"When The Band's drummer Levon Helm set up a Woodstock-based recording studio and production company in 1975, his first client was the legendary bluesman Muddy Waters. Surrounding him with familiar sidemen Pinetop Perkins and Bob Margolin, plus such simpatico rock and blues stalwarts as The Band's Garth Hudson on accordion and organ, Paul Butterfield on harp, and Howard Johnson on saxophone, the 60-year-old Waters responded with the smoothest and most supple singing of his career. These two sessions are as delightful as any in his long association with Chess Records, and they signify his last album with that label. Among this Grammy Award-winning work's highlights are Muddy's original composition "Born with Nothing," featuring his stinging signature slide; his joyful R&B covers of "Let the Good Times Roll," Wilbert Harrison's "Kansas City," and Louis Jordan's "Caledonia," this last graced by a looping Hudson accordion solo; and the previously unreleased bonus track, "Fox Squirrel"."
- Alan Greenberg Amazon.com

“Living Blues (9-10/94, pp.76-77) - "…excellent band….Wells is still one of the least cliched harp players around, and he can…still generate the kind of excitement that makes blues more than a musty and bloodless museum piece…" – Customer Review on dose.mymusic.com

Were it not for Junior Wells's superlative harmonica playing and expressive voice, You're Tuff Enough might have been a muddle of drums and horns. Wells, however, was a strong enough musician that it's he, not his backing band, that stands out most strongly on this recording. This recording illustrates Wells's prescience in incorporating elements of funk and rock into his music. Check out the James-Brown- inflected "Up in Heah," or the rock-out feel of the title track, which appeared on national R&B charts in 1968. One hears echoes of Brown on "You Ought to Quit That" as well. But Wells could sing the blues straight up as well, as he shows with a sweet rendition of "You're the One." While not quite the classic that 1965's Hoodoo Man Blues (which featured Buddy Guy on guitar) was, You're Tuff Enough is an excellent collection, one whose reissue on CD is long overdue.

–Genevieve Williams

What a time. What a place. What a showman. The late 40's to the late 60's, Chicago's south side, the incomparable Junior Wells… Muddy, Elvis, Wayne Cochrane, Sonny Boy all rolled into one tough little cookie. This album is one sweet treat after another. If you can stay still listening to "Stomach Ache," you are clinically dead. It's a true joy listening to Junior and Buddy Guy but I really envy people in the future; they might be able to transport themselves back to 1964 and see Junior live in Pepper's Lounge.

Another eminently solid outing by the legendary harpist that captures his trademark barroom bravado in a studio setting. The band is quite tight — Buddy Guy and Lefty Dizz are the guitarists, Douglas Fagan plays sax, and Clark Terry, believe it or not, occupies a third of the trumpet section — and the set list is dominated by oldies from both Sonny Boys, Willie Dixon, and John D. Loudermilk (Junior invests his "Tobacco Road" with a lights-out toughness that the Nashville Teens could never even imagine).

This reissue of a live recording taken in Huntington Beach, California, and originally released in 1969, showcases harpster and singer Junior Wells's brash, intense Chicago style. The material is familiar–"Fever," "My Babe," "I'm Ready," and "Please, Please, Please," among others–but it's none the worse for that. Wells puts his own stamp on each performance with his growling voice and rich, aggressive harmonica, especially on "So Tired (I Could Cry)" and the aforementioned "My Babe." Wells and company rock out with "Don't Start Me Talking" and "How Many More Years," and lay back for "Elevate Me Mama." Even the CD reissue isn't completely clean;

Junior Wells – On Tap(1991)
MP3 (320 kbps) | Time: 40:55 | 100 MB\
Junior Wells - On Tap | Delmark (DD-635) | Original Release 1975 | Blues, Chicago electric blues

"On Tap" is the finale grande in Junior's trilogy of Delmark releases spanning nearly a decade {1965-1974}. Of the three discs which Wells cut for Delmark, it's difficult to choose a personal favorite, but I might lean slightly towards this one, mainly because of the presence of guitarist Sammy Lawhorn.