That Jr Wells session was a few years before Sonny Boy made Bring It On Home. The intro is sort of similar but that’s about where it ends. What a great session that was though. 19 years old, Jr Wells leading Muddy Waters, Otis Spann, Louis Myers, Willy Dixon and Fred Below.
I know 3 releases from the day: Lords Lord ‘Bout The Break of Day So All Alone
Bout the break of day is Jr’s update of Sonny Boy Williamson’s Early In The Morning (which certainly needed an update!). He later included it on the Hoodoo Man Blues album. It’s interesting to hear this version from a decade earlier than Hoodoo Man Blues, without Buddy Guy’s distinctive 60s approach, instead Louis Myers (I assume) providing the guitar. Jr plays 1st position, taking a really swinging high octave break on a Bb.
The slower “So all alone” features Spann and (I’m guessing) Muddy playing off each other in the wonderful way they trademarked. The guitar tone on this is wonderful, as is the piano.
Jr Wells at just 19 years old really showed what a star he was. What a voice for such a young man! And the harp is brilliant. This is 1954 remember. Maybe it’s not exactly original but he’s learned the lessons well, and he’s definitely got his own really great thing going.
I had this Junior Wells on CD about 20 years ago, had not heard this in many years. It was a real refresher, as SuperBee noted, that as when I first heard this, just how much his tone & technique was so close to Little Walter. You can just imagine him being there as a young teen (he must have been playing a few years to be this proficient) watching/listening to Little Walter. Sonny Boy II of course as well. His mic/amp/studio set-up also sounds like what some of what Walter must have been playing....by the photo starting with a JT30! I had never heard of The Headcutters....always cool to see people getting the accurate gear and playing the tones/tunes from the era. Similar to Bharath and His Rhythm Four.....such nice tones!
There were 5 cuts made from this session- 1. "Bout The Break Of Day 2. "Lord,Lord (Lawdy Lawdy) 3. "So All Alone 4. "Blues Hit Big Town" (Goin' Back To Tennesee")-fast 5. "Blues Hit Big Town"-(Goin' Back To Tennesee")-slow
Session date -April 15,1954
Sonny Boy Williamson recorded "Bring It On Home" in 1963,but it was not released until 1966.
Last Edited by tmf714 on Jul 03, 2020 1:42 PM
That Delmark release of Jr’s recordings for United is one of my favourite collections. The 1954 session was made while Jr was AWOL. It was a year before he had another chance to record.
