Jr. Wells, a "rough-looking, hard-time guy," was born Amos Blakemore in Memphis, Tennesee, on December 9, 1934 and died on January 15, 1998 in Chicago.
During the Spring 1995 Meg Digby and Barry Silbergeld went to a Jr. Wells gig at Buddy Guy's Legends in Chicago. Meg really hit it off with Junior....and soon commissioned her very talented artist / sister, Mel Buehrer, to render a drawing of Junior Wells for Barry's birthday present on May 26, 1995.
Jr. Wells was first exposed to blues of Howlin' Wolf & B.B. King in his home town of Memphis; he moved to Chicago with his mother at the age of twelve. At the age of sixteen he called his first band "Deuces" then "The Four Aces" and eventually "Aces." Wells left Aces to take Little Walter's place in Muddy Waters band druing the early '50s.
Jr's first recordings were on the States label during the summer of 1953, and included the classic first version of "Hoodoo Man"...the actual spelling used by States on the original 78s and 45s was "Hodo Man"
By 1965 when Bob Koester's Delmark label first recorded him, Jr. Wells was well establed at Theresa's Lounge on Chicago's West side, where Jr. was backed by Buddy Guy's band. Hoodoo Man Blues (Delmark, 1965) became a cult record with The Grateful Dead having been inspired by several of the tunes. In January, 1967 three shows at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco were headlined by the Grateful Dead and the Junior Wells Chicago Blues Band. In 1972 Robert "Ace" Weir recorded his first solo album, "ACE."
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