Vietcong Blues
1966 · Vanguard VRS-9216 · Chicago, Illinois
- Artist
- Junior Wells
- Title
- Vietcong Blues
- Release
- Chicago / The Blues / Today! Vol. 1
- Year
- 1966
- Label
- Vanguard # VRS-9216
- Format
- 7" · Single
- Language
- English
- Country
- Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Songwriter
- Amos Blackmore
- Genre
- Blues · Chicago Blues · Electric Blues
- Primary theme
- Peace, Protest & Anti-War
Annotation
Junior Wells, born Amos Wells Blakemore Jr. (1934-1998) in Memphis Tennessee, moved to Chicago in the late 1940s and based his career in the Chicago soul scene, well-known for his vocals and harmonica. The song "Vietcong Blues" (AMIGA # 4 50 599) by Junior Wells expressed sympathy for those dying and took an anti-war stance. The narrator began to "sing the blues" for his "brother...in Vietnam", and for all the "mothers, all the wives, all the fathers" who had a son or husband fighting the war. The narrator suggested that those supporting the war "got to be wrong", and it noted that some people had "no respect for" the "country" because of the war. Wells performed the song at the 1966 American Folk Blues Festival, which subsequently appeared on the 1966 album Chicago / The Blues / Today! Vol. 1 (Vanguard Records # VRS-9216).
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Annotation — Blues songs
Junior Wells, born Amos Wells Blakemore Jr. (1934-1998) in Memphis Tennessee, moved to Chicago in the late 1940s and based his career in the Chicago soul scene, well-known for his vocals and harmonica. On this album featured the live performance "Viet-Cong Blues" (Vanguard Records # VRS-9216), performed at the 1966 American Folk Blues Festival. An alternative version was later released on single, called "Vietnam-Blues" (1967), discussed below. Also note that Wells released the song "The Hippies Are Trying" (1968), a Vietnam-era pro-hippie and peace song.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English: I woke up early this morning / I was feeling kind of blue / My landlady said you got a letter here, and I began to sing the blues / It was from my brother, don't you know / The boy is laying down in Vietnam / Lord, they said, you don't have no reason to fight baby / But lord knows you think you're right / But you got to be wrong / You wake up early in the morning / You don't have nothing to eat / You can't buy yourself no clothes / Lord know who you can meet / My brother is in Vietnam, that's why I'm singin' these blues / You might not have no respect for your country darling / That's why I'm singin' these blues / The mothers, all the wives, all the fathers that have sons in Vietnam / You hear me? This is to
About the artist
American blues harmonica player, born 9 December 1934 in Memphis, Tennessee ('Vietcong Blues'); died 15 January 1998 in Chicago, Illinois. [Source: Wikipedia]