Lonnie Brooks & Phillip Walker

Lonnie Brooks & Phillip Walker – Broadcast July 2008

Generally in these sessions we cover the lives and work of those blues men and women who have gone on to that great festival in the sky. Today, though we are covering the work of two great Gulf Coast bluesmen whose careers commenced in the mid 50s, but who are still very active today, 50 years later.

Both hailing from the Louisiana/Texas Gulf region, guitarists Lonnie Brooks and Phillip Walker first worked together in zydeco king Clifton Chenier’s backing band in 1955 then went on to peruse successful careers before coming together again in the late 1990s for a great collaboration album. And as we said, both are still going strong today in their 70’s

We will start with Lonnie Brooks, the older (by 4 years) of the two. Born Lee Baker, Jr. in Louisiana in Dec 1933, Brooks didn't play guitar seriously until he was in his early twenties and living in Port Arthur, TX. Influenced by the styles of B.B. King and Long John Hunter, he landed a three month gig with zydeco pioneer Clifton Chenier in 1955 before inaugurating his own recording career in 1957 with the influential swamp pop ballad "Family Rules" for Lake Charles, Lousiana based Goldband Records. The young Brooks, who at that stage called himself Guitar Junior — enjoyed more regional success on Goldband with the rocking dance number "The Crawl" (covered much later by the Fabulous Thunderbirds). Both these tracks ….

1. The Crawl – 1957 – The Crawl – Tk 1 –2.15

2. Family Rules – 1957 – The Crawl – Tk 2 –2.22

When Sam Cooke offered the young Lee Baker a chance to accompany him to Chicago, he gladly accepted. But two problems faced him once he arrived - firstly there was another Guitar Junior in town (precipitating the birth of Lonnie Brooks), and the bayou blues that worked so well on the Gulf Coast didn't work so well up north. Scattered session work followed – including a position behind Jimmy Reed's on Reed’s classic "Big Boss Man" in March 1960 as Brooks learned the Chicago style of blues.

In late 1975 Brooks toured Europe as part of the travelling Chicago Blues Festival and cut an album with tour sponsors – the French Black and Blue label. Song JB Lenoir made famous, with an all-star lineup of Hubert Sumlin, Fred Below, Dave Myers and Wilie Mabon

3. Mama Talk To Your Daughter – 1975 – Blues Collection – Tk 1 – 3.24

By the late '70s, Brooks had cemented a solid reputation in Chicago and joined the Alligator label in 1978 and has stayed there ever since.

Couple of tracks from 1983 album Hot Shot

4. Mr Hot Shot – 1983 – Hot Shot – Tk 7 –3.23

5. One More Shot – 1983 – Hot Shot – Tk 10 –2.36

Continue with a live track released on Alligator Records 20th Anniversary collection in 1992

6. Two Headed Man – 1992 – Blues at Christmas – Tk 16 –play 3.32

While all this was going on, Phillip Walker, four years younger than Brooks was making his own, equally impressive but just more understated career.

A teenaged Walker picked up his early influences around Port Arthur, TX, from the likes of Gatemouth Brown, Long John Hunter, Lightnin' Hopkins, and one Lonnie Brooks. Clifton Chenier hired Walker in 1953 as his guitarist, when Chenier played a local club, and it was Chenier who gave Phillip his first genuine, bona fide guitar and, against his father’s advice, took Phillip on the road, but whereas Brooks only stayed three months, Walker stayed for three and a half years.

Apparently, when Phillip had left home, with Clifton, at 16, his father thought it was a huge mistake and told him so, calling the guitar “a starvation box.”

In 1959, Walker moved to Los Angeles. He was among the first of a long line of Texas bluesmen to relocate to the West Coast from the late 1950’s, and was joined by Johnny Guitar Watson, T Bone Walker and Lowell Fulson. Scattered 45s emerged during the '60s, but it wasn't until he joined forces with producer Bruce Bromberg in 1969 that Walker began to get a studio foothold.

Instrumental track from that year

7. The Struggle – 1969 – Best of PW – Tk 10 – 2.43

Walker’s work with producer Bromberg resulted in a 1973 album for Playboy label (reissued by HighTone in 1989), The Bottom of the Top. Probably the best track from this album, featuring Jimmy Vaughan on piano, was this one which he first recorded back in 1959. This has got to be the nicest two minutes you will hear on radio anytime….

8. Hello My Darling – 1970 – Best of PW – Tk 3 – 2.09

Walker recorded a fine follow-up album - Someday You'll Have These Blues that showcased his tough Texas guitar style. Title track ….

9. Someday You’ll Have These Blues – 1975 – Best of PW – Tk 11 – 2.40

Continue with a 1979 track recorded with his old friend and teacher Cornelius Green, better known as Lonesome Sundown. Green was another veteran from the mid 50s Clifton Chenier lineup. This one’s called:

10. Steppin Up In Class – 1979 – Blues Collection – Tk 15 – 2.53

Lowell Fulson track from a 1984 Rounder album. This is the title track

11. I’m Tough as I Want To Be – 1984 – Blues Collection – Tk 3 – 3.54

Track from 1988, recorded for Hightone, supposedly the day before Robert Cray recorded his own version

12. Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark – 1988 – Best of PW – Tk 5 – 4.34 (fade after 2.05..)

An interesting sideline – this song was written by Dennis Walker (no relation) who also played bass on this track. As well as a fine bass player Walker is a multi-Grammy award winning producer and songwriter who has won three Grammy Awards for his work and written over 200 songs, including all of Robert Cray’s finest early numbers including False Accusations, Foul Play, I Guess I Showed Her, Phone Booth, Right Next Door (Because of Me).

In 1998 Walker cut an album called Sweet Tooth Track from this album featuring a great blues line – My name is misery, people in the graveyard doing better than me”

13. My Name is Misery – 1997 – Sweet Tooth – Tk 2 – 3.36

Lonnie Brooks and Phillip Walker caught up with each other again in 1999 with the recording of an Alligator album called Lone Star Shootout.

The album was structured as a “duel" of the guitar and vocal work of four long-time rivals, all hailing from the Louisiana-East Texas region with artists Phillip Walker, Lonnie Brooks, Long John Hunter, and Ervin Charles supported by Texas pianist Marcia Ball, and it was almost certainly influenced by the success of a similarly styled Alligator album called Showdown, featuring Albert Collins, Robert Cray and Johnny Copeland some 14 years earlier..

Here’s a Gatemouth Brown hit from the 50’s featuring Lonnie on first guitar solo and Phillip on vocals and second solo, which was successfully released as a single.

14. Boogie Rambler – 1999 – Lone Star Shootout – Tk 2 – 3.09

Another Gulf Coast classic featuring vocals and solos from Walker, Hunter and Brooks (in that order) all supported by Marcia Ball on piano

15. Bon Ton Roulet – 1999 – Lone Star Shootout – Tk 4 – 3.53

Close out today with a very current album from Eddie the Chief Clearwater called West Side Strut. Album was produced by Lonnie’s son Ronnie Baker Brooks with his father Lonnie on lead guitar and vocal:

16. Too Old to Get Married – 2008 – West Side Strut – Tk 8 – 3.53

Both Brooks and Walker are still very active playing international gigs and USA festivals. Walker was in France last week at Le Meredian, the Paris hotel which was the scene of a live album recorded by Screamin Jay Hawkins, which we featured here last session.

Brooks is also notable for co-authoring (with another son, Wayne Baker Brooks) the book "Blues for Dummies".