Juke Boy Bonner
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Weldon H. Philip Bonner, better known as Juke Boy Bonner (22 March 1932–29 June 1978) was an American blues singer, harmonica player, and guitarist. He was influenced by Lightnin' Hopkins, Jimmy Reed, and Slim Harpo.
Bonner was one of nine children; his parents died while he was very young, and he was raised by a neighbour's family. At the age of twelve he taught himself the guitar. He gained the nickname "Juke Boy" as a youth, as he frequently sang in local bars accompanied by the juke box. Starting a musical career as teenager, he won the first prize at Trummy Cain's talent show at the Lincoln Theater in Houston, Texas in 1948.
Between 1954 and 1957 he recorded several singles for the Oakland, California-based Irma Label, but not all were released at the time. In 1960 he recorded again, this time for the Goldband, Storyville, and Jan & Dill labels. From 1967 to 1970 Chris Strachwitz's Arhoolie Record Label released several LPs. Bonner recorded mostly original song material through his recording career. He was a guest at the Ann Arbor Blues Festival, the American Folk Blues Festival, and the Montreux Blues and Rock Festival. In 1972 he released an LP for Sonet records, and in 1975 another one for the Houston-based Home Cooking Label.
Bonner died in 1978, aged forty-six, of cirrhosis of the liver.
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[edit] Sources
- Sheldon Harris. Blues Who's Who
