Junior Wells
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| Junior Wells | |
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 Cover of Junior Wells' posthumous 2000 "Calling All Blues" album.
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Amos Blakemore |
| Also known as | Junior |
| Born | December 9, 1934 |
| Origin | Memphis, Tennessee |
| Died | January 15, 1998 (aged 63) |
| Genre(s) | Blues |
| Instrument(s) | Harmonica |
| Years active | 1950's - 1990's |
| Label(s) | Delmark Records Vanguard Records Telarc Records |
| Associated acts | The Aces Junior Wells Chicago Blues Band |
| Website | http://www.delmark.com/rhythm.junior.htm |
Junior Wells (December 9, 1934 – January 15, 1998), born Amos Blakemore, was a blues vocalist and harmonica player based in Chicago who was famous for playing with Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, Magic Sam, Lonnie Brooks, The Rolling Stones and Van Morrison.
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[edit] Life and career
He was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and raised in Arkansas. Wells moved to Chicago in 1948 and first made his mark at age 18, briefly replacing Little Walter in Muddy Waters' band. His first recordings were made in the early 1950s for States Records; in the later '50s and early '60s he also recorded singles for other local Chicago labels. He worked with Buddy Guy in the 1960s and recorded his first album for Delmark Records. His most memorable songs are "Messin' With the Kid" and "Little by Little," which were written and composed by Chicago blues producer Mel London. His best-known album is 1965's Hoodoo Man Blues on Delmark Records, which featured Buddy Guy on guitar and evokes the smoky atmosphere of the era's Westside Chicago blues bars.
Wells made an appearance in the 1998 movie Blues Brothers 2000, the sequel to The Blues Brothers. The movie was released less than a month after his death.
On his passing from lymphoma in 1998, Junior Wells was interred in the Oak Woods Cemetery, Chicago.
[edit] Album discography
- († featuring Buddy Guy)
- Hoodoo Man Blues † (1965)
- It's My Life, Baby! † (1966)
- Chicago/The Blues/Today! vol. 1 † (1966)
- On Tap (1974)
- You're Tuff Enough (1968)
- Coming at You † (1968)
- Live at the Golden Bear (1969)
- Southside Blues Jam † (1969)
- Buddy and the Juniors † (1970)
- In My Younger Days (1972)
- Buddy Guy & Junior Wells Play the Blues † (1972)
- Live At Montreux † (1977)
- Blues Hit Big Town (1977)
- Pleading the Blues † (1979)
- Got To Use Your Head (1979)
- Drinkin' TNT 'n' Smokin' Dynamite † (1982)
- The Original Blues Brothers (1983)
- Messin’ With The Kid, Vol 1 (1986)
- Universal Rock (1986)
- Chiefly Wells (1986)
- Harp Attack! (1990)
- 1957-1966 (1991)
- Alone & Acoustic † (1991)
- Undisputed Godfather of the Blues (1993)
- Better Off with the Blues † (1993)
- Messin’ With The Kid 1957-63 (1995)
- Everybody's Getting' Some (1995)
- Come on in This House (1997)
- Live at Buddy Guy's Legends (1997)
- Keep On Steppin’: The Best Of… (1998)
- Best Of The Vanguard Years (1998)
- Masters (1998)
- Buddy Guy & Junior Wells † (1998)
- Last Time Around – Last Time at Legends (1998)
- Junior Wells & Friends (1999)
- Every Day I Have The Blues (2000)
- Calling All Blues (2000)
- Buddy Guy & Junior Wells † (2001)
- Best Of.. (2001)
- Live at Theresa's 1975 (2006)
