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Size: 79.7 MB
Bitrate: 256
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Source: Japan 24-Bit Remaster

'Southside Blues Jam' wasn't the first Junior Wells album released by Delmark Records - that honor would go to 1965's 'Hoodoo Man Blues'. What Bob Koester and Delmark were trying to do with 1970's 'Southside Blues Jam' was to recreate the sound and energy of a Monday night session at the now-defunct Theresa's Lounge in Chicago. The album includes red-hot guitar courtesy of Buddy Guy and piano from the great Otis Spann.

Cut on December 30th 1969 and January 8th 1970, "Southside Blues Jam" is a looser affair than its predecessor, with longer songs, but equally well played by the superb combo which includes Buddy Guy, Fred Below, and pianist Otis Spann, whose presence almost always guarantees greatness (or at least "goodness").
The sound is very good, and the music is, too. Lean, muscular electric blues, including excellent renditions of "Stop Breaking Down", "I Just Want To Make Love To You", and "I Wish I Knew Then What I Know Now" (which is actually Rice Miller's "In My Younger Days"). And Buddy Guy steps up and sings the final track, the seven-minute "Trouble Don't Last Always".

Dominated by Wells' strong, confident voice (and by the masterful playing of Otis Spann), this is a very worthy addition to any serious collection of electric Chicago blues. Some may feel that there isn't enough harp playing for a Junior Wells album, but that's a minor complaint, and Wells does play a couple of fine, mellow solos, particularly on "Trouble Don't Last Always", and his distictive harmonica blends well with Spann's rolling 88s on "Stop Breaking Down" and "You Say You Love Me".
It's not as essential as "Hoodoo Man Blues" and Wells' sizzling early sides on "Blues Hit Big Town", but it is a fine purchase for fans.

Junior Wells (December 9, 1934 – January 15, 1998), born Amos Wells Blakemore Jr., was a blues vocalist and harmonica player based in Chicago, who was famous for playing with Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, Bonnie Raitt, The Rolling Stones and Van Morrison.

He was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and raised in Arkansas. Initially influenced by fellow Memphian Junior Parker, and both Sonny Boy Williamsons, Wells moved to Chicago in 1948 and began sitting in with local musicians at house parties and taverns.[2] He began performing with The Aces (guitarist brothers Dave and Louis Myers and drummer Fred Below) and developed a more modern amplified harmonica style influenced by Little Walter. He made his first recordings at age 19, when he replaced Little Walter in Muddy Waters' band and appeared on one of Waters' sessions for Chess Records in 1952. His first recordings as a band leader were made in the following year for States Records. In the later 1950s and early 1960s he also recorded singles for Chief Records and its Profile Records subsidiary, including "Messin' with the Kid", "Come on in This House", and "It Hurts Me Too", which would remain in his repertoire throughout his career. His 1960 Profile single "Little by Little" (written by Chief owner and producer Mel London) reached #23 in the Billboard R&B chart, making it the first of two Wells' singles to enter the chart.

Junior Wells worked with Buddy Guy in the 1960s and recorded his first album, Hoodoo Man Blues for Delmark Records. His best-known album is 1965's Hoodoo Man Blues on Delmark Records, which featured Buddy Guy on guitar." Wells and Guy supported the Rolling Stones on numerous occasions in the 1970s. Although his albums South Side Blues Jam (1971) and On Tap (1975) proved he had not lost his aptitude for Chicago blues, his 1980s and 1990s discs were inconsistent. However, 1996's Come On in This House was an intriguing set of classic blues songs with a rotating cast of slide guitarists, among them Alvin Youngblood Hart, Corey Harris, Sonny Landreth. and Derek Trucks.

Wells made an appearance in the 1998 movie, Blues Brothers 2000, the sequel to The Blues Brothers. The film was released less than a month after his death.[2] He had continued performing until he was diagnosed with cancer in the summer of 1997. That fall, he suffered a heart attack while undergoing treatment, sending him into a coma.

Wells was interred in the Oak Woods Cemetery, Chicago after succumbing to lymphoma on January 15, 1998.

Buddy Guy - (Guitar), (Vocals),
Louis Myers - (Guitar)
Junior Wells - (Harmonica), (Vocals)
Fred Below - (Drums)
Otis Spann - (Piano)
Ernie Johnson - (Bass)

01.Stop Breaking Down 3:33
02.I Could Have Had Religion 3:09
03.I Just Want to Make Love to You 4:48
04.Baby, Please Send Me Your Love 7:03
05.You Say You Love Me 3:15
06.Blues for Mayor Daley 5:57
07.I Wish I Knew What I Know Now 4:05
08.Trouble Don't Last Always 7:48