Junior Brown
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Jamieson "Junior" Brown (born June 12, 1952) is an American
country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...
guitarist and singer. He has released twelve studio albums in his career, and has charted twice on the ''
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'' country singles charts. Brown's signature instrument is the "guit-steel" double neck guitar, a hybrid of electric guitar and lap steel guitar.


Life and career

Brown was born in Cottonwood, Arizona; at an early age his family moved to Kirksville, Indiana. He first learned to play piano from his father (Samuel Emmons Brown Jr.) "before I could talk". His music career began in the 1960s, and he worked through that decade and the next singing and playing pedal steel and guitar for groups such as The Last Mile Ramblers, Dusty Drapes and the Dusters, Billy Spears and
Asleep at the Wheel Asleep at the Wheel is an American country music, Western swing music group that was formed in Paw Paw, West Virginia, in 1970, and is based in Austin, Texas. The band has won nine Grammy Awards, released over 20 albums, and has charted more t ...
while developing his guitar skills. In the early 1980s, he appeared on stage with Rank and File as the replacement for Alejandro Escovedo. However, he did not feature on any recordings by that band. By the mid-1980s, Brown was teaching guitar at the Hank Thompson School of Country Music at Rogers State University, in Claremore, Oklahoma. In 1985, Brown created a new type of double-neck guitar, with some assistance from Michael Stevens. Brown called the instrument his "guit-steel". When performing, Brown plays the guitar by standing behind it, while it rests on a small music stand. The top neck on the guit-steel is a traditional six-string guitar, while the lower neck is a full-size lap steel guitar for slide playing. Brown has two guit-steels for recording and live work. The original instrument, dubbed "Old Yeller", has as its standard six-string guitar portion the neck and pickups from Brown's previous stage guitar, a Fender Bullet. The second guit-steel, named "Big Red", has a neck laser-copied from the Bullet neck; but in addition to electric guitar pickups, both the standard and lap-steel necks use identical Sho-Bud lap-steel pickups. There is a pocket in the upper bout of the guitar to hold the slide bar when it is not in use. Brown also commissioned a "pedal guit-steel" which adds pedals to the instrument for more musical control. Brown has stated that the invention of the guit-steel was always a matter of convenience so that he could play both lap steel and lead guitar during live performances and not directly motivated by a desire to be a "one man band". Brown quickly became a local success in
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, as the house band at the Continental Club. His debut album was ''12 Shades of Brown'' (1990), released by the British Demon Records; it was re-released in 1993 on Curb Records in the United States, followed by ''Guit with It''. In 1996, Brown released '' Semi Crazy'', and followed it with '' Long Walk Back'' (1998). In 1996, Brown was featured on the
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' now out-of-print album '' Stars and Stripes Vol. 1'' performing a cover of their 1962 hit "409". The song features Brown playing guitar and singing lead with the Beach Boys singing harmonies and backing vocals. Brown appeared in the music video for "Honky Tonk Song" by
George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American Country music, country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for a long list of hit records, and is well known for his distinctive voice an ...
in 1996 and also won the CMA Country Music Video of the Year award that year for his video, "My Wife Thinks You're Dead", which featured 6-foot-7-inch Gwendolyn Gillingham. Brown played a cameo part in " Drive", the second episode of season six of ''
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''. Brown's music has been showcased on various television series and movie soundtracks, including '' Me, Myself & Irene'', ''
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'' and the 2005 '' Dukes of Hazzard'' remake, in which he also played the narrator. Although Brown plays such neotraditional country styles as honky-tonk, Western swing, etc., some of his performances will finish with some
blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...
and
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tunes playing as well as surf rock instrumentals. Beginning in August 2006, Brown joined Webb Wilder's tour of American minor league baseball stadiums. He reprised his role in an episode ("World of Hurt, BC") of
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's '' Xavier: Renegade Angel'' created by rock band PFFR. In April 2008, Brown shot three pilot episodes of a country music program modeled after programs from the early 1960s, in which Brown will play with a
house band A house band is a group of musicians, often centrally organized by a band leader, who regularly play at an establishment. It is widely used to refer both to the bands who work on entertainment programs on television or radio, and to bands which ...
as well as guests as host of the show. On October 12, 2012, Brown released the EP ''Volume 10'', containing six new songs. AMC previewed the video of his new song "
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", on October 5, 2014. On May 24, 2018, Brown released his 11th album, ''Deep in the Heart Of Me''. On May 27, 2020, ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
'' magazine's listing of 50 Country Albums Every Rock Fan Should Own, honored Brown’s US released album, ''12 Shades of Brown'' (Curb Records, 1993). In May 2020, Brown and his wife began hosting a series of live Facebook concerts under the name, "The Junior & Tanya Rae Brown Show".


Discography


Albums


Singles


Music videos


Awards and nominations


Grammy Awards

, - ,
1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...
, ''Junior High'' , Best Country Album , rowspan=3 , - , rowspan=2,
1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...
, rowspan=2, "My Wife Thinks You're Dead" , Best Male Country Vocal Performance , - , Best Country Song


Academy of Country Music Awards

, - ,
1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...
, "My Wife Thinks You're Dead" , Video of the Year ,


Country Music Association Awards

, - ,
1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...
, "My Wife Thinks You're Dead" , Video of the Year ,


References


External links


Official Junior Brown web site
*
Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

Junior Brown Interview
at NAMM Oral History Collection (2002) {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Junior 1952 births 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians American country guitarists American country singer-songwriters American male guitarists American male singer-songwriters Country musicians from Indiana Country musicians from Arizona Curb Records artists Guitarists from Arizona Guitarists from Indiana Living people People from Yavapai County, Arizona Singer-songwriters from Arizona Singer-songwriters from Indiana Steel guitarists