Little Junior Parker or
Junior Parker (born March 3, 1927, West Memphis, Arkansas, USA or May 27, 1932, Clarksdale or Bobo (Coahoma County), Mississippi, USA - died November 18, 1971, Blue Island, Illinois, USA) was an American Memphis blues singer, harmonica player and songwriter.
He first came to blues as a harmonica player, and backed
Howlin’ Wolf when he came to West Memphis in 1948. By 1950, Parker, now known as Little Junior due to the closeness with Wolf, had formed a band with pianist
Bill Johnson. Known as
Little Junior's Blue Flames, the band included
Matt Murphy and
L.C. Dranes and they were recorded by
Ike Turner for [l92737] early in 1952. By this time Parker was almost primarily a vocalist. The following year
Pat Hare and
John Bowers replaced Murphy and Dranes on guitar and drums respectively, and the band began to record for
Sam Phillips’ new [l39929] label. Their first record, Feelin’ Good was a hit, so much so that Parker was soon signed by [l72572]/[l71637] in Houston in 1954. Bill Johnson took over the Blue Flames and together they made several hits such as Mother In Law Blues and Barefoot Rock. Parker later recorded in a soul style but occasionally reverted to playing the blues with a harp.