Junior Wells

The terrific thing about Junior Wells is that he's an unqualified bluesman, stylistically a direct descendant of the Chicago greats and personally an eccentric whose unpredictable singing and harp playing distinguish him from everyone else alive.

"Comin' Right at Ya" was the title of one his breakthrough albums in the 1960's and it still describes the Wells oeuvre. In short, he takes no prisoners.

Recording to legend, Wells shoplifted his first blues harp and got caught. The judge who heard his case was so impressed with Wells' story that he just wanted to make music that he paid for the instrument himself and set Wells free on the condition that, if he ever made a record, he send one to him.

Wells did, years later. The album was called "Blues Hit Big Town."

Like most dyed-in-the-wool blues stars, Wells' career has been filled with ups and down. His initial popularity in the mid-60s faded somewhat with the onslaught of '70s pop. The blues revival of the '80s and '90s has re-energized him but he never had it easy.

One constant throughout his most productive years has been his kinship with guitarist Buddy Guy, who shares Wells' proclivity for irreverence, good humor and bottom-of-the-heap funk. Their duo work has yielded some of the most memorable moments in modern blues history.

To say that Wells is the genuine article is to understate the matter. He hails from the same school of tatanic blowharp virtuosity that gave us Little Walter, James Cotton and a few (precious few) others.

His is the sound of the Chicago streets, the Maxwell Street market, the juke joints, the after-hours sessions, the road-weary gigs and the hostile territory into which any artist must go to prove his worth.

The beauty of it is that after all these years Wells doesn't have anything at all to prove.

To paraphrase Willie Dixon who knew what he was talking about, Junior Wells IS the blues.

EDITORS NOTE: Wells' next release will be recorded in April, with bass, drums and 5 or 6 of the finest slide players available. Then he'll record a live album with his whole band.**