It's My Life, Baby!

One part studio album, one part live recording at Pepper’s, It’s My Life, Baby!, released on Vanguard Records, arrived at a point when harmonica player and singer Junior Wells and blues guitar legend Buddy Guy were discovering their groove as a team. It was also a time when the blues bar circuit of Chicago’s South Side, specifically the Bronzeville neighborhood, provided great sonic sustenance in a time of political upheaval. No-frills, bare-bones, Pepper’s Lounge had a tiny stage, a few tables and stools; its patrons in the 1960s included working-class African-Americans and, increasingly, young white folk music fans and burgeoning rock musicians exploring the roots of that music along with the richness of Chicago’s scene.