Junior Wells' penchant for clowning around sometimes conflicts with his craftsmanship, but he's all business on Come on in This House, his most unadulterated blues record since his highly acclaimed Hoodoo Man Blues of more than 30 years vintage.
This is what has come to be known as an "unplugged" session -- that is, predominately, although not exclusively, acoustic instrumentation.
Producer John Snyder's concept was threefold: to team Wells with some of the era's top younger traditional blues guitarists -- Corey Harris, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Sonny Landreth, Bob Margolin, and John Mooney; to have those musicians, in various combinations, accompany Wells on a variety of slide guitars; and to concentrate on vintage Chicago and Delta blues from the repertoires of Rice Miller, Little Walter, Tampa Red, Arthur Crudup, and Wells himself.
The result is a virtual slide-guitar mini-fest and a demonstration of the timeless appeal of classic blues done well.
Wells' vocals are deep and manly; his harp playing is high-pitched, like a child's pleading.
A surprising highlight is the only contemporary tune on the disc, Tracy Chapman's "Give Me One Reason." New Orleans drummer Herman Ernest III, who appears on 11 of the 14 cuts, does a masterful job laying down understated rhythmic grooves.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trust My BabySonny Boy Williamson II | Junior Wells | Play | 05:02 | 11 MB | 28 MB |
| 2 | Give Me One ReasonTracy Chapman | Junior Wells | Play | 05:03 | 11 MB | 27 MB |
| 3 | Ships on the OceanAmos Blakemore, Junior Wells | Junior Wells | Play | 05:30 | 12 MB | 21 MB |
| 4 | She Wants to Sell My MonkeyHudson Whittaker | Junior Wells | Play | 04:34 | 10 MB | 21 MB |
| 5 | So Glad You're MineArthur "Big Boy" Crudup | Junior Wells | Play | 05:51 | 13 MB | 30 MB |
| 6 | Mystery TrainJunior Parker, Sam Phillips | Junior Wells | Play | 07:02 | 16 MB | 39 MB |
| 7 | I'm Gonna Move to Kansas CityRobert McCollum, Robert Nighthawk | Junior Wells | Play | 03:42 | 8 MB | 20 MB |
| 8 | Kingfish BluesHudson Whittaker | Junior Wells | Play | 05:18 | 12 MB | 20 MB |
| 9 | You Better Watch YourselfLittle Walter | Junior Wells | Play | 03:47 | 8 MB | 21 MB |
| 10 | Come on in This HouseAmos Blakemore, Junior Wells | Junior Wells | Play | 05:57 | 13 MB | 31 MB |
| 11 | The GoatSonny Boy Williamson II | Junior Wells | Play | 03:46 | 8 MB | 24 MB |
| 12 | What Momma Told Me & That's All Right | Junior Wells | Play | 04:34 | 10 MB | 23 MB |
| 13 | Why Are People Like That | Junior Wells | Play | 03:55 | 9 MB | 21 MB |
| 14 | Million Year Blues | Junior Wells | Play | 05:12 | 11 MB | 28 MB |
| 69 mins | 159 MB | |||||
| 69 mins | 360 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bob Basili | Production Coordination |
| 2 | Tab Benoit | Guest Artist, Guitar (Acoustic) |
| 3 | Michael Bishop | Engineer, Mastering |
| 4 | Amos Blakemore | Composer |
| 5 | Erica Brenner | Production Supervisor |
| 6 | Todd Brown | Mastering Assistant |
| 7 | Jay Burton | Assistant Engineer |
| 8 | Anilda Carrasquillo | Art Direction |
| 9 | Tracy Chapman | Composer |
| 10 | Bobby Charles | Composer |
| 11 | Jon Cleary | Piano |
| 12 | Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup | Composer |
| 13 | Susan Cybulski | Cover Design |
| 14 | Tony Daigle | Assistant Engineer, Engineer |
| 15 | Herman V. Ernest III | Drums |
| 16 | Frank John Hadley | Liner Notes |
| 17 | Corey Harris | Guest Artist, Guitar (Steel), National Steel Guitar |
| 18 | Alvin Youngblood Hart | Dobro, Guest Artist, Guitar (Steel), National Steel Guitar, Vocals |
| 19 | Sonny Landreth | Guest Artist, Guitar (Steel), National Steel Guitar, Slide Guitar |
| 20 | Little Walter | Composer |
| 21 | Bob Margolin | Guest Artist, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric) |
| 22 | Robert McCollum | Composer |
| 23 | Ed Meitner | Engineer |
| 24 | John Mooney | Guest Artist, Guitar (Electric), Slide Guitar |
| 25 | Katharine Neubauer | Production Coordination |
| 26 | Jay Newland | Engineer |
| 27 | Robert Nighthawk | Composer |
| 28 | Junior Parker | Composer |
| 29 | Sam Phillips | Composer |
| 30 | Mark Robertson-Tessi | Mastering Assistant |
| 31 | John Snyder | Producer |
| 32 | Bob Sunda | 6-String Bass, 6-String Electric Bass, Bass (Acoustic) |
| 33 | Derek Trucks | Slide Guitar |
| 34 | Junior Wells | Composer, Harmonica, Primary Artist, Vocals |
| 35 | Hudson Whittaker | Composer |
| 36 | Sonny Boy Williamson II | Composer |
| 37 | Robert Woods | Executive Producer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |