today we remember the late great blues man Junior Parker (May 27, 1932 – November 18, 1971) an American Memphis blues singer and musician.He is best remembered for his unique voice, which has been described as honeyed, and velvet-smooth. He was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2001. One music journalist noted, For years Junior Parker deserted downhome harmonica blues for uptown blues-soul music. Junior Parker was born in either Clarksdale, Mississippi, or West Memphis, Arkansas. He sang in gospel groups as a child, and played on the various blues circuits beginning in his teenage years. 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 Memphiss ad hoc group, the Beale Streeters, with Bobby Blue Bland and B.B. King. In 1951 he formed his own band, the Blue Flames, with the guitarist Pat Hare. Parker was discovered in 1952 by Ike Turner, who signed him to Modern Records. He put out one single on this record label, Youre My Angel. This brought him to the attention of Sam Phillips, and he and his band signed onto 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. For Presleys version of Mystery Train, Scotty Moore borrowed the guitar riff from Parkers Love My Baby, played by Pat Hare. Love My Baby and Mystery Train are considered important contributions to the rockabilly genre. 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 became a staple part of 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); re-makes of Roosevelt Sykes song Driving Wheel (1961), Robert Johnsons Sweet Home Chicago, Guitar Slims The Things That I Used to Do (1963), and Don Robeys 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 died on November 18, 1971, at age 39, in Blue Island, Illinois, during surgery for a brain tumor. 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 whos gone on, and wed kinda like to carry on in his name.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 06:57:28 +0000
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