Buddy Guy & Junior Wells

Considering the troubled background of this album (Eric Clapton, Ahmet Ertegun, and Tom Dowd only ended up with eight tracks at a series of 1970 sessions in Miami; two years later, the J. Geils Band was brought in to cut two additional songs to round out the long-delayed LP for 1972 release), the results were pretty impressive. Buddy Guy contributes dazzling lead axe to their revival of "T-Bone Shuffle"; Junior Wells provides a sparkling remake of Sonny Boy's "My Baby She Left Me," and Guy is entirely credible in a grinding Otis Redding mode on the Southern soul stomper "A Man of Many Words."

Cut at the 1974 Montreux Jazz Festival with Stones' bassist Bill Wyman anchoring the rhythm section, the set captures some of the ribald musical repartee that customarily distinguished the pairing of Buddy Guy and Junior Wells, though they certainly break no new ground as they roll through their signature songs.

The historical details surrounding the recording session that became Buddy & the Juniors are almost as entertaining - and oddly satisfying - as the music itself. Released on Blue Thumb in 1970 on multi-colored wax, this session, was it not for a very real economic necessity due to Buddy Guy's feud with Vanguard Records, would never have happened. It appears that Vanguard wouldn't pick up the tab for Guy to fly to New York to mix an album he'd cut with Junior Mance and Gary Bartz - also produced by Cuscuna. Being an ever-enterprising genius, Cuscuna pitched the idea for a recording between Guy, Mance, and Junior Wells to Blue Thumb label boss Bob Krasnow, who jumped at the chance. The all-acoustic Buddy & the Juniors was recorded on December 18 of 1969, and on December 19, they mixed this album and the Vanguard date…

Limited pressing housed in Japanese mini LP sleeve packaging with obi strip. Digitally remastered edition of this classic '60s Soul release. For years, Motown was always referred to as the most influential Soul label of the '60s. However, one cursory glance at Atlantic's vast catalog of '60s Soul releases proves that Atlantic may have had the edge in regards to it's roster of influential talent. This remaster is just one in a series of Japanese Atlantic Soul and R&B reissues that comes housed in a min LP sleeve, which replicates the excitement of opening the album back when it first came out!

The classic pairing of Buddy Guy and Junior Wells has been captured many times on vinyl, cassette, and disc over the years, but rarely with such intimacy and subtle, restrained energy as on this wonderful collection. Buddy Guy plays mostly 12 string guitar, and Junior laces his signature lines through the songs, engaging Guy in the kind of musical dialogue that only old friends can have. This is acoustic street-corner blues at its best, performed with incredible expressiveness, ease, and joy. One gets the feeling these two are just sitting down for a friendly jam session on a Saturday afternoon, and when things get loose, their laughter flows almost as freely as the music. Guy really shines on some of these tracks, his guitar lines fast, smooth, percussive, and seemingly effortless…

Cut at the 1974 Montreux Jazz Festival with Stones' bassist Bill Wyman anchoring the rhythm section, the set captures some of the ribald musical repartee that customarily distinguished the pairing of Buddy Guy and Junior Wells, though they certainly break no new ground as they roll through their signature songs.

The historically monumental concert performance by blues legends Buddy Guy & Junior Wells! Recorded 1978 in the gorgeous seaside town of Montreux at the foot of the Swiss Alps, this show cemented Guy & Wells’s reputation as the most significant, undeniable blues duo in music history! The audio has been digitally remastered for the highest audio quality possible!

Last Time Around – Live At Legends is a fitting farewell to the late, great Junior Wells and his partnership, friendship and kinship with Buddy Guy that lasted decades. The album is a historic release in many ways. It reunites two blues legends who began their unique association in the 1950s. The album was recorded live in March 1993 at Buddy Guy's world-famous Chicago blues mecca Legends, and it's an acoustic document of many classic songs that made both Wells and Guy legends in their own right, such as "She's Alright" and "I've Been There," along with other classic blues standards such as "Hoochie Coochie Man" and "Key to the Highway," all delivered with a looseness and power that define both Guy and Wells. It also marks the last time the two ever played together.

Backed by a funk-minded, James Brown-influenced band, Junior Wells is in good form on these live recordings from Buddy Guy's Legends in Chicago. Wells (who was 61 when this CD was recorded) really comes alive in front of a live audience, and he's certainly in a very extroverted mood on such familiar material as "Hoodoo Man," "Little By Little" and his signature tune, "Messin' With the Kid." Wells has been one of Brown's most ardent admirers for a long time, and he frequently shows his love of the Godfather's soul/funk innovations without letting us forget that he's a bluesman first and foremost. Although this CD doesn't offer a lot of surprises, it's an invigorating documentation of the energy and passion Wells brings to the stage.