Junior Wells & The Aces – Live In Boston 1966

Do you want the real thing? Well, here it is. The incredible Junior Wells is one of the very best harmonica players of all time and this previously unreleased live show captures him inebriated and rocking hard. Junior’s partnership with Buddy Guy contains some of his best work, but here he is playing a Boston nightclub in 1966 with an excellent bunch of musicians from Chicago. The great Fred Below is on drums joined by guitarist Louis Myers and his brother Dave on bass.

Goddamn, these muthers boogie like no other!  There are some great slow songs like “Worried Life Blues” and “That’s All Right” but where they excel is on the uptempo jams. They come out swinging with a killer version of “Feelin’ Good.” The band sets up an instant party groove and Junior is in great voice and you can tell that he really does feel good. When he says that they’re gonna boogie til the break of day, you know he means it. “Man Downstairs” has some great harmonica playing and keeps the boogie flowing nicely. The band really stretches out on “Junior’s Whoop,” a killer 8 minute workout that really rocks the house. There’s a high energy of the hit “Messin’ With The Kid” that gets everyone worked up.

A couple of blues standards like “Hideaway” and “Got My Mojo Workin” get the Junior Wells treatment and Louis Myers throws in a few nice jazzy guitar licks to keep things interesting. The crowd loves this band. In between songs you get to hear Junior talking to the rowdy audience and joking with the other musicians onstage.

Play this disc loud on your stereo and you really get the feeling that you are there. Bands just don’t cook like this anymore. The playing is lean and mean, tight but loose. Chances are these guys didn’t practice much together but they all knew the material so when they hit the stage they could jam together without things ever getting stale. The only excuse you have for not patting your feet to this great record is you don’t have any.

--Woody

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