Messin' with the Kid

{{Short description|Song first recorded by Junior Wells in 1960}}

{{Infobox song

| name = Messin' with the Kid

| cover = Messin' with the Kid single cover.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Junior Wells

| B-side = Universal Rock

| released = {{Start date|1960}}

| recorded = October 17, 1960

| studio = Universal, Chicago

| genre = Blues

| length = {{Duration|m=2|s=12}}

| label = Chief

| writer = Mel London

| producer = Mel London

| prev_title = Galloping Horses a Lazy Mule

| prev_year = 1960

| next_title = I'm a Stranger

| next_year = 1961

}}

"Messin' with the Kid" is a rhythm and blues-influenced blues song originally recorded by Junior Wells in 1960. Chief Records owner/songwriter/producer Mel London is credited as the songwriter. Considered a blues standard,

{{cite encyclopedia

| last = Herzhaft

| first = Gerard

| encyclopedia = Encyclopedia of the Blues

| title = Messin' with the Kid

| year = 1992

| location = Fayetteville, Arkansas

| publisher = University of Arkansas Press

| isbn = 1-55728-252-8

| page = [https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofbl00herzh/page/462 462]

| url-access = registration

| url = https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofbl00herzh/page/462

}} it is Junior Wells's best-known song.

{{cite book

| last = Danchin

| first = Sebastian

| title = Earl Hooker: Blues Master

| location = Jackson, Mississippi

| publisher = University Press of Mississippi

| year = 2001

| pages = 132–33

| isbn = 1-57806-306-X

}} "Messin' with the Kid" was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame and has been recorded by a variety of blues and other artists.

Background and composition

"Messin' with the Kid" is an up-tempo twelve-bar blues which alternates between Afro-Cuban- and Little Richard-style rhythmic accompaniment. According to Junior Wells, the title was inspired by his young daughter Gina. Mel London arrived early at Wells' home to pick him up for a scheduled recording session: "'Where's you Daddy at? Get him up'. 'No, you said you were goin' to be here at nine o'clock. It's not nine o'clock{{nbsp}}... You're not goin' to be messin' with the kid'". "The Kid" was a nickname for Wells. Later in the studio, they needed another song for the session: "one thing led to another and{{nbsp}}... it took us five minutes, maybe ten minutes and we had it".

{{poemquote|What's this you hear goin' all around town

The people are sayin' you're gonna to put The Kid down

Well oh lord, well look at what you did

You can call it what you wanna, but I call it messin' with The Kid}}

Recording and releases

Wells recorded "Messin' with the Kid" in Chicago in 1960. He sings the song, but unlike most of his early singles, Wells does not play harmonica. The backup is provided by Earl Hooker on guitar, Johnny "Big Moose" Walker on piano, Jack Myers on bass, Fred Below on drums, Jarrett Gibson on tenor saxophone, and Donald Hankins on baritone saxophone.

{{cite AV media notes

| year =

| title = Junior Wells 1957–1963

| type = Album notes

| others = Junior Wells

| location = Shreveport, Louisiana

| publisher = Paula Records

| OCLC =

| id = PCD03

| page = 2

}} Chief Records (owned by the song's writer Mel London) released the song on a single in 1961.

In 1966, Wells recorded a second version of "Messin' with the Kid". It features a different rhythm arrangement and includes a harmonica solo by Wells with backup by Buddy Guy on guitar along with Myers and Below. The song was released on the 1966 blues compilation Chicago/The Blues/Today! Vol. 1.{{cite web |first=Cub |last=Koda |author-link=Cub Koda |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/chicago-the-blues-today%21-mw0000668478 |title=Chicago/The Blues/Today!{{snd}}Review |website=AllMusic |access-date=March 12, 2020}} Wells and Guy used a similar arrangement for "Snatch It Back and Hold It" on their influential Hoodoo Man Blues album (1965).{{cite web |first=Bill |last=Dahl |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/hoodoo-man-blues-mw0000208353 |title=Buddy Guy/Junior Wells/Junior Wells' Chicago Blues Band: Hoodoo Man Blues{{snd}}Review |website=AllMusic |access-date=March 12, 2020}} The duo later recorded several live versions of the song, including in 1977 for Live in Montreux.{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/song/messin-with-the-kid-mt0009405206 |title=Junior Wells: Messin' with the Kid{{snd}}Appears On |website=AllMusic |access-date=March 12, 2020}}

Recognition and legacy

In 1998, the Blues Foundation inducted "Messin' with the Kid" into the Blues Hall of Fame as a "Classic of Blues Recordings – Singles or Album Tracks".

{{cite web

| url = https://blues.org/blues_hof_inductee/messing-with-the-kid-junior-wells-chief-1960/

| author = Blues Foundation

| title = 1998 Hall of Fame Inductees: 'Messing with the Kid' – Junior Wells (Chief, 1960)

| website = The Blues Foundation

| date = November 10, 2016

| access-date = February 8, 2017

}} In a 1998 press release, the Foundation noted:

{{quote|"Messin' With the Kid" also foreshadowed where Junior was about to take the Blues. On Chicago’s West Side, his contemporaries Buddy Guy, Otis Rush and Magic Sam Maghett were incorporating the emotional dynamism of Soul music into the Delta-bred sounds upon which they were raised. While in the South Side’s watering holes, Junior began fusing old-school Blues with the funky beat of modern R&B. Together these men defined the sound of electric Blues’ second generation.}}

Irish guitarist Rory Gallagher recorded a rock adaptation of "Messin' with the Kid" for his album Live in Europe (1972).

{{Cite book

| last = Connaughton

| first = Marcus

| title = Rory Gallagher His Life and Times

| date = 2012

| publisher = The Collins Press

| at = eBook

| isbn = 978-1848891531

}} The song became one of Gallagher's "signature tunes" and in an album review, it is described as a "gem" and a "smoking version".

{{Cite web

| url = https://www.allmusic.com/album/live%21-in-europe-mw0000205113

| last = Owens

| first = Thom

| title = Rory Gallagher: Live! In Europe{{snd}}Review

| website = AllMusic

| access-date = March 26, 2023

}} The Blues Brothers recorded a live performance of "Messin' with the Kid", which was included on their first album Briefcase Full of Blues (1978).

{{cite web

| url = https://www.allmusic.com/song/messin-with-the-kid-mt0011906410

| first = Richard

| last = Gilliam

| title = 'Messin' with the Kid'{{snd}}Review

| website = AllMusic

| access-date = November 14, 2020

}} In a song review for AllMusic, Richard Gilliam notes that while the album "seems so little influenced by Chicago-style blues[,] the band did find room for this Junior Wells classic, adding the sort of rich instrumental backing that Wells himself would adopt for the song". Wells later recorded a reworked version of the tune with a full backing band including horns for his 1993 album Better Off with the Blues.

{{cite web

| url = https://www.allmusic.com/album/better-off-with-the-blues-mw0000103209

| last = Wynn

| first = Ron

| title = Junior Wells: Better Off with the Blues{{snd}}Review

| website = AllMusic

| access-date = November 14, 2020

}}

"Messin' with the Kid" inspired later songs. Soon after the Chief single, Muddy Waters recorded an answer song titled "Messin' with the Man" for Chess Records in 1961. In 1977, blues singer Eddie C. Campbell recorded a Christmas novelty song, titled "Santa's Messin' With the Kid" (on King of the Jungle), in which Santa is "messing with" the wife of the Kid, until "The Kid ran him out o' town":

{{cite web

| url = https://www.allmusic.com/album/king-of-the-jungle-mw0000270044

| last = Dahl

| first = Bill

| title = Eddie C. Campbell: King of the Jungle – Review

| website = AllMusic

| access-date = July 4, 2019

}}

{{poemquote|Santa come' once a year we all know, didn't use my chimney had a key to my do'

Oh, Lord, look what Santa did, (he's messin' with me)

Call it Merry Christmas?, I say Santa's messin' with The Kid}}