Junior Parker

Junior Parker
Background information
Birth name Herman Parker, Jr.
Also known as Little Junior Parker
Mr Blues
Born (1932-03-27)March 27, 1932
Near Bobo, Coahoma County, Mississippi, United States
Died November 18, 1971(1971-11-18) (aged 39)
Blue Island, Illinois, United States
Genres Blues, electric blues, gospel, Memphis blues, rock and roll, rockabilly[1]
Occupation(s) Musician
Instruments Vocals, harmonica
Years active 1951–71
Labels Sun, Modern, Capitol
Associated acts The Blue Flames, Pat Hare, Ike Turner

Herman "Junior" Parker (March 27, 1932 – November 18, 1971)[2][3] was an American Memphis blues singer and musician.[4] He is best remembered for his unique voice, which has been described as "honeyed" and "velvet-smooth".[5] He was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2001.[4]

One music journalist noted, "For years Junior Parker deserted downhome harmonica blues for uptown blues-soul music".[6]

Biography

There is some disagreement over Parker's birth details, but most reliable sources now indicate that he was born in March 1932 at Eastover Plantation near Bobo, Coahoma County, Mississippi, moving with his mother to West Memphis, Arkansas during the 1940s.[2][3] Other birth dates in 1927 or 1932 have been suggested, and some research suggests that his birth was registered as Herbert Parker.[3]

He sang in gospel groups as a child[7] and, beginning in his teenage years, played on various blues circuits. His biggest influence as a harmonica player was Sonny Boy Williamson, with whom he worked before moving on to work for Howlin' Wolf in 1949. Around 1950 he was a member of an ad hoc Memphis group, the Beale Streeters, with Bobby 'Blue' Bland and B.B. King.
Little Junior's Blue Flames – "Love My Baby" (1953)
"Love My Baby" (1953) by Little Junior's Blue Flames, featuring Pat Hare on the electric guitar, is considered an important contribution to the rockabilly genre.
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In 1951 he formed his own band, the Blue Flames, with the guitarist Pat Hare.[5] Parker was discovered in 1952 by Ike Turner, who signed him to Modern Records. He put out one single on this record label, "You're My Angel." This brought him to the attention of Sam Phillips, and he and his band signed with Sun Records in 1953. There they produced three successful songs: "Feelin' Good" (which reached #5 on the US Billboard R&B chart), "Love My Baby," and "Mystery Train", later covered by Elvis Presley.[5] For Presley's version of "Mystery Train", Scotty Moore borrowed the guitar riff from Parker's "Love My Baby",[8] played by Pat Hare.[9] "Love My Baby" and "Mystery Train" are considered important contributions to the rockabilly genre.[1]

Later in 1953, Parker toured with Bobby Bland and Johnny Ace, and also joined Duke Records. Parker and Bland headed the highly successful Blues Consolidated Revue, which regularly performed on the southern blues circuit. He continued to have a string of hits on the R&B chart, including the smooth "Next Time You See Me" (1957); remakes of Roosevelt Sykes's song "Driving Wheel" (1961), "Annie Get Your Yo-Yo" (1962), Robert Johnson's "Sweet Home Chicago", Guitar Slim's "The Things That I Used to Do" (1963), and Don Robey's "Mother-in-Law Blues" (1956); plus his own "Stand by Me" (1961).

His success was limited after he left Duke in 1966. He recorded for various labels, including Mercury, Blue Rock, Minit, and Capitol. Parker's recording of "Annie Get Your Yo-Yo" was later sampled by the Wiseguys on their 1999 hit "Start the Commotion".

Parker died on November 18, 1971, at age 39, in Blue Island, Illinois,[2] during surgery for a brain tumor.

Tributes

On his 1974 album ...Explores Your Mind, Al Green dedicated his original version of the song "Take Me to the River" to Parker, who he describes as "a cousin of mine who's gone on, and we'd kinda like to carry on in his name."

See also

Discography

Original 10" shellac (78rpm) and 7" vinyl (45rpm) releases

Original LP releases

Track listing: Side A by Little Junior Parker: "Next Time You See Me"; "Mother-in-Law Blues"; "Barefoot Rock"; "That's Alright"; "Wondering"; "Sitting and Thinking"; Side B by Bobby Blue Bland: "It's My Life, Baby"; "I Smell Trouble"; "Farther Up the Road"; "Sometime Tomorrow"; "You Got Me (Where You Want Me)"; "Loan a Helping Hand"
Track listing: "Driving Wheel"; "I Need Love So Bad"; "Foxy Devil"; "Someone Broke This Heart of Mine"; "How Long Can This Go On"; "Yonders Wall"; "Annie Get Your Yo-Yo"; "Tin Pan Alley"; "Someone Somewhere"; "Seven Days"; "The Tables Have Turned"; "Sweet Talking Woman"
Track listing: "Next Time You See Me"; "Mother-in-Law Blues"; "Peaches"; "Sweet Home Chicago"; "That's Alright"; "Five Long Years"; "Driving Wheel"; "Stand by Me"; "Yonders Wall"; "Annie Get Your Yo-Yo"; "The Things I Used to Do"; "Goodbye Little Girl"
Track listing: "Country Girl"; "You Can Make It if You Try"; "Wish Me Well"; "Hey Lawdy Mama"; "Sometimes I Wonder"; "(Ooh Wee Baby) That's the Way You Make Me Feel"; "Come Back, Baby"; "Just Like a Fish"; "Baby, Please"; "You Ain't Got No Heart"; "Cracked Up over You"
Track listing: "Easy Lovin'"; "I'm So Satisfied"; "You Can't Keep a Good Woman Down"; "You're the One"; "Reconsider Baby"; "Lover to Friend"; "Your Bag Is Bringing Me Down"; "Ain't Gon' Be No Cutting Aloose"; "Lovin' Man on Your Hands"; "Your Love's All Over Me"; "What a Fool I Was"; "I Got Money"; "It Must Be Love"
Track listing: "Worried Life Blues"; "Let the Good Times Roll"; "Every Night and Every Day"; "Drivin' Wheel"; "I Just Got to Know"; "Next Time You See Me"; "Get Away Blues"; "How Long Can This Go On"; "In the Dark"; "I Found a Good Thing"
Track listing: "Don't Throw Your Love on Me So Strong"; "Pretty Baby"; "I Need Love So Bad"; "Baby Please Don't Go"; "Five Long Years"; "No-One Knows (What Goes On When the Door Is Closed)"; "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Cryin'"
Track listing: "Five Years Long"; "Tin Pan Alley"; "Blue Shadows Falling"; "That's Alright"; "Way Back Home"; "I Need Love So Bad"; "Look on Yonders Wall"; "Man or Mouse"; "Sweet Home Chicago"; "I Like Your Smile" [= "I Like Your Style"]
Track listing: "The Outside Man"; "Darling Depend on Me"; "Taxman"; "Love Ain't Nothin' but a Business Goin' On"; "River's Invitation"; "I Wonder Where Our Love Has Gone"; "Just to Hold My Hand"; "You Know I Love You"; "Lady Madonna"; "Tomorrow Never Knows"
Track listing: "Drownin' on Dry Land"; "Good Things Don't Happen Every Day"; "Ain't That a Shame"; "A Losing Battle"; "It Ain't What'cha Got"; "In the Heat of the Night"; "Workin'"; "Oh! Darling"; "The Inner Light"
Track listing: "Funny How Time Slips Away"; "Going Down Slow"; "Stranger in My Own Home Town"; "Hard Luck Blues"; "No-One Knows (What Goes On When the Door Is Closed)"; "I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water"; "My Jug and I (Got Up This Morning)"; "I Done Got Over It"; "The Things I Used To Do"
Track listing: "My Love Is Real"; "I'm Gonna Take a Chance"; "If You Can't Take It (You Sure Can't Make It)"; "What Kind of Love"; "It Ain't Like That No More"; "Goodbye Little Girl"; "Today I Sing the Blues"; "I'm Gonna Stop"; "What People Say About Love"; "Little Old Lover—Me"
Track listing: "Sometimes"; "I'm Holding On"; "Stranded"; "Dangerous Woman"; "You're on My Mind"; "I'll Forget About You"; "In the Dark"; "It's a Pity"; "Last Night"; "Strange Things Happening"; "Jivin' Woman"; "Cryin' for My Baby"; "These Kinds of Blues, Part 1"; "These Kinds of Blues, Part 2"; "Man or Mouse"; "Get Away Blues"

CD compilations of note

Guest appearances

With Jaki Byard

References

  1. 1 2 Bill Dahl. "Junior Parker | Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-07-11.
  2. 1 2 3 Eagle, Bob; LeBlanc, Eric S. (2013). Blues - A Regional Experience. Santa Barbara: Praeger Publishers. p. 200. ISBN 978-0313344237.
  3. 1 2 3 Little Junior parker, Mississippi Blues Trail. Retrieved 14 October 2016
  4. 1 2 Archived January 5, 2006, at the Wayback Machine.
  5. 1 2 3 "The Blues . Blues Road Trip . Memphis and St. Louis". PBS. Retrieved 2014-07-11.
  6. ↑ Russell, Tony (1997). The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray. Dubai: Carlton Books Limited. p. 202. ISBN 1-85868-255-X.
  7. ↑ "Little Junior Parker b". Centrohd.com. Retrieved 2014-07-11.
  8. ↑ Archived June 14, 2006, at the Wayback Machine.
  9. ↑ Gillett, Charlie (1984). The sound of the city: the rise of rock and roll (Rev. ed.). New York: Pantheon Books. ISBN 0394726383. Retrieved July 6, 2012. 'Love My Baby' in particular featured some blistering guitar playing by Pat Hare, which inspired the rockabilly style discussed elsewhere.
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