Loading details…
Artist
Juke Boy Bonner
12+ albums
bluesharmonicaAllacoustic bluesjuke boy bonner
about
Juke Boy Bonner (Weldon H. Philip Bonner, March 22, 1932 – June 29, 1978) was an American, "one-man band", blues singer, harmonica player, and guitarist. He was influenced by Lightnin' Hopkins, Jimmy Reed and Slim Harpo. He described the bleak prospects of black urban existence in songs like "Life is a Nightmare", "Struggle Here in Houston" and "Going Back to the Country", accompanying himself on guitar, harmonica and drums in the self-sufficient one-man band mode of Joe Hill Louis and Dr. Ross. Born in Bellville, Texas, Bonner was one of nine children; his parents died while 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 the guitar. He gained the nickname "Juke Boy" as a youth, because he frequently sang in local bars accompanied by the juke box. 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 in 1948. Through this he secured a 15 minute radio slot on a show operated by 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 for the Oakland, California based Irma record label, but not all were released at the time. In 1960 he recorded again, this time for the Goldband Records, Storyville Records, and Jan & Dill Records labels. In 1963 he was diagnosed with a large
