In the late forties, he met Sonny Boy Williamson II (Rice Miller) and by 1950 was sittng in with The Beale Streeters , whose members at various times included B.B. King , Johnny Ace , Rosco Gordon , and Bobby Bland . He was also befriended by Howlin' Wolf (Chester Burnett) and did club dates with Wolf's band while still a teenager.
Parker had hosted a radio show on KWEM in West Memphis, AK (just over the Mississippi from Memphis) and it was there in 1952 that Ike Turner recorded him for the Bihari Bros at Modern Records , playing piano on the session himself. These sides had some limited regional sales and airplay as Parker continued to gig around Memphis with the Beale Streeters and Wolf .
In the fall of 1953, he recorded again, this time with Sam Phillips at Memphis Recording Service . "Feelin' Good" and "Fussin And Fightin'" featured Floyd Murphy on guitar and were released on Sun Records .
Sam Phillips said of Murphy, "he had this amazing ability to sound like two guitars" - check out "Feelin' Good" for a great example of what he was talking about.
Later that year, another record from the same session, " Mystery Train " backed with "Love My Baby" caught the attention of a young Elvis Presley who heard "Mystery Train" on WDIA while driving a truck delivering appliances...several months later, he would cover the song, also for Sun Records.
As Sun's focus shifted away from black R & B and blues artists (many sides leased to other labels such as Chess Records ), to the white rockabilly sound of Elvis, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and others, Parker got the attention of Don Robey in Houston, Texas and began an affiliation with Duke Records that would last for a decade.
In 1956, Junior joined forces with fellow Duke artist Bobby "Blue" Bland for a series of one nighters across the South. Following that success on the road, Jr. made his first visit to the West Coast. In the fall, Buddy Ace , another Duke performer, joined Parker and Bland for a tour in the Southeast.
Early in 1957 as many other Rhythm and Blues acts had started to fade, Junior's "Next Time You See Me" wailed from radios coast to coast. Pat Hare played some tough guitar on the track trading breaks with the band, and the arrangement by Joe Scott - leader of the Duke house band - helped make it what many consider to be one of the greatest R and B recordings ever.
From late 1958 into the early 60s, Junior often toured with a show called Blues Consolidated Revue which included long time running mate Bobby Bland and Big Mama Thornton , with a combo led by Duke Records veteran Joe Scott. The Revue became a staple of the Southern blues circuit and in 1961 Junior had a huge hit with the Roosevelt Sykes tune "Driving Wheel"
In 1966, after a strong decade with Duke Records, Parker went to Mercury Records (and subsidiary Blue Rock), then recorded for Capitol Records and had some LPs and 45s released by Bluesway and Minit Records.
In 1970, Junior played the Ann Arbor Blues Festival and later that year hooked up with organist Jimmy McGriff. His last R & B chart success came in early 1971 with a tough version of "Drowning On Dry Land."
With a honey-smooth vocal sound and understated harp style not unlike his mentor, Sonny Boy II, Junior could deliver laid back down-home blues or a horn-driven uptown R & B tune with equal authority. He had been a top performer for two decades when he entered a hospital outside Chicago in late 1971. It was discovered that he had a brain tumor, and Junior Parker died on Nov. 18th, before his fortieth birthday.
He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2001.
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