the highest level and his vocals ring true on this superb disc that is obviously highly recommended.
Listening to and watching Carey Bell’s vigorous vocals and harp playing on a new CD/DVD he share with his son Lurrie, Gettin’ Up Live (Delmark), one will be astonished to learn that Carey had suffered a stroke, fell and broke a hip weeks before and yet still appeared at Rosa’s a few days after leaving the hospital. This new recording/ video captures the two at Rosa’s in July, 2006 and at Buddy Guy’s Legend’s in October 2006, along with some intimate performances at Lurrie’s home the day after the Rosa’s performance. With strong supporting musicians for the band sides and the empathy they demonstrate whenever they perform together, the Bells have produced both a strong CD and a delightful DVD. The CD has 4 performances from Rosa’s, Legends, and Lurrie’s home, while the DVD adds two performances from Rosa’s. The band selections are excellent with Roosevelt Purifoy certainly adding solid keyboards in support and the bass drum duos of Bob Stroger & Brian ‘BJ’ Jones or Joe Thomas & Kenny Smith keep things going. Scott Cable joins on guitar on Lurrie’s vocal at Rosa’s (a solid Baby Please Don’t Go) and the Legends’ performances. Carey is first heard on Junior Wells’ What My Mama Told Me, which is appropriate because Bell’s vocals evoke Wells. Gettin’ Up is one of those funky blues Carey was effective at, while at Legends he does a couple of Little Walter numbers along with his Low Down Dirty Shame. In addition to Bell’s vocals and really solid harp, Lurrie is marvelous with his mercurial guitar playing recalling some of Jimmy Dawkins’ equally fiery accompaniments on Carey’s first album over 35 years. Lurrie has really emerged as one of the finest blues guitarists, especially as an accompanist with suggestions of Dawkins and the equally individualistic Hubert Sumlin. Despite the flash and sizzle of his playing, he never overshadows his father’s performances, rather his embellishments and solos strengthen these marvelous performances. Carey handles three vocals at Lurrie’s home in the more intimate setting including John Estes’ Broke and Hungry, and J.T. Brown’s Short Dress Woman, before Lurrie closes things out with a heartfelt traditional gospel number, Stand By Me. The two songs on the DVD not on the CD are older Bell recordings although honestly are a tad bit weaker than those on the CD. The video on the DVD is simple and straightforward and all the more effective for its focus on Carey, Lurrie and their band. No claim that this is the best either has ever done, but this still is a first-rate disc of Chicago Blues that is highly recommended. Enjoy. This was written prior to Carey's death, and having enjoyed him on disc as well as live over forrty years, I will miss him as will all blues lovers.
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