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)
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)