Little Junior Parker, one of the most prominent blues singers of the 1950s and 60s, was born at Eastover Plantation near Bobo, Coahoma County, Mississippi in 1932. Parker died on Blue Island, Illinois, in 1971. Despite his later fame, he still there is some confusion about the details of Little Junior Parker's kinship and birth (Clarksdale, Mississippi and 1932 are sometimes cited, and his parents' names were cited in various ways as Herman Snr., Willie, Jeanetta or Jeremeter). Admittedly, they were a family of farmers located close enough to West Memphis for Little Junior (who started singing at the church) to get involved in the local music scene from an early age. As a young man, Parker moved with his mother to West Memphis and recorded his first hit, "Feelin 'Good", for Sun Records in Memphis in 1953. In addition to his soft velvety vocals in reverse, Junior Parker was a product of the fertile circuit of postwar Memphis blues, whose wonderfully low-key harp style was personally guided by none other than regional icon Sonny Boy Williamson. He always used Herman Parker Jr. as his legal name, but on his Mississippi birth certificate his name was inserted as Herbert Parker. He was elected to the Blues Hall of Fame in 2001. Junior Parker has already been rated with BB King, Bobby “Blue” Bland and Little Milton as the main blues stars on the African American “chitlin circuit”. He also had many white admirers, including Elvis Presley, who recorded Parker's "Mystery Train" for Sun Records. Parker's singing resonated with warmth and elegance, and he played the harmonica in an equally soft style. He started singing at Mount Moriah Baptist Church in Bobo and spent much of his childhood in his grandfather's twelve-bedroom house here. His main influence on the harmonica was Sonny Boy Williamson No. 2 (Rice Miller), whose radio broadcast “King Biscuit Time” from Helena, Arkansas, could be heard on Bobo. After Parker moved to West Memphis at age 12, he worked with Williamson and Howlin 'Wolf, as well as a circle of young artists, including Bobby Bland, Johnny Ace. Parker made his first records for the Modern and Sun labels, but had his greatest success during his 1953-1966 transition to Duke Records and its associate Buffalo Booking Agency in Houston, Texas. In late 1953, 'Mystery Train' recorded with his own group, the Blues Flames led by Little Junior. 'Mystery Train' was the sequel to 'Feelin' Good ', his debut at Sun, later that year, recorded a fiery "Love My Baby" and a relaxed "Mystery Train" for Sun, thus contributing to some future rockabilly standards to Sun's coffers (Hayden Thompson revived the former, Elvis Presley the latter). The song itself has its roots in an old folk song called 'Worried Man Blues' that the Carter family recorded in 1930, was recorded by Woody Guthrie in 1944 and by Lonnie Donegan in the 1950s. Music historian Colin Escott noted "One of mysteries about 'Mystery Train' is where the title came from; it was not mentioned anywhere in the song ". The song uses lyrics similar to those found in the traditional American folk music group Carter Family, "Worried Man Blues", itself based on an old Celtic ballad and its best-selling album from 1930. RCA Victor re-released "Mystery Train" in November 1955 , after purchasing it as part of a contract with Presley. This edition of the song reached the 11th position on the Billboard national chart. "Mystery Train" is now considered an "enduring classic". It was the first recording that made Elvis Presley a nationally known country music star. In his final days, Parker appeared on labels like Mercury Records, United Artists Records and Capitol Records, enjoying success on the intermittent charts with 'Driving Wheel' (1961), 'Annie Get Your Yo-Yo' (1962) and 'Man Or Mouse '(1966). His premature death in 1971 occurred while he was undergoing brain tumor surgery.
Little Junior Parker was an important figure in R&B development.
His mysterious train was the most comfortable ride ...!
Little Junior Parker - vocal
Floyd Murphy - guitar
William Johnson - piano
Raymond Hill - tenor sax
Kenneth Banks - Bass
John Bowers - Drums
Release year: 1953
Label: Sun Record Company
Recorded the song for the producer / Sun Records 192
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