01. Crash Head On Into Love
02. Eyeballin'
03. Figure Head
04. Inflation
05. Jealous Man
06. Wrong Number
07. Belly Rubbin' Music
08. In The Dark
09. Watchdog
10. End of the Rope
11. Feel Good Doin' Bad
12. I'll Take Care Of You
13. Alligators Around My Door
14. The Train And The Horse
15. Wife For Tonight
16. Family Curse
17. Roll Of The Tumbling Dice
18. Brand New Mojo Hand
19. Before You Go
20. Figurehead
21. Like Father, Like Son
22. Something You Got
23. Get Through To You
24. Holding On To The Memories
25. Hush Mouth Money
26. Cold Lonely Nights
27. It's Your World
28. Voodoo Daddy
29. I Can't Stand It No More
30. I Met The Blues In Person 

Lonnie Brooks, a Louisiana-born blues musician well-known for his version of the Robert Johnson song "Sweet Home Chicago," died Saturday, April 1, 2017, according to multiple news sources. He was 83.

In a news statement Sunday, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel praised Brooks as “a Chicago blues legend with a towering talent and soulful style that won him legions of fans across the country and around the world. His celebrated career inspired generations of music lovers, garnered numerous awards, and brought him from the clubs of Chicago’s West Side to the concert halls of Europe and beyond.”

Brooks was born Lee Baker Jr. Dec. 18, 1933, in Dubuisson, Louisiana. He was introduced to the blues by his banjo-plucking grandfather. Later, in the early 1950s, he decided to pursue a musical career after moving to Port Arthur, Texas, where he heard live sets by blues legends including T-Bone Walker, B.B. King, and others.

During his solo career, Brooks called himself Guitar Jr., but he dropped the moniker after moving to Chicago in 1960 because Luther Johnson had called himself Guitar Jr. long before Brooks. It was in Chicago that Lee Baker became Lonnie Brooks.

Brooks played clubs on Chicago's South Side and West Side, as well as in joints in neighboring Gary and East Chicago, Indiana.

His debut album, "Broke an' Hungry," was recorded in 1969. Six years later, his album "Sweet Home Chicago" featured the title track that made him famous. Successive albums included "Bayou Lightning" (1979), "Turn on the Night" (1981), "Live at Pepper's" (1985), and "Satisfaction Guaranteed" (1991)."

Brooks made appearances in two films, "Blues Brothers 2000" and "The Express." He also made a cameo appearance on an episode of TV's "Hee Haw."

Brooks also co-authored the book "Blues for Dummies" along with son Wayne Baker Brooks and Michael "Cub" Coda, who wrote the Brownsville Station hit "Smokin' in the Boys Room."

Brooks is survived by two sons, the blues artists Ronnie Baker Brooks and Wayne Baker Brooks. ---legacy.com

download (mp3 @320 kbs):

yandex mediafire ulozto

back

01. Let's Talk It Over
02. A Man's Got To To What A Man's Got To Do
03. Backbone Man
04. A Little More Time
05. Feast Or Famine
06. Sweet Little Angel
07. Breakfast In Bed
08. Family Rules
09. Shakin' Little Mama
10. Things I Used To Do
11. Born With The Blues
12. Hideaway
13. Worked Up Woman
14. Alimony
15. Boomerang
16. Crazy About You Baby
17. In the Dark
18. Mother Nature
19. Reconsider Baby
20. Big Leg Woman
21. Cold Lonely Nights
22. Greasy Man
23. Hoodoo She Do
24. I Ain't Superstitious
25. Mr. Somebody
26. Skid Row
27. Born In Louisiana
28. You Know What My Body Needs
29. Quit My Baby
30. Stake My Claim 

Having forged a unique Louisiana/Chicago blues synthesis unlike anyone else's on the competitive Windy City scene, charismatic guitarist Lonnie Brooks long reigned as one of the town's top bluesmen. A masterful showman, the good-natured Brooks put on a show equal to his recordings (and that's saying a lot, considering there are four-plus decades of wax to choose from).

Born Lee Baker, Jr. in Louisiana, Brooks took his time when choosing his vocation; he didn't play guitar seriously until he was in his early twenties and living in Port Arthur, Texas. Rapidly assimilating the licks of B.B. King and Long John Hunter, he landed a gig with zydeco pioneer Clifton Chenier (not a bad way to break into the business) before inaugurating his own recording career in 1957 with the influential swamp pop ballad "Family Rules" for Eddie Shuler's Lake Charles, Louisiana-based Goldband Records. The young rock & roller -- then billed as Guitar Junior -- enjoyed more regional success on Goldband with the rocking dance number "The Crawl" (covered much later by the Fabulous Thunderbirds). Mercury also issued two 45s by Guitar Junior.

When Sam Cooke offered the young rocker a chance to accompany him to Chicago, he gladly accepted. But two problems faced him once he arrived: there was another Guitar Junior in town (precipitating the birth of Lonnie Brooks), and the bayou blues that so enthralled Gulf Coast crowds didn't cut it up north. Scattered session work (he played on Jimmy Reed's Vee-Jay classic "Big Boss Man") and a series of R&B-oriented 45s for Midas, USA, Chirrup, and Chess ensued during the '60s, as Brooks learned a new style of blues. The Guitar Junior sobriquet was briefly dusted off in 1969 for his Capitol album debut, Broke & Hungry, but its lack of success buried the alias for good.

By the late '70s, Brooks was gaining a deserved reputation as an exceptionally dynamic Chicago bluesman with a fresh perspective. He cut four outstanding sides for Alligator's first batch of Living Chicago Blues anthologies in 1978 that quickly led to his own Alligator debut LP, Bayou Lightning, the next year. Five more albums of his own for the firm and extensive touring cemented Brooks' standing as a Chicago blues giant. Son Ronnie Baker Brooks is a chip off the proverbial block, playing rhythm guitar in his old man's band and duetting on "Like Father, Like Son" on Lonnie's 1991 album, Satisfaction Guaranteed. Brooks' long association with Alligator Records continued into the late '90s with the release of Roadhouse Rules in 1996, which focused more on R&B than down-home blues, and Lone Star Shootout in 1999. The disc featured Brooks with fellow guitar slingers Long John Hunter and Phillip Walker playing together and solo in varied combinations of blues power. Lonnie Brooks died in Chicago on April 1, 2017 at the age of 83. ---Bill Dahl, allmusic.com

download (mp3 @320 kbs):

yandex mediafire ulozto

back

A1 	Sweet Home Chicago 	
A2 	Two Guitars Shuffle 	
A3 	Crosscut Saw 	
A4 	Reconsider Baby 	
B1 	Things I Used To Do 	
B2 	The Train And The Horse 	
B3 	Crazy About You Baby 	
B4 	Big Leg Woman 	
B5 	Mama Talk To Your Daughter

Bass – Dave Myers
Drums – Fred Below
Guitar – Hubert Sumlin (tracks: A-4, B-2-4)
Guitar, Vocals – Lonnie Brooks
Harmonica – Little Mac Simmons (tracks: except A-2-4, B-4)
Piano – Willie Mabon (tracks: except A-2, B-4) 

The French Black & Blue label was savvy enough to spirit Brooks into a studio when he was touring the continent in 1975 as part of Chicago Blues Festival '75. As befits the jam-session ambience of the date (pianist Willie Mabon, harpist Mack Simmons, and two-thirds of the Aces are on hand), hoary standards predominate: "Crosscut Saw," "Things I Used to Do," "Mama Talk to Your Daughter," and the ubiquitous title track (which remains a signature song). The omnipresent "The Train and the Horse" returns as well. ---Bill Dahl, AllMusic Review

A prolific musician known for his intense guitar solos and his raspy but strong singing voice, Mr. Brooks told The Chicago Tribune in 1992 that the blues did not come naturally to him at first.

“Then one night, I saw Magic Sam in a little blues club on the South Side,” he said, referring to the blues singer and guitarist born Samuel Maghett. “He went onstage right after he’d gotten into a big fight with his girlfriend, and it was like he was taking it out on his guitar.

“I seen how it came from the heart, so I went home to the basement, and got into that mood that Magic Sam had been in, and the blues came to me.” ---nytimes.com

download (mp3 @320 kbs):

yandex mediafire ulozto

back

01. Temporary Insanity 
02. A Man's Got To To What A Man's Got To Do 
03. Feast or Famine 
04. It's Lying Time Again 
05. A Little Rock And Roll And Some Country Blues 
06. Wife For Tonight 
07. Family Curse 
08. Horoscope 
09. Like Father, Like Son 
10. Holding On To The Memories 
11. Accident 
12. If The Price Is Wright

Lonnie Brooks (vocals, guitar); 
Koko Taylor (vocals); 
Ronnie Baker Brooks (guitar, vocals); 
Tom Giblin (keyboards); 
Augustus Taylor (bass); 
Kevin Mitchell (drums).

Only intermittently satisfying, contrary to its title: a little more subtlety would have benefitted drummer Kevin Mitchell, and some of the material is a bit makeweight. Nevertheless, there are some nice moments, especially on the tunes Brooks penned himself. "Like Father, like Son," the duet between Lonnie and son Ronnie, seems a mite contrived. ---Bill Dahl, allmusic.com

download (mp3 @320 kbs):

yandex mediafire ulozto solidfiles global.files

back

01. Hoodoo She Do 
02. Backbone Man 
03. Too Little Too Late 
04. Stranger In My House 
05. I Need A Friend 
06. Evil Twin 
07. Roll Of The Tumbling Dice 
08. One Track Train 
09. Before You Go 
10. Get Through To You 
11. It's Your World 
12. Treat Me Like Your Dog 
13. Stake My Claim 
14. Rockin' Red Rooster

Lonnie Brooks (guitar, vocals); 
Ronnie Baker Brooks (guitar); 
Sugar Blue (harmonica); 
Lonnie McMillan, Jr. (tenor saxophone); 
 Thompson (trumpet); 
 Ernest Williamson (keyboards); 
 David Smith (bass); 
 Steve Potts (drums); 
 The Memphis Horns: Andrew Love (tenor saxophone); Wayne Jackson (trumpet).
 

Lonnie Brooks' music comes from the R&B side of the blues. Brooks is a passionate singer with an intense rock-like guitar style. With the exception of "Roll of the Tumbling Dice" (a relaxed duet featuring the harmonica of Sugar Blue), the music on Roadhouse Rules is generally unrelenting in its ferocity, blues-oriented but also quite open to the influences of Stax-type soul and rock. The impressive musicianship and sincerity of Brooks' music is probably easier to respect than to love; this release gives listeners a good sampling of his playing. ---Scott Yanow, allmusic.com

download (mp3 @320 kbs):

yandex mediafire ulozto solidfiles global.files

back

01. Got Lucky Last Night (2:59)
02. Jealous Man (3:42)
03. Belly Rubbin' Music (4:31)
04. Bewitched (3:36)
05. End Of The Rope (3:55)
06. Wound Up Tight (5:18)
07. Boomerang (3:18)
08. Musta' Been Dreamin' (3:24)
09. Skid Row (5:25)
10. Hush Mouth Money (4:01)

Osee Anderson - Guitar
Lonnie Brooks - Guitar, Vocals, Producer
Larry Clyman - Guitar
Tom Giblin - Keyboards
Jim Liban - Harmonica
Noel Neal - Bass
Jimi Schutte - Drums
Johnny Winter – Guitar

More energetic efforts with a decidedly rocked-up edge. Johnny Winter, long an ardent admirer of Brooks back to the Guitar Junior days, drops by with a passel of fiery guitar licks for the title track and "Got Lucky Last Night." ---Bill Dahl, allmusic.com

download (mp3 @320 kbs):

yandex mediafire ulozto solidfiles global.files

back

01 ???
02 ???
03 ???
04 You're using me 
05 Talking about the medley 
06 Blues medley 
07 First set outro 
08 Hey you 
09 I need a wife for tonight 
10 Soul to soul 
11 Got my mojo working 
12 Leave my girl alone


Lonnie is playing with his son, Rodney Baker BROOKS on second guitar; don't know who are the other group' members. 

Lonnie BROOKS, Paris hotel Meridien, 1992 january 31th

download (mp3 @VBR kbs):

yandex mediafire ulozto solidfiles global.files

back