Born in Albany, Georgia, Wheeler joined his brother, Golden 'Big' Wheeler, in Chicago at the age of 19. He immediately began playing guitar, inspired by Freddie King, and within a few years was playing fulltime in clubs with Joe Carter, initially on bass, later on guitar. From the early '60s to early '70s he was in an R&B band, The Jaguars, and later worked with Otis Clay, Buddy Scott, Otis Rush (1986-92), Mississippi Heat (1992-96), Magic Slim (1997-2000) and Willie Kent. He has recorded with Aaron More too.
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Album:
CAN'T TAKE IT
Styles: Modern Electric Chicago Blues
Recorded: 1999
Released: 2000
Bitrate: 320k/s
Size: 169.08 MB
Time: 72:40
Art: Full
1. Who Loves You Baby? - 3:36
2. Wasting My Time - 5:04
3. The Weaker Sex - 4:04
4. This Can't Be Happening To Me - 7:20
5. Sometimes - 5:29
6. She's Gonna Pay - 5:42
7. Come Home - 3:31
8. You Make It Hard Baby - 7:58
9. I Can't Take It - 4:50
10. These Hard Hard Times - 5:14
11. Goin' To The Station - 5:36
12. My Baby's Gone - 3:59
13. Where Did You Stay Last Night? - 6:55
14. Sweet Thang - 3:22
Personnel: James WHEELER - Guitar, Vocals
Billy Flynn - Guitar
Ken Saydak - Piano
Ron Sorin - Harmonica
Bob Stroger - Bass
Marty Binder - Drums
Note: Cant Take It is the second release from Chicago blues guitarist James Wheeler. Backed by pianist Ken Saydak, guitarist Billy Flynn (heard on the right channel), bassist Bob Stroger, drummer Marty Binder, and harp player Ron Sorin taking the place of James brother Golden Big Wheeler on this session. Wheeler's guitar playing is consistently flashy through this set, while other bright moments include Flynn's twangy solo on the dirty blues "You Make It Hard Baby" and Saydak's funky organ playing on the lazy shuffle "Goin to the Station." Wheeler isn't the strongest vocalist around but he gets his message across on tracks like "This Can't Be Happening to Me," "My Baby's Gone," and "I Can't Take It."
Can't Take It
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Album:
READY!
Styles: Modern Electric Chicago Blues
Recorded: 1997
Released: 1998
Bitrate: 320k/s
Size: 154.74 MB
Time: 66:46
Art: Full
1. Ready - 4:43
2. This Old Freight Train - 6:12
3. Gonna Make Some Changes - 3:40
4. My Key Won't Fit That Lock No More - 5:02
5. Cold Hearted Woman - 5:05
6. Blues At Midnight - 6:59
7. Good Morning Little Schoolgirl - 4:06
8. Bad Girl - 3:44
9. Extension 309 - 6:36
10. I'm Just Your Fool - 3:41
11. My Baby's Comin' Home - 3:21
12. Hound Dog - 8:45
13. Looking For My Baby - 4:04
Personnel: James WHEELER - Guitar, Vocal
Billy Flynn - Rhythm Guitar
Ken Saydak - Piano
Bob Stroger - Bass
Vernon Rodgers - Drums
and:
Golden 'Big' Wheeler - Harmonica tr.2,10
Gloria Thompson-Rodgers - Vocal tr.8
Notes: James Wheeler, begin the notes on 'Ready!', 'is a quiet man'. You might guess as much. Both his singing and his playing are unaggressive, the expressions of a temperate personality. Compared with the strenuous, emphatic music of many of his Chicago colleagues, his has a smooth, unruffled texture that evokes the cool manner of a T-Bone Walker-almost explicity in numbers like 'Extension 309' or 'Hound Dog', which is not the Leiber-Stoller breed but a hound of different colour, sleepy and slow-moving.Nonetheless, this is, for the most part, essentially Chicago-style music, as with these accompanists it could hardly fail to be, and if it taps discreetly at the listener's door rather than shout through the keyhole, there are respectable precedents for that.
Ready!
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