Weldon H. Philip Bonner, better known as Juke Boy Bonner (March 22, 1932 – June 29, 1978) was an American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

player, and

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

. He was influenced by

Lightnin' Hopkins Samuel John "Lightnin" Hopkins (March 15, 1912 – January 30, 1982) was an American country blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional pianist from Centerville, Texas. In 2010, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine ranked him No. 71 on its list o ...

Jimmy Reed Mathis James Reed (September 6, 1925 – August 29, 1976) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His particular style of electric blues was popular with blues as well as non-blues audiences. Reed's songs such as "Honest I Do" (1957), " ...

, and

Slim Harpo Slim Harpo (born James Isaac Moore; January 11, 1924 – January 31, 1970) was an American blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spiri ...

. He accompanied himself on guitar, harmonica, and drums in songs such as "Going Back to the Country", "Life Is a Nightmare", and "Struggle Here in Houston".

Career

Born in Bellville,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, Bonner was one of nine children; his parents died when he was very young. Raised by a neighbor's family, he moved in with his older sister in 1945. At the age of twelve he taught himself to play the

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

. He gained the

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

"Juke Boy" as a

youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. You ...

, because he frequently sang in local

juke joints Juke joint (also jukejoint, jook house, jook, or juke) is the vernacular term for an informal establishment featuring music, dancing, gambling, and drinking, primarily operated by African Americans in the southeastern United States. A juke joint ...

. Starting a musical career as teenager, he won the first prize at local disc jockey Trummie Cain's weekly talent show at the Lincoln Theater in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

in 1948. Through this he secured a 15-minute

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

slot on a show operated by the record retailer Henry Atlas. After having three children with his wife, she left him to look after the children by himself. Between 1954 and 1957, he recorded several

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

for the Irma

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

, based in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

, but not all were released at the time. In 1960 he recorded again, for Goldband Records,

Storyville Records Storyville Records is an international record company and label based in Copenhagen, Denmark, specializing in jazz and blues music. Besides its original material, Storyville Records has reissued many vintage jazz recordings that previously appea ...

, and Jan & Dill Records. In 1963 Bonner was diagnosed with a large stomach ulcer, and almost half of his stomach was removed by surgery. The shock of the operation, plus the social climate of the times (which included

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

riots and the assassination of President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

), led Bonner to begin writing poetry, some of which was published in the '' Houston Forward Times'', a weekly newspaper. Recovering from surgery, Bonner worked as an

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

record distributor in Houston. Once his strength returned he began playing gigs again in that area. In 1967, Bonner recorded his first

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

for the

Flyright Records Flyright Records is a British record label incorporated in 1970 by Mike Leadbitter, Simon Napier, and Bruce Bastin. It specializes in blues by British musicians, though it issued some American jazz discs, including Ralph Sutton and Hoagy Carmic ...

Chris Strachwitz Chris Strachwitz (born July 1, 1931) is a German-born American record label executive and record producer. He is the founder and president of Arhoolie Records, which he established in 1960 and which became one of the leading labels recording a ...

's Arhoolie label released two albums, ''I'm Going Back to the Country'' (1968) and ''The Struggle'' (1969) (Arhoolie would later issue some of Bonner's unreleased 1967–1974 recordings on ''Ghetto Poet'', in 2003). Bonner recorded mostly original song material through his recording career. He was a guest at the

Ann Arbor Blues Festival Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival is a music festival in Ann Arbor, Michigan, that started in 1972 from the Ann Arbor Blues Festival, which itself began in 1969. Although the festival has had a tumultuous history and suspended operations in 200 ...

, the

American Folk Blues Festival The American Folk Blues Festival was a music festival that toured Europe as an annual event for several years beginning in 1962. It introduced audiences in Europe, including the UK, to leading blues performers of the day such as Muddy Waters, Howl ...

, and the Montreux Blues and Rock Festival. He toured Europe in 1969 with

Clifton Chenier Clifton Chenier (June 25, 1925 – December 12, 1987), was an American Creole musician known as a pioneer of zydeco, a style of music which arose from Creole music, with rhythm and blues, R&B, blues, and Cajun music, Cajun influences. He sang a ...

and

Magic Sam Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...

. In 1972, he released an LP for Sonet Records, and in 1975 another one for the Houston-based Home Cooking Records. However, he was not able to support himself from his music, because of a lack of demand for his work. He continued to perform and record sporadically, but he had no choice but to take a minimum wage job at a chicken-processing plant in Houston.

Death

Bonner's last performance was at a

Juneteenth Juneteenth is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. Deriving its name from combining "June" and "nineteenth", it is celebrated on the anniversary of General Order No. 3, i ...

festival at Houston's

Miller Outdoor Theatre Miller Outdoor Theatre is an outdoor theater for the performing arts in Houston, Texas. It is located on approximately of land in Hermann Park, at 6000 Hermann Park Drive, Houston, Texas 77030. The theater offers a wide range of professional e ...

. Less than two weeks later, on June 29, 1978, he died in his apartment, aged forty-six, of

cirrhosis Cirrhosis, also known as liver cirrhosis or hepatic cirrhosis, and end-stage liver disease, is the impaired liver function caused by the formation of scar tissue known as fibrosis due to damage caused by liver disease. Damage causes tissue repai ...

of the liver.

Allmusic biography AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

/ref>

Discography

Studio albums

* ''The One Man Trio'' (Flyright, 1967) * ''I'm Going Back to the Country'' (Arhoolie, 1968) * ''The Struggle'' (Arhoolie, 1969) * ''Things Ain't Right'' (Liberty, 1969) * ''The Legacy of the Blues'', vol. 5 (Sonet, 1976)

Live album

* ''Last Live Recording (Juneteenth Blues Festival 1978)'' (Lunar, 1981)

Compilations

* ''The Adventures of Juke Boy Bonner in AuthentiCity'' (Home Cooking, 1980) * ''The Texas Blues Troubadour'' (Home Cooking, 1989) * ''They Call Me "Juke Boy"'' (Ace, 1989) * ''Juke Boy Bonner 1960–1967'' (Flyright, 1991) * ''Life Gave Me a Dirty Deal'' (Arhoolie, 1993) * ''Jumpin' with Juke Boy'' (Collectables, 1993) * ''I Live Where the Action Is'' (Rockin' Blues, 1997) * ''Ghetto Poet'' (Arhoolie, 2003) * ''Nowhere to Run'' (Blues Factory, 2004)

References

External links

Illustrated Juke Boy Bonner discography
* Bonner biographyat

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

website A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google Search, Google, Facebook, Amaz ...

Arhoolie Records discography

Sources

* Sheldon Harris. ''Blues Who's Who'' *Strachwitz, Chris & Skoog, Larry. (1968, 1992). ''Life Gave Me A Dirty Deal'' Audio CD (''Liner notes''). Arhoolie CD375. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bonner, Juke Boy 1932 births 1978 deaths Deaths from cirrhosis 20th-century African-American male singers American blues guitarists American male guitarists American blues singers Songwriters from Texas Electric blues musicians Texas blues musicians West Coast blues musicians 20th-century American guitarists Guitarists from Texas Arhoolie Records artists African-American songwriters African-American guitarists American male songwriters