Lonnie Brooks (Lee Baker Jr., December 18, 1933 - April 1, 2017) was an Ame… Read Full Bio ↴Lonnie Brooks (Lee Baker Jr., December 18, 1933 - April 1, 2017) was an American blues singer and guitarist.

The musicologist Robert Palmer, writing in Rolling Stone, stated, "His music is witty, soulful and ferociously energetic, brimming with novel harmonic turnarounds, committed vocals and simply astonishing guitar work." Jon Pareles, a music critic for the New York Times, wrote, "He sings in a rowdy baritone, sliding and rasping in songs that celebrate lust, fulfilled and unfulfilled; his guitar solos are pointed and unhurried, with a tone that slices cleanly across the beat. Wearing a cowboy hat, he looks like the embodiment of a good-time bluesman."

Brooks was born in Dubuisson, St. Landry Parish, Louisiana. He learned to play blues from his banjo-picking grandfather but did not think about a career in music until he moved to Port Arthur, Texas, in the early 1950s. There he heard live performances by Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, T-Bone Walker, B.B. King, Long John Hunter and others and began to think about making money from music. Clifton Chenier heard Brooks strumming his guitar on his front porch in Port Arthur and offered him a job in his touring band.

Embarking on a solo career, he began calling himself Guitar Jr. and signed with the Goldband label, based in Lake Charles, Louisiana. His singles for the label included the regional hit "Family Rules", which remains a favorite of the swamp pop idiom in southern Louisiana and southeast Texas. Other Goldband singles included "Made in the Shade" and "The Crawl" (both of which were later recorded by the Fabulous Thunderbirds).

In 1960, he moved to Chicago, Illinois, where he adopted the stage name Lonnie Brooks (Luther Johnson was already using the name Guitar Junior there). Brooks found regular work in clubs on the West Side of Chicago, in nearby Gary and East Chicago, Indiana, and occasionally in the Rush Street entertainment area on Chicago's North Side. He recorded numerous singles for various labels, including Chess, Chirrup, Mercury, Midas and USA Records, receiving some local radio airplay. He also supported other artists on record and live, including Jimmy Reed. In 1961 he played guitar on the double album Jimmy Reed at Carnegie Hall.

In 1969, he recorded his first album, Broke an’ Hungry, for Capitol Records. It was produced by Wayne Shuler, son of Eddie Shuler, who had founded Goldband Records in Louisiana.

In 1974, Brooks participated in a multi-artist tour of Europe and recorded an album, Sweet Home Chicago, for the French label Black & Blue. When he returned to Chicago, he began playing regularly at Pepper’s Hideout on the South Side. There he attracted the attention of Bruce Iglauer, head of the fledgling Alligator Records, who had previously seen him at the Avenue Lounge on the city’s West Side.

In 1978, Iglauer included four of Brooks’s songs (including three originals) in the anthology series Living Chicago Blues, released by Alligator. He was signed to the label, which released his album Bayou Lightning the following year. The album won the Grand Prix du Disque Award from the 1980 Montreux Jazz Festival. While in Montreux, Brooks befriended the country music star Roy Clark, who arranged for him to appear on the country music television program Hee Haw.

Since that time, Brooks has recorded exclusively for Alligator, releasing seven albums in his own name and contributing to shared recordings and compilation appearances. His style, sometimes described as "voodoo blues", includes elements of Chicago blues, Louisiana blues, swamp pop and rhythm and blues. Other labels have issued pre-1978 recordings by Brooks and compilations of his singles.

Following the release of Bayou Lightning, Brooks began touring in the U.S. and also returned to Europe. A 1982 trip to Germany resulted in an hour-long live performance on German television. His next album, Hot Shot, was released in 1983. His album Wound Up Tight, released in 1986, featured his most famous fan, Johnny Winter, on guitar. Rolling Stone took notice of the album, running a six-page feature on Brooks. In 1987, BBC Radio broadcast an hour-long live performance by him.

By this time, his teenage son Ronnie Baker Brooks was touring with the band. He made his recording debut on his father's album Live from Chicago—Bayou Lightning Strikes.

Brooks’s 1991 release, Satisfaction Guaranteed, received much coverage in the press, including features and articles in the Washington Post, the Village Voice, the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, Guitar World, Living Blues, Blues Revue, and other publications.

Brooks went on a national concert tour with B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Koko Taylor, Junior Wells and Eric Johnson in the summer of 1993. Eric Clapton, performing in Chicago as part of his "From the Cradle" tour, honored Brooks by inviting the bluesman on stage for an impromptu jam at the blues club Buddy Guy's Legends.

In 1996, Brooks released Roadhouse Rules. The album was produced in Memphis by Jim Gaines, who also produced Luther Allison, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Santana. Ronnie Baker Brooks also played on this album. With fellow Gulf Coast blues veterans Long John Hunter and Phillip Walker (both of whom he had known and played with in the 1950s in Port Arthur), Brooks released Lone Star Shootout in 1999.

Brooks continues to tour in the U.S. and Europe. His sons, Ronnie Baker Brooks and Wayne Baker Brooks, are also full-time blues entertainers, fronting their own bands and touring extensively in the U.S. and abroad. Wayne Baker Brooks also plays in his father's band. The Brookses are frequent guest performers at each other's shows and have booked appearances as the Brooks Family.

Besides his live and recorded performances, Brooks appeared in the films Blues Brothers 2000 and The Express and in two UK television commercials for Heineken beer. His song "Eyeballin'" was used in the film Forever LuLu. "Got Lucky Last Night", featuring Johnny Winter, was used in the film Masters of Menace. Brooks also co-authored the book Blues for Dummies, with Wayne Baker Brooks and the music historian, guitarist, and songwriter Cub Koda.

Brooks was an influence on the soul artist Reggie Sears.

Discography

Lone Star Shootout, with Long John Hunter and Phillip Walker (Alligator, 1999)
Deluxe Edition (Alligator, 1997)
Roadhouse Rules (Alligator, 1996)
Let’s Talk It Over (1977 sessions released by Delmark, 1993)
Satisfaction Guaranteed (Alligator, 1991)
Live from Chicago: Bayou Lightning Strikes (Alligator, 1988)
Wound Up Tight (Alligator, 1986)
Live at Pepper’s (Black Magic, 1985; reissued by Black Top, 1996)
The Crawl, as Guitar Jr. (Goldband singles reissued by Charly, 1984)
Hot Shot (Alligator, 1983)
Turn On the Night (Alligator, 1981)
Blues Deluxe (Alligator/WXRT, 1980)
Bayou Lightning (Alligator, 1979)
Living Chicago Blues, vol. 3 (Alligator, 1978)
Sweet Home Chicago (Black & Blue, 1975; reissued by Evidence Records, 1994)
Broke an' Hungry, as Guitar Jr. (Capitol, 1969)

Sweet Home Chicago
Lonnie Brooks Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Oh baby, don't you want to go?
Oh baby, don't you want to go
Back to the land of California
To my sweet home, Chicago?

Oh baby, don't you want to go?
Oh baby, don't you want to go
Back to the land of California

To my sweet home, Chicago?

Now, one and one is two, two and two is four
I'm heavy loaded, baby, I'm booked, I got to go

Cryin', baby, honey, don't you want to go
Back to the land of California
To my sweet home, Chicago?

Now, two and two is four, four and two is six
You gon' keep on monkeyin' 'round here friend-boy
You gon' get your business all in a trick but I'm cryin'

Baby, honey, don't you want to go
Back to the land of California
To my sweet home, Chicago?

Now, six and two is eight, eight and two is ten
Friend-boy she trick you one time, she sure gon' do it again
But I'm cryin'

Hey, hey, baby, don't you want to go
To the land of California
To my sweet home, Chicago?

I'm goin' to California from there to Des Moines, Lowa,
Somebody will tell me that you need my help someday, cryin'

Hey, hey, baby, don't you want to go

Back to the land of California
To my sweet home Chicago?

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Lonnie Brooks's song "Sweet Home Chicago" reflect the desire of the singer to go back to his hometown, Chicago, after spending time in California. The song begins with the repeated refrain of "Oh baby, don't you want to go?" This question is posed twice, indicating the singer's strong desire to return home. He then goes on to specify that he wants to return "to the land of California" and "to [his] sweet home, Chicago."

The lyrics then proceed to give a series of mathematical equations, with numbers adding up to the singer's heavy workload, which he must attend to before he can return home. He implores his lover with cries of "Baby, honey, don't you want to go?" He then indicates that he plans to leave not just for Chicago, but also for Des Moines, Iowa, indicating his journey is longer than he initially stated.

Ultimately, the singer laments the danger of staying around his lover, noting that "she trick you one time, she sure gon' do it again." Despite this threat, his desire to return home to Chicago remains strong, and he continues to beg his lover to come with him.

Overall, the lyrics to "Sweet Home Chicago" reflect the desire for roots, a longing to return to one's original home. The addition of mathematical equations adds emphasis to the weighty tasks that must be done before the singer can fulfill this desire.

Line by Line Meaning

Oh baby, don't you want to go?
Asking if you’d like to go with me on this journey

Back to the land of California
Returning to California, land of opportunity

To my sweet home, Chicago?
My beloved hometown, Chicago

Now, one and one is two, two and two is four
Basics of mathematics

I'm heavy loaded, baby, I'm booked, I got to go
I'm very busy and I have to leave

Cryin', baby, honey, don't you want to go
Asking again, emotionally

Now, two and two is four, four and two is six
Continuation of basics of mathematics

You gon' keep on monkeyin' 'round here friend-boy
Stop wasting your time here, young man

You gon' get your business all in a trick but I'm cryin'
You will end up with problems if you continue, but I'm still asking emotionally and with tears

Baby, honey, don't you want to go
Asking again, emotionally

Now, six and two is eight, eight and two is ten
Continuation of basics of mathematics

Friend-boy she trick you one time, she sure gon' do it again
You cannot trust that person

Hey, hey, baby, don't you want to go
Attention grabber

I'm goin' to California from there to Des Moines, Lowa,
My route for the trip

Somebody will tell me that you need my help someday, cryin'
Someone will tell me that you need help in the future, but I'm still asking emotionally

Hey, hey, baby, don't you want to go
Attention grabber

Back to the land of California
Returning to California, land of opportunity

To my sweet home Chicago?
My beloved hometown, Chicago

Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Peermusic Publishing
Written by: ROBERT JOHNSON

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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