Lonnie Brooks
Lonnie Brooks
Lonnie Brooks (born Lee Baker Jr., December 18, 1933) is an American blues singer and guitarist. He was born in Dubuisson, Louisiana. He learned to play blues from his banjo-picking grandfather but did not think about a professional career until he moved to Port Arthur, Texas in the early 1950s. One day, while Brooks was strumming his guitar on his front porch in Port Arthur, Clifton Chenier heard him and offered him a job in his touring band.
Embarking on a solo career, he adopted the moniker of Guitar Junior and signed with Lake Charles's Goldband label. In 1960, he moved to Chicago, Illinois. Luther Johnson was already using the name 'Guitar Junior' there, so he adopted the alternative stage name, Lonnie Brooks. In Chicago, he found regular work in the West Side clubs as well as in Gary and East Chicago. He cut a series of 45s for a variety of labels, including Chess, Chirrup, Mercury, Midas, and USA Records, achieving some local radio airplay. He also supported other artists on record and live, including Jimmy Reed. In 1961 he played guitar on the double album, Jimmy Reed at Carnegie Hall.
In 1969, he recorded his first album, Broke An’ Hungry, for the Capitol label. In 1974, Brooks participated in a multi-artist tour of Europe, and cut an album entitled Sweet Home Chicago for the French label Black & Blue. When he returned to Chicago, he began playing regularly at Pepper’s Hideout on the Chicago's South Side. There he attracted the attention of Bruce Iglauer, head of the fledgling Alligator Records label.
In 1978, Iglauer included four of Brooks’ songs (including three originals) in an anthology series entitled Living Chicago Blues, released by Alligator Records. He was signed to the label, and the following year, he released his album Bayou Lightning on the Alligator label. The album won the 'Grand Prix du Disque Award' from the 1980 Montreux Jazz Festival.
Since that time, Brooks has recorded exclusively for the Alligator, releasing seven albums as well as shared recordings and compilation appearances. Brooks' style, sometimes described as "voodoo blues", includes elements of Chicago blues, Louisiana blues, swamp pop, and rhythm and blues. Other labels have issued pre-1978 recordings by Brooks as well as compilations of Brooks' singles.
Following the release of Bayou Lightning, Brooks began touring nationwide as well as returning to Europe. 1986's Wound Up Tight featured a guest appearance by Brooks' most famous fan, Johnny Winter, on guitar. Rolling Stone took notice of the album, running a six-page feature on Brooks. In 1987, BBC Radio broadcast an hour-long live performance.
By this time, Brooks' teenage son, Ronnie Baker Brooks, was touring with the band. He made his recording debut on his father's Live From Chicago—Bayou Lightning Strikes. Brooks’ 1991 release, Satisfaction Guaranteed, received major media coverage.
Brooks spent the summer of 1993 on a national concert tour with B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Koko Taylor, Junior Wells, and Eric Johnson In 1999, along with fellow Gulf Coast blues veterans Long John Hunter and Phillip Walker (both of whom he had known and played with in the 1950s in Port Arthur), Brooks released Lone Star Shootout.
Brooks continues to tour in the U.S. and Europe. His sons, Ronnie Baker Brooks and Wayne Baker Brooks are also full-time blues entertainers, fronting their bands and touring extensively in the U.S. and abroad. Wayne Baker Brooks continues to play in his father's band as well. The Brooks' are frequent guest performers at each other's shows and have booked appearances as 'The Brooks Family'.
Besides his live and recorded performances, Brooks appeared in the films Blues Brothers 2000 and The Express and in two UK television commercials for Heineken beer. He also co-authored the book Blues for Dummies, along with his son Wayne Baker Brooks and music historian, guitarist, and songwriter, Cub Koda.
(Lonnie Brooks at Pennsylvania Blues Festival 2012)