 Junior Wells You're Tuff Enough is the sort of album you'd hear playing on the turntable of that very cool little vinyl shop in town (you know, the one that's just slightly out of the way, and the proprietor has a permanent buzz), at least until it got released on CD, at which point it became off limits, most likely. It's a very good collection of Junior Wells' brief flirtation with soul music, focussing much more on his bluesy shoutin' than on his harmonica playin', which in my opinion is a good thing. Even in the mouth of a master like Junior Wells, the harmonica is one of my least favorite instruments, and it doesn't take much prodding to get me to rattle off a list of otherwise pretty good songs that are nearly ruined by the presence of that squealy sound that any 8 year old could make. Twenty-two tracks recorded mainly in '68 and '69, this album is good, solid soul, sort of Stax by way of Chicago (the city not the band, fool). There are few real standouts ("It's a Man Down There" and "The Hippies Are Trying" are the prime cuts, and "Messing With the Kid" will be known to most blues hounds), but every track is enjoyable and groovin'. The drumming in particular is a paradigm of funky simplicity. The main drawback to the CD is that since nothing really stays with you after the disc is over, it comes off as kind of arbitrary and unmemorable. You love it while it's on, but then you forget to return to it. Blues fans will love it, soul fans will love it even more, but I love it the same way I love my dog: it's great when I think about it but I always forget to feed it. Where is that dog anyway? Oh calm down, I don't really have a dog.
Review by Pueppo |