Junior Wells: Blues Man Extraordinaire
Saturday Afternoon Early 1966
I sat down on the basement hideabed. It had a cigarette burn the size of a saucer from one of my sister’s parties. My brother turned on the television for me. He set the volume low and gestured for me to be silent as he prepared to practice. An intriguing mixture of Barbara Eden and the blues… Nonetheless … That’s my story.
If you missed me saying it, music was always a big part of my family’s background. I’ve been listening to this stuff even before I was born. Right now I am only six years old and my brother is in his early teens.
Nothing was cooler to me than hanging out with my brother… We’ve shared a room since the day I was born. It was around this time that he started to play the guitar. It seemed that he never slept. He was always practicing any second he could. Those licks he was learning were drilled into my head from a very early age … No wonder the blues has so much meaning when I listen to it.
My brother grabbed his guitar case that was sitting in the corner of the room right next to his Champ Amp. With vast pride, he opened the case and took out the baby blue Fender Mustang. Then he put on the strap and propped the guitar onto his shoulder; quickly sneaking a peek at himself in the mirror while plugging into his amp. Shuffling through a few of the albums lying on his amp, he picked an LP by Junior Wells entitled Hoodoo Man Blues. How my brother loved the blues! Taking the record out of its cover and placing it on the turntable; the stylus hit the vinyl and the room swelled with that sweet sound! My brother would flawlessly play along.
We're Ready [3:41m]: Junior Wells
was born Amos Blakemore in Memphis Tennessee on December 9th, 1934. His career would span over 40 years. For those who may be unfamiliar, Wells was famous for performing with the likes of Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, Magic Sam, Lonnie Brooks, The Rolling Stones and Van Morrison. Junior was also one of the major and influential players of Chicago’s vibrant, funky, electric blues sound in the late 1950’s and 60’s.
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