Search - Buddy Guy, Junior Wells :: Last Time Around: Live at Legends

Fine Final Bow from Blues' Dynamic Duo

06/18/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"When I want to turn a new friend onto the blues, it's best to reach for the cream like B.B. King, Bobby Bland, Junior Parker, Muddy Waters - and, maybe best of all: Junior Wells and Buddy Guy. Perhaps it'll be "Hoodoo Man Blues" on Delmark, or any of their fine live releases, but these two summed up the majestic grit and soul of human expression in song. But we've finally lost Junior Wells, a gentlemen and inspiration who always took the time to talk to fans, DJ's, and reviewers like myself. This posthumous release, while not superior to their previous acoustic-flavored albums (like "Alone and Acoustic," or especially "Buddy and the Juniors")captures Junior and Buddy's chemistry one last time. Some of this record is as stunning anything they ever waxed. Most of it is good, down-home, back-porch blues. Admittedly, Junior may been erratic in later years ( with often over-produced albums and sometimes painful-to-watch stage behavior) all due to health problems and the neglect of a music world that salivates over guitarists instead of singing harpists. By the time of this recording, Buddy had only recently been even admitted to the mainstream (and even then, he has trouble getting radio airplay) while Junior and most true bluesmen languished on the margins. Wells was largely under-recorded for most of the '80's until he signed with Telarc, where he in fact made some notable music even in an obviously weaker condition . Silvertone deserves credit for seeing fit to release what has come be a fitting farewell to blues' favorite one-two punch."

****1/4

Docendo Discimus | Vita scholae | 03/10/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The sound is excellent on this 1998 live album, and Buddy Guy and the late, great Junior Wells both lay down some of their best vocal performances on record.



Committed to tape in March, 1993, "Last Time Around - Live At Legends" documents the very last time Guy and Wells took the stage together. The arrangements are completely bare-bones, just Buddy Guy's Gibson guitar and Junior Wells' chromatic harp, but the performances are full of power and authority, and Guy's expressive tenor voice and Junior Wells' rougher baritone blend smoothly on songs like "Hoochie Coochie Man" and "What I'd Say".

Virtually every song is a highlight, actually...Junior Wells plays muscular, amplified harp behind Guy's lead vocal on "Key To The Highway" and "Oh Baby", and takes the lead on "Hoodoo Man Blues", and the duo share lead vocal duties on a great medley of songs from Jimmy Reed's good-natured repertoire of blues n' boogie, as well as a cover of Jimmy Rogers' "That's All Right".



This is one great slice of classic, acoustic blues which would look at home on any real blues fan's shelf.

I mean, why do we need synthesizers and computer sampling when two middle-aged men can sit down with just a harmonica and an acoustic guitar and make it sound this good?"