Herman "Junior" Parker (March 27, 1932November 18, 1971), also known as Little Junior Parker, was an American blues singer and harmonica player. He is best remembered for his voice which has been described as "honeyed" and "velvet-smooth". One music journalist noted, "For years, Junior Parker deserted down home harmonica blues for uptown blues-soul music".
In 2001, he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.
Life and career
There is some disagreement over the details of Parker's birth, but most reliable sources now indicate that he was born in March, 1932 at Eastover Plantation near Bobo, Coahoma County, Mississippi. He moved with his mother to West Memphis, Arkansas, during the 1940s.
Bland was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1952 and was discharged in 1955.
In 1951, Parker formed his own band, the Blue Flames, with guitarist Pat Hare. This record 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 with Matt's brother Floyd on electric guitar: "Feelin' Good" (which reached number 5 on the US Billboard R&B chart), "Love My Baby," and "Mystery Train", a cover version of which was recorded by Elvis Presley. "Love My Baby" and "Mystery Train" became rockabilly standards.
Later in 1955, Parker joined Duke Records and toured with Bobby Bland and Buddy Ace. Parker and Bland headed the 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. His final chart hit came in 1971 with "Drowning on Dry Land" on Capitol, which peaked at number 48 on the Billboard R&B chart.
Legacy
On the 1974 album ...Explores Your Mind, Al Green dedicated his song "Take Me to the River" to Parker, whom he described in the song's spoken introduction as "a cousin of mine who's gone on, and we'd kinda like to carry on in his name".
In 2001, Parker was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.