Junior Wells was a mighty bluesman of the Chicagoan variety who cut his own path with soulful vocals and desperado harmonica stylings. Celebrated for appearances with The Rolling Stones and Van Morrison, Wells was an equally sought after partner of other blues giants Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters, and Earl Hooker. Throughout his career, beginning in the mid-1950s and continuing up to his death in 1997, he recorded regularly producing nearly thirty live and studio works.
"Snatch It Back and Hold It", the first track from his 1965 album Hoodoo Man Blues, is a classic. It's one of those tunes that without any visual aid is easy to imagine the physicality of his performance. The guitar parades in staccato while Wells belts out an overtly sexual missive. We get only a sample of his extraordinary harmonica playing, ebbing and flowing with control and abandon. There's always more to say, but this anecdote from Wells is better than anything to take us away:
"I went to this pawnshop downtown and the man had a harmonica priced at two dollars. So I got a job on a soda truck, played hooky from school, and worked all week. On Saturday, the man gave me a dollar and a half. A dollar and a half! For a whole week of work? I went to the pawnshop and the man said the price was two dollars. I told him I had to have that harp. He walked away from the counter – left the harp there. So I laid my dollar-and-a-half on the counter and picked up the harp. When my trial came up, the judge asked my why I did it. I told him I had to have that harp. The judge asked me to play it and when I did he gave the man the fifty cents and hollered "Case dismissed!"
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