Artist: Juke Boy Bonner
Title: The Sonet Blues Story
Label: Verve
Release Date: 2006
Format: MP3 @ 320 K
One-man bands weren't any too common on the postwar blues scene. Joe Hill Louis and Dr. Ross come to mind as greats who plied their trade all by their lonesome -- and so did Juke Boy Bonner, a Texan whose talent never really earned him much in the way of tangible reward. Troubled by stomach problems during the '60s, Bonner utilized his hospital downtime to write poems that he later turned into songs. He cut his best work during the late '60s for Arhoolie Records, accompanying himself on both guitar and racked harmonica as he weaved extremely personal tales of his rough life in Houston. A few European tours ensued, but they didn't really lead to much. Toward the end of his life, he toiled in a chicken processing plant to make ends meet. Bonner died of cirrhosis of the liver in 1978
Recorded in Berkeley in 1971.
Track list:
01. I'm a Bluesman
02. Problems All Around
03. Trying to Get Ahead
04. If You Don't Want to Get Mistreated
05. Lonesome Ride Back Home
06. Funny Money
07. I'm Lonely Too
08. Real Good Woman
09. Come to Me
10. Yammin' the Blues
11. Better Place to Go
12. Tired of the Greyhound Blues
Personnel:
Weldon H. Philip "Juke Boy" Bonner - vocals, guitar, harmonica, drums