Hot Wax: James Cotton, Junior Wells, Carey Bell & Billy Branch’s Harp Attack! (1990/2024)

The blues as a commercially viable style of music seemed to be in pretty good shape in 1990. The blues boom of the 1980s – stoked by the critical acclaim heaped upon, and the commercial success of guitarists like Stevie Ray Vaughan and Robert Cray – would lead to a crop of innovative young artists like Joe Bonamassa and Kenny Wayne Shepherd. Blues greats of the 1950s and ‘60s like B.B. King and Buddy Guy were still touring constantly to large crowds, and independent blues labels such as Rooster Blues and Black Top Records were thriving, releasing albums from lesser-known, but talented bluesmen and women.

Chicago’s Alligator Records label was still truckin’ along at the dawn of the 1990s, releasing albums during the decade from a diverse roster of blues talent that included Koko Taylor, Charlie Musselwhite, Lil’ Ed & the Blues Imperials, and Lonnie Brooks, among many others. Never the wallflower, label head Bruce Iglauer wasn’t opposed to musical experiments that may or may not pay off in the marketplace. For instance, Showdown – a 1985 collaboration between Albert Collins, Robert Cray, and Johnny Copeland – sold well and earned the label its second Grammy™ Award. So, when Iglauer brought four harp masters together in the studio in 1990, he had great expectations for the resulting album.

Cotton, Wells, Bell & Branch’s Harp Attack!

James Cotton

Originally released in 1990 and now reissued on vinyl, Harp Attack! was the result of four recording sessions that brought together some of the finest contemporary harmonica players in the blues in James Cotton, Junior Wells, Carey Bell, and Billy Branch. While Cotton and Wells were both bona fide legends by 1990, Bell was less well-known but no less respected by the blues cognoscenti. Branch was the “kid” of the group, who had grown up listening to, and learning from the music of the others. It was a challenge bringing the four talented instrumentalists into the studio for, as Iglauer said in an interview with this writer, “bringing harmonica players together isn’t really the same thing as bringing guitar players together, because the concept of chording or rhythm harmonica isn’t there, it’s primarily a solo instrument.”

Still, Iglauer managed to nudge, coax, and coerce great performances from all the artists involved, even getting some fine rhythm harp behind the individual lead solos. Harp Attack! opens with the swinging “Down Home Blues,” a perfect showcase for the assembled talents, and everybody gets their turn in the spotlight. Cotton sings the first verse, and delivers a languid, lazy, but steady-flowing harp solo before handing it over to youngster Billy Branch. While Branch’s vocals aren’t as assured as Cotton’s, his solo is razor-sharp and high flying. Wells is the best vocalist of the bunch, and knocks his verse out before launching into a short, shocking solo. Bell delivers strong vocals and a red-hot solo before Cotton, Wells, and Branch play the song out. Each harpist provides a unique tone and viewpoint to their solo, giving the song the feel of an extended blues jam as they riff on top of Lucky Peterson’s piano and Michael Coleman’s subtle six-string fills.

Tribute to Sonny Boy Williamson

Junior Wells

Even in 1990, you couldn’t record an album of blues harp without paying tribute to the great Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Miller). Junior Wells does the honors here, cranking out an inspired cover of Williamson’s “Keep Your Hands Out of My Pockets,” mangling the words with his typically soulful drawl, punctuating his vocals with fluid solos that perfectly capture the emotion and impact of the song. The trio of Cotton, Wells, and Branch take on the Delta blues gem “Little Car Blues,” Coleman injecting some tasty fretwork behind Cotton’s lively vocals. As Wells and Branch provide background fills, Cotton’s solo soars above the fray, breathless and bold. By contrast, Wells’ solo here flies low to the ground, hitting your senses like a passing locomotive.

Wells takes the spotlight again on his original “Somebody Changed the Lock,” the song’s jaunty, up-tempo arrangement a perfect foil for his understated vocals and fast-flying harp notes. Coleman and bassist Johnny Gayden lay down a funky rhythmic undercurrent, drummer Ray Allison adds a few well-timed beats, and Peterson’s fingers dash across the keys, but it’s Wells’ game, and his solos are effective and efficient. Bell takes the fore on his “Second Hand Man,” a better showcase for his hearty vocals and his blistering, Big Walter Horton-inspired harp style. Harp Attack! closes with Branch’s “New Kid On the Block,” the 39-year-old “rookie” of the group writing his own ticket with a raucous, biographical Chicago blues rave-up that evokes the best of Wells and Cotton, with a stylistic nod to Little Walter amidst Branch’s rowdy vocals and spirited harp play.

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

The harmonica has a lengthy and respected tradition in blues music, and its role as a lead instrument is second only to the guitar in blues history. From the earliest days of the Mississippi Delta blues, when traveling bluesmen would tuck a “mouth harp” in their pocket and grab a train, through the 1950s when giants like Little Walter and Sonny Boy Williamson brought new popularity for the instrument, to 1960s-era trailblazers like Junior Wells and Paul Butterfield, the harmonica has become ingrained in the music.

Harp Attack! features some of the most spirited and energetic performances you’ll hear on any blues album, and you’ll find few players better than the four artists showcased here. If you’re a fan of blues harp – and who isn’t – this mighty (and essential) record should own real estate in your collection. (Alligator Records, reissued September 13th, 2024)

Buy the record direct from Alligator: Cotton, Wells, Bell & Branch’s Harp Attack!

Archive Review: Junior Well’s Hoodoo Man Blues (1965/2011)

One of a handful of bona fide classic blues LPs, Junior Wells’ Hoodoo Man Blues ushered in a new era for the genre. Although blues music was struggling commercially in the mid-1960s as a young African-American audience chose to listen to soul, and later funk rather than their “parent’s music,” a new audience would develop as young, white rock ‘n’ roll fans latched onto the blues even more strongly than they did during the short-lived folk-blues boom of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Along with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band’s self-titled 1965 debut, Hoodoo Man Blues would help write the blueprint that most blues-rock bands of the late 1960s would follow.

In retrospect, it seems like a natural, inevitable progression, but in 1965, Delmark Records’ Bob Koester was taking a big risk with the recording and release of Hoodoo Man Blues. Blues albums had, until that point, mostly been a collection of songs from an artist’s 45rpm record releases surrounded by studio filler. Hoodoo Man Blues was, perhaps, the first true document of a working blues band just cutting loose in the studio as they did on the stage at Theresa’s or other Chicago blues clubs without considering the release of a single. The album truly captured the sound and fury of the Chicago blues at that time even while pointing the music towards a new direction.   

Junior Well’s Hoodoo Man Blues

Wells’ take on Amos Blakemore’s “Snatch It Back and Hold It” would bring a new sound to the traditional Chicago blues. Displaying as many James Brown-influenced funk underpinnings as Little Walter-styled blues aesthetic, the performance placed more reliance on Wells’ funky, forceful vocals and Buddy Guy’s slippery chicken-picking as it did Wells’ normal harpwork. Another Blakemore cover, the underrated “Ships On the Ocean,” takes the standard blues sound onto darker, stormy turf with an incredibly nuanced but forceful six-string performance by Guy and mournful blasts of Wells’ harp, with the singer’s growling, Howlin’ Wolf-styled vocals reaching deep into a bottomless well of emotion.

Wells pays tribute to two of his major influences on Hoodoo Man Blues, starting with a blistering cover of John Lee “Sonny Boy” Williamson’s classic “Good Morning Schoolgirl.” With a lusty vocal performance accompanied by Guy’s lively fretwork, Wells’ punctuates the lyrics with shards of harp laid atop the jaunty rhythm provided by bassist Jack Myers and drummer Billy Warren. The title track is taken from harp wizard Sonny Boy Williamson, and Wells’ version features an upbeat, rollicking arrangement with plenty of harp gymnastics and great guitar tone from Guy, who manages to coax a sound akin to a riffing organ from his fretboard.

In The Wee Wee Hours

Wells dips into the Amos Blakemore catalog once again for “In the Wee Wee Hours,” one of four gems from the songwriter to be found on Hoodoo Man Blues. Wells firmly places “In the Wee Wee Hours” in the pantheon of classic blues torch-songs with a dynamic performance that colors the entire song in a dark shade of blue. Wells’ emotional harpwork lays the foundation upon which Guy embroiders his beautiful, melancholy guitar lines. Wells’ vocals are sparse, more of a fill in-between the soul-crushing instrumentation, and they work well in context, providing maximum impact. By contrast, Blakemore’s “We’re Ready” is delivered as a mid-tempo instrumental shuffle with a swaggering backbeat, Wells’ fluid harp playing, and Guy’s stinging, sharp-edged guitar. Warren’s drumming really stands out here, propelling the song with flurries of cymbal and skins.

Guitarist Kenny Burrell’s “Chitlins Con Carne” has become a blues and jazz standard, but in 1965 it was a mere instrumental curiosity, the song’s charms amplified here by Wells’ serpentine harp and Guy’s energetic six-string, passages marked by Wells’ pronounced grunts. Hoodoo Man Blues ends as it begins, with Wells’ taking the traditional “Yonder Wall” into the stratosphere with a rocking take that brings the noise and brings the funk with scrappy harp and rhythmic guitarplay rolling high in the mix above a fat rhythmic groove. This 2011 reissue includes several bonus tracks in the form of alternate takes and illuminating studio chatter, but the most significant find here is a performance of Buddy Guy’s “I Ain’t Stranded” that features Wells’ soulful vocals sputtering and sliding across Guy’s Chuck Berry-styled, duckwalking rock ‘n’ blues guitar pickin’.         

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

Quite simply, if you’re a blues fan, then you should have a copy of Junior Wells’ Hoodoo Man Blues in your collection. Featuring brilliant performances all around, matched with a classic tracklist and stellar instrumentation, the album would become – and remains – Delmark’s all-time best-seller and is a Grammy® Hall of Fame inductee.

While the bonus tracks included on this 2011 reissue add a little additional spice to the already heady musical gumbo, the addition of new liner note and rare B&W photos from the original 1965 recording session provide plenty of reasons to upgrade your old copy. For the newbie, however, Hoodoo Man Blues is where the legacies of Junior Wells and Buddy Guy were first writ large. Get it! (Delmark Records, released August 23, 2011)

Buy the CD from Amazon: Junior Wells’ Hoodoo Man Blues

Classic Buddy Guy & Junior Wells LPs get Vinyl reissue!

Buddy Guy and Junior Wells – both performing both together and separately as successful solo artists – helped shape and define blues music for new audiences during the 1960s and ‘70s. Their work as collaborators resulted in classic blues albums like Hoodoo Man Blues and Southside Blues Jam while their solo careers are littered with milestones. Although Wells sadly passed away in 1998, Guy is still going strong at the ripe old age of 81 years, with a new album – The Blues Is Alive and Well – scheduled for release in mid-June.

On June 29th, 2018 Craft Recordings will reissue two albums on vinyl by the legendary bluesmen – Buddy Guy’s A Man & the Blues and Junior Wells’ Coming At You – in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the original release of these classic, albeit underrated albums. Both albums were originally released in 1968 by the venerable Vanguard Records label and are being reissued on audiophile-quality 180-gram vinyl cut from the original analog masters. Both albums will also enjoy their first appearance on vinyl since their initial release.

Wells’ Coming At You is an underrated title in the bluesman’s lengthy catalog, and features the harp player’s take on a slew of covers by Sonny Boy Williamson, Willie Dixon, John Lee Hooker, and Big Maceo Merriweather as well as putting his own unique spin on the garage-rock classic “Tobacco Road” and proto-rocker “Mystery Train.” Wells was joined in the studio by Guy and guitarist Lefty Dizz as well as bassist Tom Crawford, drummer Levi Warren (who would later play with Earl Hooker), and saxophonist Douglas Fagen (who later played with James Cotton).

Guy’s A Man & the Blues was his first album for the Vanguard label, and the guitarist’s second solo album overall. It was also Guy’s first recording done outside of the confines of Chess Records and 2120 S. Michigan Avenue in Chicago, the guitarist working instead at Universal Studios in the Windy City with noted producer Sam Charters on the board. The album features a number of Guy’s original songs, including the title track and “I Can’t Quit the Blues” as well as his original take on the traditional children’s rhyme “Mary Had A Little Lamb,” complete with barb-wire guitar licks. Guy also acquits himself nicely on the Motown classic “Money (That’s What I Want” and B.B. King’s “Sweet Little Angel.”

Alongside Guy, A Man & the Blues also featured great players like the legendary pianist Otis Spann, drummer Fred Below, and a full horn section and while it didn’t light the charts on fire, it was a fine early effort from a legendary bluesman. Both albums deserve space in the collection of any discriminating blues fan (and dig the groovy psychedelic cover art Vanguard burdened each LP with!).

Buy the albums from Amazon.com:
Junior Wells’ Coming At You
Buddy Guy’s A Man & the Blues

Cleopatra Records Snags Junior Wells Estate, Launches Blues Imprint

Here’s some interesting news for blues music fans – the estate of Blues Hall of Fame inductee and Chicago blues legend Junior Wells has been entrusted to Cleopatra Records through an agreement worked out between the label and Wells’ daughter Regina Brown. The deal includes Wells’ sound recordings as well as his song publishing, an extensive catalog that ranges from the harp player’s earliest recordings in the 1950s through his death in 1998. The deal also includes unreleased master recordings, and Wells’ personal memorabilia including his harmonicas, performance outfits, photos, and personal journals, among other artifacts.

Born Amos Wells Blackmore, Jr. in December 1934 in Memphis, Tennessee, Wells was raised on the other side of the Mississippi River in West Memphis, Arkansas. He learned the fundamentals of blues harp from another future legend, Junior Parker, before moving to Chicago in 1946. Wells hooked up with guitarists Louis and David Myers, the three young men playing house parties and infrequent club dates as the Three Deuces. They later changed their name to the Three Aces, and finally just the Aces when they added drummer Fred Below.

Wells’ big break came when he joined Muddy Waters’ band in 1952, replacing Little Walter Jacobs, who enlisted the Aces to launch his own solo career. Wells began playing with guitarist Buddy Guy in 1958, the two forming a creative relationship that would last some 20 years. Wells’ raucous, no-holds-barred playing style, characterized by his staggering solos and vocal interplay, was perfectly suited for the era, defining the Chicago blues harp sound at a time when the music was shedding its country roots and becoming more sophisticated.

Wells recorded for a number of labels during his 50+ year career, including Chief, Profile, Vanguard, and Telarc Records, but it is the recordings he made with Guy for Delmark Records during the 1960s on which his enormous legacy rests. Albums like Wells’ 1966 solo debut, Hoodoo Man Blues, and 1969’s Southside Blues Jam would cross over to young blues-rock fans and lead to collaborations with artists like Bonnie Raitt, Van Morrison, and the Rolling Stones. In 1990, Wells worked with fellow harp players James Cotton, Billy Branch, and Carey Bell to record the W.C. Handy Award-winning collaboration Harp Attack!      

It seems like the marriage of old-school Chicago blues and Cleopatra Records would be an odd fit, the Los Angeles-based label better known for its signature Goth, punk, and hard rock releases. Formed in 1992 by Perera, the label has released albums by an eclectic roster of artists, including Christian Death, the Damned, and U.K. Subs. Through their Deadline Music imprint, the label has released albums by bands like Quiet Riot and Cinderella, but Cleopatra has branched out in recent years through its Purple Pyramid subsidiary, releasing psychedelic and prog-rock archival material from artists like Iron Butterfly, Nektar, Tangerine Dream, and Quicksilver Messenger Service, among others.

In spite of the label’s storied history, the label seems psyched to venture into blues territory. “We’re very excited to enter into this deal and be a part of the one of the all time icons in American blues history,” says the label’s Brian Perera in a press release about the historic agreement with the Wells estate. “We intend to keep the Junior Wells legacy alive with a variety of releases as well as merchandise and branding partnerships in the years to come.” Perera has announced a newly-launched Cleopatra Blues imprint that will feature future releases from Wells and other artists including Eric Gales, Shuggie Otis, and Harvey Mandel. Given the label’s acclaimed previous efforts in rescuing long-lost music from the archives, I’m anxious to see what they’ll do in a blues vein. Stay tuned…

Muddy Waters & Friends Jam In Chicago (circa 1974)

Thirty-plus years after his death, the great Muddy Waters remains the undisputed King of Chicago Blues. Sure, Buddy Guy may be his heir apparent, but with a wealth of Waters’ back catalog CDs and DVDs remaining in print for new listeners to discover, and with new treasures from the archive trickling out each year, it’s going to be hard – if not impossible – for anybody to claim Waters’ throne anytime soon…

Legacy Recording will be adding another priceless gem to the Waters’ treasure chest on April 21st, 2015 when they reissue Soundstage: Blues Summit In Chicago, 1974 on DVD for the very first time. Credited to “Muddy Waters and Friends,” the DVD documents a July 1964 concert by Waters and a few friends that would be broadcast as the first episode of Soundstage, a beloved live concert series that was broadcast by PBS stations around the country for 13 seasons during the late 1970s and early-to-mid-1980s (and was resurrected for more episodes in the early ‘00s).

Waters by himself is a potent onstage presence, especially with a band at the time that included talents like guitarists Bob Margolin and Luther “Snake Boy” Johnson, bassist Calvin “Fuzz” Jones, pianist Pinetop Perkins, and drummer Willie “Big Eyes” Smith. Among the heavy “friends” appearing with Waters are fellow Chicago blues giants Koko Taylor and Willie Dixon; guitarists Michael Bloomfield, Nick Gravenites, and Johnny Winter; former Waters’ band harp player (and solo star) Junior Wells; and pianist Dr. John, among others. Together, these storied musicians put on a hell of a show (the full DVD tracklist can be found below).   

“This first edition of our Soundstage series definitely stands the test of time,” says Soundstage producer Ken Ehrlich in a press release for the DVD. “The same greatness that these blues legends like Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Junior Wells and Koko Taylor showed in this iconic gathering of blues greats continues to influence current generations of blues players and fans. The only difference is that now, 40 years later, the other artists on the show like Johnny Winter, Mike Bloomfield, Dr. John and Buddy Miles have now achieved similar legendary status as those first generation blues artists they came to honor back in 1974.”

Soundstage: Blues Summit In Chicago, 1974 tracklisting:

Muddy Waters – “Blow Wind Blow”
Muddy Waters – “Long Distance Call”
Junior Wells & Nick Gravenites – “Messin’ With The Kid”
Junior Wells – “Stop Breaking Down”
Muddy Waters –  “Mannish Boy”
Willie Dixon & Koko Taylor – “Wang Dang Doodle”
Johnny Winter – “Walking Through The Park”
Muddy Waters & Willie Dixon – “Hootchie Kootchie Man”
Dr. John – “Sugar Sweet”
Muddy Waters – “Got My Mojo Workin’”

Buy the DVD from Amazon.com: Muddy Waters and Friends' Soundstage: Blues Summit Chicago 1974