Welcome back to Guitardoor.com, where we celebrate the legendary artists who created the language of the blues. Today, we pay tribute to a true giant of the Chicago scene: a powerhouse harmonica player, a soulful and charismatic singer, and one of the most electrifying frontmen in history, the one and only Junior Wells. Best known for his iconic partnership with the legendary guitarist Buddy Guy, Junior Wells was a master of the juke joint, a “Hoodoo Man” whose raw, funky, and soulful music was the very blueprint for the blues-rock explosion to come.
From the Delta to the Juke Joint
The musical style of Junior Wells was the sound of the city—a hard-hitting, funky, and incredibly soulful form of electric Chicago blues. His generation of musicians took the raw, acoustic tradition of earlier masters, like those chronicled in our feature David “Honeyboy” Edwards: The Last of the Delta Bluesmen, and plugged it in, amplified it, and gave it a loud, swaggering, and undeniably cool urban edge. Junior was a master showman, a charismatic force of nature who could work a crowd into a frenzy with his wailing, amplified harp and his gritty, passionate vocals, creating an electrifying party atmosphere wherever he went.
Anatomy of a Blues Partnership
To understand the role of the guitar in Junior Wells’s music is to understand the art of a perfect, fiery conversation. The guitarist in his band, most famously the phenomenal Buddy Guy, was not just a background player; they were the co-conspirator, the essential sparring partner. The job required a deep, almost telepathic understanding of rhythm, space, and explosive dynamics. It was about providing the perfect percussive rhythm, the most stinging and responsive fills, and the most fiery answers to Junior’s vocal and harmonica calls. This focus on crafting a memorable, essential guitar part that defines a song’s character is a skill just as vital as the iconic arpeggio created by the Animals Guitarist Hilton Valentine for “House of the Rising Sun.” The guitar was the gasoline on Junior’s fire.
The classic guitar tone on these legendary recordings is the sound of Chicago: a Fender Stratocaster or Telecaster plugged straight into a cranked Fender Bassman or Super Reverb amplifier. The sound was clean but pushed right to the edge of breaking up, allowing for incredible dynamic control with just the player’s touch—from a gentle whisper to a raw, explosive roar.
Essential Wells: The Hoodoo Blues Canon
Junior Wells’s classic recordings, especially his debut album Hoodoo Man Blues, are foundational texts for any aspiring blues or rock guitarist. Here are three essential tracks and how to approach playing the brilliant guitar parts.
“Messin’ with the Kid”
The Song: This is Junior’s most famous and infectious signature song, a classic stop-time blues shuffle that has been a bar-band standard for decades. It’s pure, upbeat, good-time music.
Playing Approach: This is all about the rhythm! The key to the guitar part is the tight, percussive, and slightly muted chord stabs that drive the song. Focus on locking in perfectly with the drums. Keep your fills short, sharp, and right in the pocket. It’s a lesson in precision over pyrotechnics.
“Hoodoo Man Blues”
The Song: The title track from his legendary 1965 debut album, this is a slow, greasy, and incredibly atmospheric blues that defines the sound of a smoky, late-night club.
Playing Approach: This is a masterclass in space and dynamics. Play softly and sparsely behind the vocals, using gentle chord swells and your guitar’s volume knob. The magic is in the fills: when Junior leaves a space, explode with a quick burst of raw, aggressive notes, and then immediately pull back into the shadows. Let the silence be just as powerful as the notes.
“Little by Little”
The Song: A classic mid-tempo shuffle, this track is a perfect example of the brilliant call-and-response interplay between the frontman and the guitarist. The song is built around an iconic, repeating guitar riff that answers the vocal line.
Playing Approach: The main guitar riff is the hook. Learn that two-bar phrase perfectly and play it with swagger and attitude. For the rest of the song, your job is to listen intently to Junior’s vocal and harp lines. When he finishes a phrase, you play an “answer” to it. Think of it as a conversation where the guitar always gets the last, definitive word.
Junior Wells was a true giant of the blues, a master showman whose raw and soulful music has left an indelible mark on generations of musicians. His incredible partnership with Buddy Guy created one of the most exciting and influential sounds in the history of electric blues, a sound that directly inspired the blues-rock explosion of the 1960s and continues to thrill listeners today. He was, and always will be, the undisputed Hoodoo Man.
Cover Photo Credit “Junior Wells, c.1984” by JerryFitzpatrick is licensed under CC CC0 1.0
