JUNIOR WELLS & THE ACES: Live In Boston 1966 Delmark DE 809 (65:40)

Feelin' Good/ Man Downstairs/ Talk/ Worried Life / Talk/ Junior's Whoop/ That's All Right/ Talk/ Look On Yonder's Wall/ Talk/ Messin' With The Kid/ Talk/ Hideaway/ If You Gonna Leave Me/ Talk/ I Don't Know/ Talk/ Got My Mojo Workin'/ Theme

Let's put this into some context. When Junior was recording this material, it was nearly a year since he had recorded for Vanguard and Sam Charters' ground-breaking 'Chicago/The Blues/Today!' series, and his Delmark debut, ',' with ; it was a little while before 'It's My Life Baby' appeared, containing several live recordings from a Chicago club, and a little longer before he would embark on the funky sounds that became the bane of blues reviewers later in his career; it was also less than two months before he would tour Europe with the Lippman/Rau American Folk Blues Festival package.

So, with all this change afoot, what does Junior do for this gig in Boston? Well, he goes right back to his roots and takes with him the band with which he got his start in Chicago – the original line-up of The Aces, with Louis and Dave Myers, and socking the skins. Scott Dirks' notes don't reveal the story behind this previously unissued recording, but let's just be thankful someone did think to preserve it for posterity (Was it ? He is credited with ' production', Steve Wagner with 'CD production').

You can tell that this is fairly early on in the blues revival – the audience applaud when Junior leaps in 'Mojo'! Mind you, there were obviously some punters familiar with Junior's recordings as they also greet 'Messin' With The Kid' with plenty of enthusiasm – Junior had (re-)recorded it for Sam Charters, and 'Look On Yonder's Wall' appeared on 'Hoodoo Man Blues' and some of the audience certainly know that too. Some of the material was obviously worked up on the spot though, and as Dirks points out, 'If You Gonna Leave Me' and 'I Don't Know' sound as though they have been cobbled together from various half-remembered numbers (and Junior references his Rice Miller influences). Junior also turns in a fine rendition of G.L. Crockett's Jimmy Reed-ish 'Man Downstairs' (as Delmark calls it), which was of course a reasonably contemporary Windy City hit at the time of this recording.

It is strange also to listen these days to a set that has no rock influence as such, with The Aces' typically light, skipping sound well in evidence, even on the 'tougher' numbers such as Freddy King's 'Hideaway' – Louis Myers closes out proceedings with a jazz flavoured piece, but for the most part he is firmly in blues mode, even if his kind of playing is something of a lost art these days (more's the pity!). The talks are basically Junior introducing numbers or jiving with the audience – this can sometimes be tedious but on a historical document such as this, they only add to the atmosphere. Sound quality is not the best, but those whose listening goes beyond state-of-the-art CDs will find it perfectly acceptable. Historical document it most certainly is, but it is also one of those recordings that show just why Junior – and let's not forget The Aces – rated so highly in the blues pantheon.

NB: by dint of rigorous research those sleuths at Delmark head-quarters have discovered that this show was recorded at the Club 47 in Cambridge, Mass. on 16th September, 1966.

Norman Darwen