Junior Wells

Pleading the Blues Junior Wells 180 gram edition

The year was 1959, and the occasion was a blues contest ('Battle of the Blues') at the Blue Flame Club in Chicago. A young harmonica player named Junior Wells - who had started in 1952 as a replacement for Little Walter Jacobs in Muddy Waters Band - probably didn't expect to finish in second place. After all, he had already outperformed both Otis Rush and Magic Sam. But then came the turn of that skinny young guy from Louisiana with his flying fingers - Buddy Guy, who made it to first place. At the climax of his killer solo, Guy threw his guitar in the air and caught it again by the neck - with just one hand. As it slid through his fingers, Buddy produced a kind of full-throated sigh with his guitar. The crowd went crazy. It was the beginning of a wonderful friendship.

More than a partnership began with that chance encounter. That early and deep respect carried over into a relationship that in some ways enhanced Wells' early recordings by working with one of the most important people in blues. Wells and Guy went on to produce some of the most fearless and genuinely cool West Side blues recordings.

This album, recorded in 1979 for the French label Isabel, is a companion piece to Guy's recording "Blues Giant" from the same year. One of the highlights is the gentle blues "It Hurts Me Too," made famous by Elmore James. Then there's the power-packed electric blues of the title track and, last but not least, the funky, clearly James Brown-influenced "I Smell Something" as a bonus track.

This is a wonderful recording - certainly one of Wells' best lesser-known releases.

Buddy Guy (g, voc); Phil Guy (g); J. Williams (b); Ray Allison (dr) We recommend the use of "L'Art du Son" LP cleaner to wet wash your vinyl. Even new records of high quality production will benefit from this.