The Down Home Music Archives - JUNIOR WELLS Home Site Directory |
| REMEMBERING JUNIOR WELLS: An open-ended documentary project. Last update: 7/17/07 Project Director: Carolle Uithoven Email us your remembrance of Junior. Post a story now. Transcription Notes DOUG MACLEOD: The first time I met Junior Wells was at 'Concerts by the Sea' in Redondo Beach. And I remember him...bein' so gracious...I think he was workin' with Buddy Guy. And I had worked with Buddy Guy in Sweden with George Harmonica Smith but not Junior Wells. And when I met 'im I shook hands and it was like we were old friends, it was the first time we ever met. And I regret that that was the only time, really, that I really met 'im. I mean, we shook hands after that and said hello. But I'll always remember him as being a very gracious man. ...It would have to be '80, 'cause I was over in Sweden with George and Buddy...in 1980. ...Very gracious---gracious, nice man. Of course, a hell of a harmonica player, a hell of a singer. (7/14/01 AE) ALBERT "THE KID" CASTIGLIA: I was Junior's last guitar player--last lead guitar player. There's a lotta stories I have, but the one that sticks out in my mind was: One time we had played on a cruise ship, on the S.S. Norway. It was a big, big blues cruise and Bo Diddley was on it, Ronnie Earl, a bunch o' other people. We played this big ballroom and we had two sets to do. When we did the first set, we get off the stage and Junior's road manager had asked me to keep an eye on Junior while he...took care of some business. So...me'n him, we went to this bar and we hung out, had a couple o' drinks, talked and everything...you know, plans for the future 'n' everything. I was lookin' at my watch 'n' I saw we were gittin' a little late for the gig. We had to go back on stage..."Well we gotta head back to the stage, Junior, let's go." He was like, "All right," so we start walkin' an' the casino was between us and the theater. And Junior would stop at every woman...and he would talk to them...He was a very accessible artist, and he would talk to everybody. He's accessible to a fault sometimes. It was like, y'know, "We gotta get back to the show, man, it's gettin' late." "Okay, okay, okay." He's still talkin', still talkin'...His manager walked up and said, "Hey, we gotta get Junior backstage." I said, "Well, y'know, he's talkin', y'know, I can't--" Finally we get near the entrance of the theater and I hear clapping, and I peep through the door of the theater and everybody's onstage except me. So I run up onstage. I said, "Junior, I gotta go. You made me late!" I run up onstage, and the band's lookin' at me and I'm like, "Don't even say anything!"...It was kind of embarrassing, the place was packed and they saw me run up the aisle. So I played...'n' the show ends and I didn't think anything of it, nobody said anything...A few months go by and I'm sittin' with my bass player...we were talkin' about what happened that day. He was like, "Well, you know you got fined." I said, "Really." He said, "Yeah, they fined you for being late." I said, "But it wasn't my fault...but I didn't notice any change in my pay...I didn't know I got fined. The pay was the same. What happened?" He said, "Well, Junior paid the fine for you." He never told me. Junior never told me and nobody ever said a word about it. He paid the fine. So...that story just sums up Junior in a nutshell. I'm from Miami originally and Junior was playin' at a club in Delray Beach, Florida, and I went up to see him...it was New Years Eve of '96...We set it up where I would jam with 'im. His manager said, "Well, you better be good because if he doesn't like you he's gonna tell you onstage." And I said, "Well, listen"--previously I'd worked at the welfare office in Miami for four and a half years--and I'm like, "Ah, I worked in the welfare office for five years...Getting cussed out by Junior onstage is better than a good day at the office." I did about three or four songs with 'im, and it was great... At the time it was, like, the greatest experience of my life. And then a couple o' months later I got a call from his tour mananger saying that he needed me. And my whole life changed. And it was great. I went to Europe with 'im. We did the Caribbean...we also did...France, Italy and Switzerland. And Italy was pretty cool because I'm of Italian descent 'n' that was quite an experience. So he showed me Europe 'n' that was a great experience too. But around that time we knew he was sick then...We had opened up for B.B. King in the south of France...Right after that Junior went off to Canada to film the Blues Brothers movie. We stayed in France, waitin' for 'im. We were in Nice for a week. It was terrible. I mean that facetiously, 'cause, a week in the south of France--oh my goodness, how terrible! But, it was a lot on 'im...he flew to Canada, filmed the Blues Brothers movie, came back a week later--and he was kinda tired then. But we finished the rest of the tour and went back to the States and did a few more gigs in the States with 'im---and then the last gig we did with 'im was in Canada. We were in Toronto, and he did four songs and he excused himself. And we knew something was wrong then, because he---you know, he loved to play...He wanted to die on the stage, that was his wish. But he was so weak-- and ill then--that he couldn't go on. So we kinda knew it was over then. It was, like, a very bittersweet day. 'Cause he was on, he was really on, he was playin' really good that day. So we drove back, cancelled the rest of our gigs and we drove straight from Toronto back to Chicago...We dropped 'im off and Junior went upstairs. We were in front of his house, and he went upstairs. And Michael--his nephew and his tour manager--came down. He said, "Well, Junior wanted you to have this." So he gave me his white Dobbs hat. And I'm like, "Well, lemme go upstairs and thank 'im." And he's like..."You'll get a chance to thank 'im later, he's kinda tired, he went to bed." ...He was diagnosed with lymphoma, but they said that he could still get his chemo treatments and still tour. We were under the belief that, y'know, that was what was gonna happen. So I said, "OK, I'll thank 'im next week." And a week later he went into his coma. And I never really got to thank 'im for the hat--although I went up to the hospital and visited 'im and snuck in...I thanked 'im then, y'know. I don't know if he heard me, I hope he did. He was a great guy. I miss 'im very much. I'd trade all this right now to play with 'im again. If it wasn't for him I'd still be in Miami workin' in the welfare office. (AE 6/8/01) ( Read more ) DAVE SPECTER: First let me say that probably my all time favorite blues record is 'Hoodoo Man Blues'--Junior and Buddy...When I first started playin' I learned a lot, so much, from Junior and Buddy playin' together. I grew up in Chicago and I had a fake I.D. when I was sixteen 'n' they were one of the first bands, along with Otis Rush 'n' Koko Taylor, that I used to go see a lot. And I remember meeting Junior when I was prob'ly, like, seventeen and just being nervous as hell, and he was totally cool and... very encouraging. I was just about to start playing guitar, really. Later on we played on a bunch of shows together. We were on a Caribbean blues cruise together...A lot of these guys, once they're out on the ocean they're not real happy--but I think he dug it. And we caught one of his sets on the cruise, and he was Junior--an amazing showman. Just his voice...and of course his harp playing, but he's just got one of the most incredible blues voices that there will ever be. (6/7/01 AE) BRIAN "B.J." JONES: The first time I really had any type of rapport with Mr. Wells, I was playing down at Buddy Guy's Legends---and Junior Wells was onstage just jamming. He was just hangin' out, he was just jammin'. And we were playing a certain song, and I kept wanting to put this turnaround in there. And the turnaround didn' go dere, 'cause Junior didn't want it there. But...it was like an innate thing, it was every time this piece of music came around I was ready to do this thing. After about the third time, it came 'round again, and Junior turned around and said, "Don't choo do it! Don't choo do it! I ain't scared o' your big ass." Needless to say, when it came around, I didn' do it. ...I had a good time when we did the first Junior Wells album I did with him. I think it was 'Better Off With The Blues'...and the second one was 'Everybody's Gettin' 'Em [sic] Some'...Junior was always, like, just so cool, y'know, he made you just relax. And, being from Chicago...myself and Rico McFarland was on the session...he was jus' being who he was with us. You know, you talk shit and he'd talk shit...say what he feel and dare you to say anything. ...Whatever he felt, he just did it, in the studio. You know, and you just more or less had to go with 'im, 'cause there wasn't gonna be too many takes...Do it and get it done. And you just have to follow. You have your format, but if he goes left, you go left with him. That's just the way it is. ...This is just hearsay, and make sure you put hearsay, because, I mean, it's just part of the legend to me, and I dig it, y'know, whether it's true or not---just to even think that Junior would be capable of doin' somethin': A certain instrument that he had...had come up missing, and they found out who did it. And they brought 'im down to the Checkerboard...Junior had a bullwhip, and put it to the gentleman, you know, several times...A rumor, but it was just something you could see from Junior...He was always reserved as far as his image and whatnot when he was out in public...but he wouldn't have no problem steppin' out and puttin' whoever in check. He was no different than James Cotton or Albert King, who would literally throw a microphone at the sound man, you know. Back in the day---shooo---they just didn' tolerate it, you know. And they had no problems lettin' you know how dey felt. (5/01 AE) NOEL NEAL: Junior was crazy, man. That was my boy, man. Shit! (1/27/01 AE) KENNY NEAL: Junior, he was--y'know I played with him and Buddy Guy for a long time--and I remember him tellin' me this story when...he had a hangover the next mornin', stomach was kinda burning--and he had a little nephew at the house at the time. And so he sent his nephew into the kitchen to get 'im a cold drink o' water. The kid was about six years old, five or six. The kid brought 'im a cup o' water back to the bed, he drankt it'n sent him back out for another cup. Junior said that cold water was tastin' so good. So, when Junior' mother saw the kid goin' to the bed with th' cup o' water, she walks up to Junior' bedroom--Miss Lena is his mother--said, "Junior, you know where that baby gettin' th' water from?" He said, "No, where?" "He was dippin' it out the commode!" So that's kind of one that sticks with me, with Junebug... Junior was a great guy. I love 'im dearly. He took me under his wings when I moved to Chicago, comin' from Baton Rouge. I mean, even though Buddy was from my hometown I felt closer to Junior, because he kinda like fathered me, he was like a father to me. Take me, he'd say, "Boy, you gotta get some clothes on you!" You know, and he took me out'n got me a nice long cord, nice corduroy pants. I'll never forget that. So, he kinda showed me the ropes once I got here. So he was very close...I started with Buddy and Junior back in latter part of '75, '76, '78, '79...so I had my share on the road with Junior. It was a treat. (1/27/01 AE) DARNELL NEAL: Hi, I'm Darnell Neal, and I'm tellin' Junior Wells story: Well, my brother had gave 'im a bass long time ago and my brother end' up givin' it to me. So, when we did a Chicago Blues Fest, he threatened to take it before I went onstage. And he had me scared and I didn't know what t'do, so Kenny tol' me, "Go 'head on and play it." But he had me frightened, that's m'story. (1/27/01 A) FRANK PELLEGRINO: I knew Junior ever since I was a little kid, but the thing that always stands out most in my mind was, one night Junior was playin' down here--I think it was a Saturday night--and my wife Debbie was six months pregnant with our first child. Junior came back...just slight of a stupor, and puts his hands on Debbie's belly and says, "You've got a boy child coming." She looks at him and says, "Nope. It's gonna be a girl." He goes, "You've got a boy child." And they argued about this for a good twenty minutes and finally they bet a bottle of cognac, which Junior eventually lost--because our first child was a girl. But he was absolutely positive it was gonna be a boy. It was kind of funny watching the two of them arguing back and forth over it. Another one of my favorite Junior stories is that Junior was here and it was his birthday. And he had no idea that we were gonna do anything for his birthday, so we had a cake brought up at the end of the set. And everybody in the club, at the end of that set and the beginning of the following two sets, sang "Happy Birthday" to Junior...and it had him in tears. He was so overwhelmed by the fact that so many people would sing that loud in tribute to his just being born. Junior, as much as he was flamboyant, was a very humble man, and looked at himself as being just a part of the whole. A large part of the whole--but part of the whole just the same. Not some independent thing that the world revolved around. And that was kind of a neat thing. But Junior would tell you what was on his mind straight away and always had a flair for the dramatic, as it were, when he would express himself. He was never afraid of using big words. The only other story that came to mind was when...Junior's mother was sitting in the living room of their home on the south side. She's watching TV and Junior was getting ready to go out. Junior was always very meticulous and fastidious about how he dressed, even if he was just going out to hang out with the guys. So, he heard what he thought was like a backfire or a firecracker pop. All of a sudden he heard Mama Lena callin', "Brother! Brother! Come in here!" He explained to me that 'brother' was her nickname for him. So, he comes in and says, "Why are you botherin' me, woman, I gotta get ready to leave." She says, "Brother, I think I've been shot." And so he looked over and...the whole front of her dress was just covered in blood. Really hard for her. She pulled through it, but...you don't expect that kind of thing to happen to ya and Junior was just, he was almost in tears when he was tellin' me the story. It was very hard to watch him tell it. Just an example of how close people that Junior held to him were, and how important they were in his life and, I think, how important he was in their lives. (7/30/00 AE) LAFAYETTE LYLE: My name is Lafayette Lyle--playin' bass with Dion Payton among other people for the past 25 years. The thing I remember most about Junior Wells is him pullin' me to the side--I think it was in the Kingston Mines--and askin' me to play for him for sixty dollars. We laughed, and I walked. God rest his soul. The end. (7/30/00 A) DION PAYTON: Junior Wells, let me see--well. A funny story about Junebug. Oh! Well, I ...I can't tell ya dat one! I can't tell ya dat. "No, Junior, don't do it, Junior, oh, Junior, ooohhhhhh----Junior!" No, I cain't tell ya 'bout that. Yeah, he whipped it out on stage. Yeah, ol' boy, he had a habit of doin' that, y'know. Y'ever see him do that? Oh yeah, well he would do that...We was at the Checkerboard, we was playin', and Junior was drunk--and he was gettin' ready t'whoop his dick out...'cause everybody had bet 'im. And he was tryin' to pull his dick out, and L.C. was tryin' to run around there and get 'im 'cause his old lady was standin' there, lookin' and peepin' and shit...so, this place was packed and he was runnin' tryin' to get to Junior--"Hold it Junior, wait a minute Junior, don't do it Junior, no Junior...."--and then I heard him, "Oooohhhhh---Junior!" That's Bug Wells for ya. (7/30/00 AE) CHARLIE LOVE: I had the pleasure of meeting Junior Wells on many occasions...comin' up as a blues artist. And I played behind him. And I knew him personally, we was friends. He's a great guy, a true pioneer to the blues, and the memories that I have with him I'll cherish for the rest of my life...I think the world of him. I emulate his music, he's one of my teachers. He's very outspoken. He didn't leave you wonderin' 'bout what was on his mind. If he had somethin' to say, he was gonna say it. And he was just funny, his character, his music, the way he delivered it, it was just great. I could relate to it, I could feel what he was doin' up there on the stage...He told me one night that I was great. He told me that I had a future in the blues, and just keep on doin' it. That's some'in' that I'll always remember. And I felt so good, I just called up a lot of folks--I say, "Hey, I met Junior Wells, and he heard me perform'n he said, 'Charlie you're great! Keep it up!'" So that was beautiful. (7/30/00 AE) MABON "TEENIE" HODGES: I never met Junior Wells...Well, somethin' happened in Memphis--this club on Beale Street, Beale and Danny Thomas Boulevard, called...I forget, I didn't actually go to the show, but my first cousin who played bass with Buddy Miles for eight years and Hendrix for eight months--Roland(?) Robinson--went to the show...the Hippodrome, it was called. Junior was onstage there, he was performin', the stage was maybe eight feet high, you know, from the floor. And Junior fell off o' th' stage accidentally. And he jumped up and grabbed the mic and said, "Don't worry people, I'm not hurt, that was only part of the show." But it was really an accident. (7/23/00 AE) MICHAEL HILL: To this day, 'Hoodoo Man Blues' is a big influence on me singing-wise, and Junior's spirit is just so powerful. One of the real heroes of the blues....I didn't see him till about '69, '70, '71....One time, he was doin' a song, and I forgot which song he was doin' but he was singing about a woman, and love, and not workin' out and, somehow, in the context of the song, he referred to himself as "a skinny motherfucker like me"--and it was perfectly in time and tune--and everybody was like, "What'd he say?" You know, he was amazing--a magical guy. I'll never forget that. You don't hear that every day. (7/15/00 AE) CURTIS OBEDA: I'm the guitar player in the Butanes. Junior Wells is one of my favorite people of all time...Junior was one of those folks who loved me--or ignored me. It's like, if Junior was drinkin' too much he might not recognize me, I was just, you know, somebody else...One of my favorite times was, we were down in the Checkerboard Lounge, Buddy Guy's old place on the south side. And I was a very young man, I was in my very early 20's--and I used to come down to the jam session every Monday. And Junior was like, "Hey, Curtis, how are ya!" And it's like, "Junior Wells remembers me from last week," you know. I was very full of myself. And so I was sayin', "You know, Junior--oh, I love you--but I'd really like to see Sammy Lawhorn, and I have not been able to find him." And he said, "Well, let's go git 'im!" So we jumped in my car and we drove to Sammy Lawhorn's house. Now, Sammy had had some physical problems. He had broken both of his ankles when some gangsters of some kind had beaten him up and thrown him out of, like, a third-story window--and when he landed on his feet he broke his ankles and so he was not able to sit up. And he was constantly worried about this. So, Junior cautioned me, "Don't get out of the car!" And I thought, "Well, it's a bad neighborhood." He said, "No no no, that's not it." You know, so he waved to Sammy's wife, who actually had a shotgun out the window of their apartment, in case there was any of these perceived gangsters comin' into the joint...So we got Sammy, and Sammy had been drinkin' all day, he wasn't expectin' us to be there. He was pretty well loaded. And we brought Sammy up to play, and me'n Junior were havin' a ball, we were re-doing the album, 'On Tap', which was a great album on Delmark Records. And I'm havin' a ball--I get to be Phil Guy! Because Sammy Lawhorn is playin' his parts, and I get to be Philip Guy, and Junior's singin' his stuff--and we're havin' a great time. Well then Sammy says, "I wanna do one. This is a song I wrote." And it was 'Chicken Shack.' And whether he wrote it or not, that's a whole different story--but, right in the middle of this thing he had to sit on his amplifier, because of his ankles. He passed out in the middle of the song. So, it's just a shuffle in G. And so we played some more songs with Junior Wells, and about four songs later we were shufflin' in G again, and Sammy wakes up and he says, "Junior you gotta take me home! None o' you guys can keep time." Because we were playin' at a slightly different tempo. And Junior said, "Curt--this is the blues." And it always struck me as, like, yeah, you're right--people drink too much, and then you're the fool. And I've often been Sammy Lawhorn, so--that's my favorite Junior Wells story. And I've known Junior up until the day he died. He used to always tell me 'blues secrets'...he'd whisper in my ear and it wouldn't make any sense. And you'd just say, "Yes. Yes." And you'd agree with 'im. And he was just your best friend after that. (7/15/00 AE) EARL KING: The first time I saw Junior Wells in, uh, Norway...Junior Wells wa' down there actin' a fool...every mornin' at breakfast I would see Junior...Junior Wells was Out There. Out There...That's my first time meetin' Junior Wells. (7/15/00 AE) "LITTLE" CHARLIE BATY: When I was goin' to college at Berkeley in the early 70's, I used to go see Buddy Guy and Junior Wells a couple times a year. They'd come to Berkeley and play three or four day stretches. And I used to see 'em at a variety of clubs. I went down to Keystone(?) Corner one time--I was a young college kid, I was brash--I played the harmonica a little bit, asked him what he thought. And he just sat down, opened up his bag, took out a brand new harmonica and wrote, 'From Junior Wells 1974' on it, and just gave it to me. And I thought that was really nice of 'im. Then we used to see him all the time. I 'member seein' him over in Norway comin' down the elevator dressed up in a tuxedo. And I'd say, "Hey, you look good tonight, Junior," and he goes, "Aaaa, it's just a monkey suit." Y' know...he was always doing good. And we had one last chance to play with 'im, at Buddy Guy's Legends, shortly--maybe six months or so--before he passed. He came up and he played a couple numbers with us and I couldn't really understand his singin'--his voice had gone by then--but he still played great harmonica. And he's just been a big influence on me. And I miss him a lot...I just remember him and Buddy Guy just fightin' over a bottle of Courvoisier in Buddy's guitar case one time, they were each accusin' the other of taking the last swig out of it. And I think it turned out to be one of their nineteen-year-old musicians, you know. But they were just always cuttin' up...Another reason I have a special fondness for Junior is he's sort of been a role model for me'n Rick. You know, two guys just sort of front the band and they've stayed together for a real long time as have Rick and I. They're just a great inspiration. (7/15/00 AE) RICK ESTRIN: I first met Junior when I's about eighteen and I first went to Chicago...and the first night I was there I went to Theresa's Lounge, on a Monday night. I set in, and Junior told me, goes, "Y'know, one day you gonna make it, boy." He goes, "You got a lotta soul, I dig you, man." And after that I saw 'im about two weeks later, it was his girlfriend's birthday party at Pepper's Lounge, and James Cotton's band was playin'. And there was a lotta people there, and a lotta harp players. And everybody got up on the stage, it was a real long stage. And there was Big Walter, Cotton, Junior Wells, Carey Bell, and Charlie Musselwhite, and me--and some other guy that was a friend o' Charlie Musselwhite's...They were playin' the figure from 'Teenage Beat' by Little Walter. Y'know, it's like 'My Babe' but it stays on the one chord. They were playin' that, but they were playin' it in F, and we were just passin' one harp all down the line, back and forth, back and forth. And that night, Junior kicked everybody's ass. He did. He kicked everybody's ass. Ended up, Big Walter just wouldn't give the harp back to anybody. I'll never forget that, man. Junior was cool, man. He had his own thing, man, and he was so rhythmic and so soulful, man. That guy...took the blues and made his own niche in there, man. Here's some'in' I heard about Junior Wells--when he was young...a teenager...some guy kept messin' with him. I heard Junior was a pretty tough guy, so it must have been somebody that was pretty dangerous. Guy kept messin' with 'im, and so Little Walter told 'im, said--there was a wall in there, with a curtain in front of the wall--and Little Walter told 'im, said, "Lure the guy over here, by this curtain." And he stood by back o' the curtain with a sawed-off baseball bat, and when he got the guy over t' the wall...by the curtain...he just from behind the curtain clubbed 'im. And the guy went down, and he stood over 'im and he goes, "You got to learn to respect musicians." (7/15/00 AE) ADAM GUSSOW: I never met Junior Wells personally--and in fact, my remembrance would be the first time my parents had a copy of 'Hoodoo Man Blues.' I don't know where they got it. My mother said, "We thought you might want this." And it was, you know, a vintage copy of 'Hoodoo Man Blues.' And hearing that for the first time, and really feeling like I had been plunged into a smoky southside Chicago club in the early sixties. I mean, that's...just about the most intimate club recording that I've ever heard. And so, it would be the revelation of his vibrato, of his whole way of playing. Maybe it's not as wild as his 'Blues Comes to Big Town' recordings were, which I've heard a little bit of later on, but something about his attack and his vibrato--you gotta know who the harp player is after you hear three or four notes on the radio. That's my test for a classic harp player. Do you know that sound? And once I'd heard that Junior Wells, I couldn't ever forget it... He would come to New York and play at Manny's Car Wash...actually I saw him once in the New Checkerboard Lounge. And he came on and did the same songs that he'd done when I saw him in New York, but it was for a hometown crowd and he had a way of mixing harmonica with "[pop]HuOOOuh!" and do kind of groans and "Shhhhuuh! Huhhh![pop]" You know, he'd make all those different sounds, it was a whole sonic kind of palette that he had. So I learned that from him. I don't make those sounds, but now I know they're there. (11/8/98 AE) LARRY McCRAY: First time I met Junior Wells, I met Junior Wells in the Checkerboard Lounge. Vince Agwada...introduced me to Junior. He said, "Junior, I want you to meet Larry McCray." And he looked at me, up and down, both sides like that. He say, "Can he play?" They said, "Yeah, he can play." "Big fat muthafucka better be able to play." And then he just cracked up, he fell out laughing, he gave me a big hug and shook my hand. He was the nicest guy in the world. I really did dig him a lot. He was cool people. I love Junior Wells, he a good guy... Junior was always a very candid fellow, and he didn't pull no punches, he didn't pretend for anybody to be different than what he was all the time...I seen 'im one day in Buddy Guy's Legends and he was gettin' down a little bit, you know, usin' a few swear words and stuff in his music. At the end of the song he looked real serious and he put his head down and he say, "I notice a lot of women people in here, and I know I cuss," he say, "Yeah, I cuss, I say some bad words and everything, and I'm real sorry about that--but if you don't like it, git yer BIG GOD DAMN ASS UP OUTA HERE RIGHT NOW!" ...He always recognized you, and he always acknowledged you as bein' an individual and bein' a fellow musician, and that was really cool on his part, because a lot of the senior musicians...that are out there, been out there for a while, they aren't very friendly and aren't very cordial with the new guys that's comin' on tryin' to make it. But he was very nice, and I always did have a lot of respect for him for that reason. I better not go no further because it get very uncensored! (9/15/98 AE) NOEL NEAL: Well, baby, I can't say too much. Junior used to tell, he used to tell me all the time, "Kiss mah fat pussy!" He say, kiss his fat pussy--that's it. (9/15/98 AE) STEVE McCRAY: I once recorded with 'im, one of his albums...and he was raggin' on Buddy in the studio on the headphones, it was really funny...I can't really say what he was sayin', but...Junior was a very funny guy, he had you laughin', if you listen to him over five minutes you be fallin' out...He was really wild...it was somethin' as pertainin' to his genitals. I can't really say. I wasn't really around Junior that much. The few times I was around him, he was very fun to be around. (9/15/98 AE) EDDIE KING: I could tell a thousand stories about Junior--he was one great harmonica player and good vocal. He have looked out for a lot o' people. He have looked out for me, and I thank Junior for dat. And he is the guy that introduced Buddy Guy to da world--an' I guess Buddy know dat by now. Because I remember when we was playin' at the Legends and Junior died, Buddy found out that Junior passed, and he sobbed--so did we all did. Junior is top o' the line, far as I know 'im...I had a lot o' times wi' him. We played a lot o' gigs together--Little Mack Simmons, Detroit Junior, Buddy'n Howlin' Wolf'n Muddy--all of us. And Buddy, all of us played together, man. I 'member the last time I saw Junior, Junior told th' guy that record for him, he said--at that time I were workin' with Koko Taylor--he said, "Hey, man! I want you to record a number on Eddie King!"...but I had got a recordin' contracts earlier. I'd just like to say that Junior Wells, if he was in the world today----He's still here! He right here tonight! He's playin' th' gig right now! ...I was prob'ly a little bit of a young guy, and I used to watch these guys playin' these clubs. Junior Well' used to play with Muddy, all them guys, Freddie King and all them. I used to watch 'em through th' window on Fourteenth Street...I was too young to get in, but I said that I want' to play some blues...and I want' to sound an' sing like Junior Wells...I want' to find me a harmonica player that could play like Junior Wells... There's no other harmonica player in th' world gonna ever sound like Junior...I just thank God for everybody's tryin' anyway. (7/11/98 AE) DEBORAH COLEMAN: I really didn't know Junior that well, I saw him perform a few times, but...the one time I saw him, that was the smoothest man I ever seen in my life... That man had class. He was a very classy guy. And I just enjoyed watchin' him. I think I may have introduced myself to him once, I'm sure he didn't remember me, but that was the one thing that stood out most about him--he was such a professional, and he took what he did very seriously...and I got somethin' outa that. Junior Wells, he was a great guy. (7/10/98 AE) Back to top Home Site Directory |