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Junior Wells' Chicago Blues Band with Buddy Guy
Hoodoo Man Blues

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Some albums are so well constructed that one can only remember them as a whole, and not reduce them to a few outstanding tracks. Junior Wells' "Hoodoo Man Blues" - released in 1965 on Delmark - certainly is one of those. None of the twelve songs (plus two alternate takes) really stands above or under the set ; this album was clearly written and recorded as an LP, not as twelve separate tracks. It is the reason why "Hoodoo Man Blues" is now considered by many as one of the best Chicago Blues albums ever.
The album sounds like it was recorded in the dark, smokey atmosphere of a Blues club in Windy City. The band, which includes Buddy Guy on guitar, plays gritty Chicago Blues, with rock n' roll and James-Brown-style soul influences. The band's talent lies on their ability to use their technical skills, without letting it show too much ; the spirit of the album is more in the band's "attitude" than in each musician's instrumental mastery. The entire album was recorded with an immediacy that no contemporary Blues recording compares with. "Hoodoo Man Blues" is a 1960s Chicago Blues masterpiece, a must-have in any Blues collection.

TRACKS

1.    Snatch It Back And Hold It (Wells) - 2:53
2.    Ships In The Ocean (Wells) - 4:07
3.    Good Morning Schoolgirl (Williamson) - 3:50
4.    Hound Dog (Leiber/Stoller) - 2:12
5.    In The Wee Hours (Wells) - 3:42
6.    Hey Lawdy Mama (Reed) - 3:10
7.    Hoodoo Man Blues (Wells) - 2:49
8.    Early In The Morning (Bartley/Hickman) - 4:44
9.    We're Ready (Wells/Guy) - 3:33
10.    You Don't Love Me Baby (Wells) - 2:58
11.    Chitlin Con Carne (Wells) - 2:12
12.    Yonder Wall (James) - 4:10
13.    Hoodoo Man Blues (Wells) - 2:50
14.    Chitlin Con Carne (Wells) - 3:20

(Audio snippets in Windows Media format)


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