Presse- Little Junior Parker Rocks - Goldmine
He died at 39 in 1971 from a brain tumor but Arkansas vocalist/blues-harp man Little Junior Parker left a two-decade legacy of great music for Memphis label Sun and Houston label Duke. Despite severe financial problems, he demanded his horn section go on the road with him. Influenced by Sonny Boy Williamson II (Rice Miller), he never liked the heavy amplification that Little Walter used, preferring to blow straight into his vocal microphone. He wrote and recorded “Mystery Train” before Elvis got his hands on it. He even had the balls to record three Beatles songs towards the end of his life. So why didn’t he cash in on the late ‘60s blues-rock boom like most of his peers? Maybe he was a little too slick, a little too commercially soulful, “a proud product of the chitlin’ circuit,” as Bill Dahl’s insightful liner notes says. Rocks (Germany’s Bear Family Productions) is all you’ll ever need when it comes to Al Green’s cousin (Rev. Green even dedicates “Take Me To The River” to him in his spoken-word intro to that mega-hit). Yeah, he rocked, alright: 31 songs in just under 80 minutes, this primer blew me away. His voice, his harp, his band, his total oeuvre, man, Little Junior Parker had it all.
He died at 39 in 1971 from a brain tumor but Arkansas vocalist/blues-harp man Little Junior Parker left a two-decade legacy of great music for Memphis label Sun and Houston label Duke. Despite severe financial problems, he demanded his horn section go on the road with him. Influenced by Sonny Boy Williamson II (Rice Miller), he never liked the heavy amplification that Little Walter used, preferring to blow straight into his vocal microphone. He wrote and recorded “Mystery Train” before Elvis got his hands on it. He even had the balls to record three Beatles songs towards the end of his life. So why didn’t he cash in on the late ‘60s blues-rock boom like most of his peers? Maybe he was a little too slick, a little too commercially soulful, “a proud product of the chitlin’ circuit,” as Bill Dahl’s insightful liner notes says. Rocks (Germany’s Bear Family Productions) is all you’ll ever need when it comes to Al Green’s cousin (Rev. Green even dedicates “Take Me To The River” to him in his spoken-word intro to that mega-hit). Yeah, he rocked, alright: 31 songs in just under 80 minutes, this primer blew me away. His voice, his harp, his band, his total oeuvre, man, Little Junior Parker had it all.
Presse- Little Junior Parker Rocks - Jukebox
LITTLE JUNIOR PARKER Rocks Bear Family 17535 Né le 27 mars 1932 à West Memphis, Arkansas, Herman Parker travaille dans les champs de coton, joue de l'harmonica et chan-te dans un quatuor gospel. Junior Wells, un de ses amis, aussi devenu maître harmoniciste, reconnaît son influence. Herman Parker trouve un modèle en Rice Miller alias Sonny Boy Williamson II qui l'aide à ses débuts. Le croyant son fils, les fans le surnomment Junior. Vocalement, il s'inspire de Roy Brown. En avril 1952, accompagné par Ike Turner, il grave son premier disque chez Modem. Grâce à Bill Johnson, il est engagé par Sun pour qui il enregistre « Feelin' Good », le 18 juin 1953, au 706 Union, Memphis, accompagné par Bill Johnson (piano), Floyd Murphy (guitare), Kenneth Banks (basse), John Bowers (batterie). Irrésistible boogie, « Feelin' Good » par Little Junior's Blue Fames (Sun 187) démarre cette anthologie (31 pla-ges, cartonné 3 volets, livret 40 p. par Bill Dahl). Jerry Lee Lewis reprendra la chanson sous le titre « I've Been Twistin' » (Sun 374, 1962). La même équipe augmentée de James Wheeler (saxo) revient au studio Sun et concrétise un simple fulgurant, « Mystery Train >V« Love
LITTLE JUNIOR PARKER Rocks Bear Family 17535 Né le 27 mars 1932 à West Memphis, Arkansas, Herman Parker travaille dans les champs de coton, joue de l'harmonica et chan-te dans un quatuor gospel. Junior Wells, un de ses amis, aussi devenu maître harmoniciste, reconnaît son influence. Herman Parker trouve un modèle en Rice Miller alias Sonny Boy Williamson II qui l'aide à ses débuts. Le croyant son fils, les fans le surnomment Junior. Vocalement, il s'inspire de Roy Brown. En avril 1952, accompagné par Ike Turner, il grave son premier disque chez Modem. Grâce à Bill Johnson, il est engagé par Sun pour qui il enregistre « Feelin' Good », le 18 juin 1953, au 706 Union, Memphis, accompagné par Bill Johnson (piano), Floyd Murphy (guitare), Kenneth Banks (basse), John Bowers (batterie). Irrésistible boogie, « Feelin' Good » par Little Junior's Blue Fames (Sun 187) démarre cette anthologie (31 pla-ges, cartonné 3 volets, livret 40 p. par Bill Dahl). Jerry Lee Lewis reprendra la chanson sous le titre « I've Been Twistin' » (Sun 374, 1962). La même équipe augmentée de James Wheeler (saxo) revient au studio Sun et concrétise un simple fulgurant, « Mystery Train >V« Love