hoodoo man blues

Lil' Junior Wells and Buddy Guy tried to make us understand how somebody done hoodooed the hoodoo man with this electric blues classic.  



Wells learned harmonica at the age of seven and moved from Arkansas to Chicago when he was a teenager.  After playing with various local groups he recorded several singles including  "Messin' with the Kid", "Come on in This House", "It Hurts Me Too", and the 1960 R&B number twenty-three hit "Little by Little"  on Chief subsidiary Profile Records.  

Bob Koester offered his Delmark label to produce Wells' debut album 'Hoodoo Man Blues' with the Junior Wells' Chicago Blues Band, which included session blues guitarist Buddy Guy.  Koester thought Guy was signed with Chess Records, so he listed him on the album as Friendly Chap:     “I called Leonard Chess and he said, ‘OK, use the sonofabitch but you don’t use his name and he doesn’t sing.’  I later discovered that he didn’t have Buddy under contract, so I used his name, with Buddy’s blessing.”


Stu Black engineered the sessions with Friendly Chap Buddy Guy on guitar and vocals;  Jack Myers on bass;   Bill Warren on drums;   and  Junior Wells on harmonica and vocals.   The album became the label's best seller ever.  








"Hoodoo Man Blues"


Lord, I wonder what's has got the matter
Wit' time, you know, wit' time
It seems like the hours
Oh, everything done changed

But I hold up my hand
I'm just tryin' t'make her understand
Lord, you know, everybody tells Little Junior
That somebody done hoodooed the hoodoo man

Now, I'm goin' down to Louisiana
An' get me a mojo hand
My little woman
She done quit me for some other man

But I hold up my hand
I'm tryin' to make her understand
Lord, you know, everybody they tells me
That somebody done hoodooed the hoodoo man

{Well that's what I'm talkin'}

Now I buzzed your bell this morning
You had your elevator running slow
I buzzed your bell, little woman
To take me on the third floor

But I hold up my hand
I'm just trying make you understand
Lord, you know, everybody tells Lil' Junior
"Somebody hoodooed the hoodoo man"





 'Hoodoo Man Blues' 
full album:






"Snatch It Back and Hold It" (Junior Wells) – 2:53
"Ships on the Ocean" (Wells) – 4:07
"Good Morning Schoolgirl" (Sonny Boy Williamson) – 3:50
"Hound Dog" (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller) – 2:12
"In the Wee Wee Hours" (Junior Wells) – 3:42
"Hey Lawdy Mama" (Buddy Moss) – 3:10
"Hoodoo Man Blues" (Wells, Williamson) – 2:49
"Early in the Morning" (traditional) – 4:44
"We're Ready" (Buddy Guy, Wells) – 3:33
"You Don't Love Me, Baby" (Willie Cobbs) – 2:58
"Chitlin Con Carne" (Kenny Burrell) – 2:12
"Yonder Wall" (Elmore James) – 4:10
"Hoodoo Man Blues (alternate take)" (Wells, Williamson) – 2:50 
"Chitlin Con Carne (alternate take)"(Burrell) – 3:20