Junior Wells

{{Short description|American blues singer and harmonica player (1934–1998)}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Junior Wells

| image = Junior Wells, c.1984.jpg

| caption = Wells, Chicago Illinois, c. 1984

| background = solo_singer

| birth_name = Amos Wells Blakemore Jr.

| birth_date = {{birth date|1934|12|9}}

| birth_place = West Memphis, Arkansas, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|1998|1|15|1934|12|9}}

| death_place = Chicago, U.S.

| instrument = Vocals, harmonica

| genre = {{Flatlist|

Blues
Chicago blues
rhythm and blues{{cite web |url=https://www.spokesman.com/stories/1995/feb/24/indications-are-that-junior-wells-is-at-his-best/ |title= Indications Are That Junior Wells Is At His Best |last=Adair |first=Don |date=February 24, 1995 |publisher=Spokesman-Review |access-date=August 30, 2021 }}{{cite web |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1992-01-17-9201050641-story.html |title=Junior Wells |date=January 17, 1992|publisher=Chicago Tribune |access-date= |quote=Wells calls it simply "rhythm and blues. Blues is blues no matter where it's at-it's not Chicago blues or Memphis blues."}}

}}

| occupation = Musician, songwriter

| years_active = 1950s–1997

| label = {{Flatlist|

}}

| associated_acts = {{Flatlist|

}}

Junior Wells (born Amos Wells Blakemore Jr.; December 9, 1934{{snd}}January 15, 1998) was an American singer, harmonica player, and recording artist. He is best known for his signature song "Messin' with the Kid" and his 1965 album Hoodoo Man Blues, described by the critic Bill Dahl as "one of the truly classic blues albums of the 1960s".

{{cite encyclopedia

| last = Dahl

| first = Bill

| title = All Music Guide to the Blues: The Experts' Guide to the Best Blues Recordings

| editor-last = Erlewine

| editor-first = Michael

| editor-link = Michael Erlewine

| encyclopedia = All Music Guide to the Blues

| section = Junior Wells

| year = 1996

| location = San Francisco

| publisher = Miller Freeman Books

| isbn = 0-87930-424-3

| pages = [https://archive.org/details/allmusicguidetob00erle/page/274 274–276]

}} Wells himself categorized his music as rhythm and blues.

Wells performed and recorded with various notable blues musicians, including Muddy Waters, Earl Hooker, and Buddy Guy. He remained a fixture on the blues scene throughout his career and also crossed over to rock audiences while touring with the Rolling Stones.

{{cite encyclopedia

| last = Herzhaft

| first = Gerard

| encyclopedia = Encyclopedia of the Blues

| section = Junior Wells

| year = 1992

| location = Fayetteville

| publisher = University of Arkansas Press

| isbn = 1-55728-252-8

| pages = [https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofbl00herzh/page/360 360–362]

| url = https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofbl00herzh/page/360

}} Not long before Wells died, the blues historian Gerard Herzhaft called him "one of the rare active survivors of the 'golden age of the blues{{'"}}.

Early life

Wells may have been born in Memphis, Tennessee, and raised in West Memphis, Arkansas (some sources report that he was born in West Memphis).{{cite book| first1= Bob| last1= Eagle| first2= Eric S.| last2= LeBlanc| year= 2013| title= Blues: A Regional Experience| publisher= Praeger | location= Santa Barbara, California| pages=163 | isbn= 978-0313344237}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/01/17/arts/junior-wells-central-player-in-chicago-blues-is-dead-at-63.html|title=Junior Wells, Central Player in Chicago Blues Is Dead at Age 63|access-date=October 11, 2010 | newspaper=New York Times|first=Ben|last=Ratliff|date=January 17, 1998}}

Initially taught by his cousin Junior Parker and by Sonny Boy Williamson II, Wells learned to play the harmonica skillfully by the age of seven. Wells told the following story, printed on the cover of his album Hoodoo Man Blues:

I went to this pawnshop downtown and the man had a harmonica priced at $2.00. I got a job on a soda truck... played hookey from school ... worked all week and on Saturday the man gave me a dollar and a half. A dollar and a half! For a whole week of work. I went to the pawnshop and the man said the price was two dollars. I told him I had to have that harp. He walked away from the counter – left the harp there. So I laid my dollar-and-a-half on the counter and picked up the harp. When my trial came up, the judge asked me why I did it. I told him I had to have that harp. The judge asked me to play it and when I did he gave the man the 50 cents and hollered 'Case dismissed!'

Career

He moved to Chicago in 1948 with his mother, after her divorce, and began sitting in with local musicians at house parties and taverns. Wild and rebellious but needing an outlet for his talents, he began performing with the Aces, consisting of the brothers Dave and Louis Myers on guitars and the drummer Fred Below, with whom he developed a modern amplified harmonica style influenced by Little Walter. In 1952, he made his first recordings when he replaced Little Walter in Muddy Waters's band and played on one of Waters's sessions for Chess Records in 1952. His first recordings as a bandleader were made in the following year for States Records.{{cite web |url=http://campber.people.clemson.edu/unitedstates.html9 |author1=Pruter, Robert |author2=Campbell, Robert L. |author3=Kelly, Tom |title=The United and States Labels Part I (1951–1953) |publisher=Campber.people.clemson.edu |access-date=2016-08-02 }}{{Dead link|date=January 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he recorded singles for Chief Records and its subsidiary, Profile Records, including "Messin' with the Kid", "Come on in This House", and "It Hurts Me Too", which would remain in his repertoire throughout his career. His 1960 Profile single "Little by Little" (written by Chief owner and producer Mel London) reached number 23 on the Billboard R&B chart, the first of his two singles to enter the chart.In 1992 Wells recorded an instructional documentary-like video for guitarist's Arlen Roth's Hot Licks company that J. Geils called "the greatest piece of Americana he'd ever seen!"

{{cite book

| last = Whitburn

| first = Joel

| author-link = Joel Whitburn

| title = Top R&B Singles 1942–1988

| year = 1988

| location = Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin

| publisher = Record Research

| isbn = 0-89820-068-7

| page = [https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstop00whit/page/438 438]

| url = https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstop00whit/page/438

}}

Wells's album Hoodoo Man Blues, released in 1965 by Delmark Records, featured Buddy Guy on guitar.{{cite book | first= Tony | last= Russell | year= 1997 | title= The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray | publisher=Carlton Books | location= Dubai | pages= 183–184 | isbn= 1-85868-255-X}} The two worked with the Rolling Stones on several occasions in the 1970s. Wells's album South Side Blues Jam was released in 1971, followed by On Tap in 1975.

File:Junior Wells 1983.jpg

File:JuniorWells1996.jpg, 1996]]

His 1996 release Come On in This House includes performances by the slide guitarists Alvin Youngblood Hart and Derek Trucks, among others. Wells appeared in the film Blues Brothers 2000, released in 1998.{{cite web

| url = {{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p571|pure_url=yes}}

| last = Dahl

| first = Bill

| title = Junior Wells: Biography

| publisher = AllMusic.com

| access-date = May 21, 2009

}}

Death

Wells began to have severe health problems, including cancer and a heart attack, in 1997. He died in Chicago on January 15, 1998, and was interred in the Oak Woods Cemetery, Chicago.