Junior Parker

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"Little" Junior Parker (born May 27, 1932 in Clarksdale , Mississippi , as Herman Parker Jr. , † November 18, 1971 in Blue Island , Illinois ) was an American blues singer and harmonica player. Parker recorded several hits for the Sun Records label in the early 1950s , which were later recorded by rockabilly musicians such as Elvis Presley and Hayden Thompson .

Life

Childhood and youth

Junior Parker was born in 1932 in the state of the Delta Blues , Mississippi. As a teenager he learned the blues from Sonny Boy Williamson , his mentor, and performed with gospel choirs. In 1949 he appeared - still very young - with Howlin 'Wolf .

Career

In the early 1950s, Parker played in Beale Streeters and in 1951 formed his own band, the Blue Flames . Ike Turner discovered him in 1952 and got him a record deal with Modern Records , a label that was run by the Bihari brothers and specialized in rhythm and blues . The first recording was You're My Angel .

Parker's Modern single caught the attention of Sam Phillips , who was on Sun Records in Memphis , Tennessee . Phillips signed Parker and in 1953 the first hit followed with Feelin 'Good , which reached number five on the R&B charts. In the same year, Parker had two more R&B hits with Mystery Train and Love My Baby . While Mystery Train was covered by Elvis Presley in 1955, Love My Baby found its way into the rockabilly scene at the end of 1956 in the interpretation of Hayden Thompson.

Parker joined Duke Records in 1953 and toured with Johnny Ace and Bobby Blue Bland . With the latter, Parker also directed the Blues Consolidated Revue , with which he was able to record further hits until 1966; Driving Wheel and Sweet Home Chicago , both by Roosevelt Sykes , Mother-in-Law Blues by Don Robey, and his own piece Stand by Me .

In the mid-1960s, the success waned, but Parker continued to record for labels such as Mercury Records , Blue Rock Records, Minit Records and Capitol Records . Parker died of a brain tumor in 1971. In 2001, Junior Parker was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. For the recordings of Junior Parker on "Sun Records" see: Colin Escott , Martin Hawkins: Good Rockin 'Tonight. Sun Records and the Birth of Rock 'n' Roll. St. Martin's Press, New York City, New York 1991, pp. 42-45