Hoodoo Man Blues
1965 – Junior Wells
First of all, Junior Wells is freakin’ amazing. Second of all, it says “with Buddy Guy” right on the cover. I could just end this post on those two facts alone but, maybe you need a little more convincing so please, allow me to elaborate.
This is Chicago blues. What is that you say? Well, Chicago blues can be described in many ways. We can say that this particular form of music was the result of the Great Migration in the early 1940’s when Mississippi bluesmen traveled north to Chicago to escape the harsh Jim Crow laws in the south.
We can also say that this style of urban blues developed from country blues and is primarily based upon the sounds of the electric guitar and the harmonica (harp) played through a PA system or guitar amplifier and pushed to distortion.
Or, we can simply say that this style of music kicks ass and Junior Wells was a pioneer in his field.
Junior sets the tone of his first album with the first track “Snatch It Back And Hold It” – BAM in your face! In James Brown-esque fashion, Junior sings “I’m not doin too bad, baby – You know I ain’t got no brand new bag.”
From the first note you know you better step back because this is Junior Wells baby!
Although many successful records would follow this one, Hoodoo Man Blues remains Well’s most acclaimed and sought after recording.
Produced by Bob Koester, the founder of Delmark Records. Koester loved the music so much he allowed Wells to pick his own musicians and put together his own tracklist. The result is a soulful mix of traditional blues classics intertwined with Wells originals that flow like a rhythm and blues river.
Side One
- Snatch It Back And Hold It
- Ships On The Ocean
- Good Morning Little School Girl
- Hound Dog
- In The Wee Wee Hours
- Hey Lawdy Mama
Side Two
- Hoodoo Man Blues
- Early In The Morning
- We’re Ready
- You Don’t Love Me, Baby
- Chitlin’ Con Carne
- Yonder Wall
The title track “Hoodoo Man Blues” almost didn’t make it on the album at all because some idiotic radio guys rejected the original 78 rpm recording by literally throwing it on the floor and stomping on it. Fortunately, the producer gave Junior the confidence to put the track on the album anyway.
“Well, I hold up my head
Girl, I’m just trying to make you understand
Well now, everybody tell me
Somebody hoodoo’d the hoodoo man”
– Junior Wells
And that track, goes a little bit like this.
Buddy Guy’s guitar on the sessions had a unique sound due to the fact that his guitar amplifier was down, so they improvised and ran it through the Hammond organ’s Leslie speaker.
There would be many more sessions recorded with Buddy Guy, but this was the first, the very beginning of something special.
Junior Wells died on January 15, 1998 at the age of 63.
The Hoodoo Man loved Lee Oskar harmonicas so much that he was buried with some of them by his side.
