For as long
as there’s been kitchens, parents have turned their children loose with
a wooden spoon and an upside down pot, letting their young ones
entertain themselves by striking pot with spoon, over and over again.
But for a
young Wayne Baker Brooks, those free-form jams in the dining room with
an assortment of kitchen utensils had a little more meaning to them.
They were
song-writing sessions with his dad, Chicago blues legend Lonnie Brooks.
“Growing
up, we would help dad write songs. Those were really my first lessons in
song-writing – those times helping him,” said Wayne Baker Brooks. “He’d
have me beating on a box or pots and pans with forks and knifes, playing
the drums. And he’d have my brother Ronnie playing the bass lines on a
guitar. Dad would sit there and say, ‘keep that groove right there.
Don’t move.’ And he’d be thinking up lyrics as we played. And then he’d
tell us where the turnaround was in the song. So in retrospect, that was
my very first songwriting class, even though I didn’t know it at the
time.”
While most
of those pot-and-pan banging songwriting workouts with his dad resulted
in fruit that was would soon find its way to one of Lonnie Brooks’ many
releases on the Alligator Records label, the kind of fruit Wayne Baker
Brooks harvests these days is a bit different than the traditional
Chicago blues that his dad crafts.
And
according to Wayne Baker Brooks, that’s by design.
“I could do
an all blues album, 12-bar stuff, and probably get a lot of recognition
just in the blues industry. And I’m fine with that,” he said. “But I’m
influenced by a lot of other music outside of the blues. I grew up on
everything from the blues to George Clinton, to Run DMC to Grandmaster
Flash and the Furious Five. My dad introduced us to a lot of blues as
babies. Actually, when we were still in the womb, he would put
headphones on my mom’s stomach and that was our first introduction to
music and the blues. I learned music by
ear; I don’t know how to read
music and I don’t know how to write music, except from the heart. I have
to feel something in order for me to do something. It’s all about
feelings and emotions for me. I can’t do anything that I don’t feel
inside.”
And lately,
that feeling inside has led Wayne Baker Brooks down a path that only a
small number of artists have chosen to travel.
A path that
has managed to span two wildly different worlds.
Released
this past winter, the single “Something’s Going Down” is a fast and
furious tune that takes a ghostly, bluesy vibe and melds it with some
socially-conscious rhymes, and is underpinned by some old-school,
soulful backing vocals.
Not his
daddy’s blues, for sure.
“It
(“Something’s Going Down”) is a unique, innovative blend of blues and
hip-hop, with the legendary, multi-Platinum rapper Twista, Grammy Award
winner GLC and the legendary blues harmonica player Sugar Blue,” Brooks
said. “That single really helped the mainstream know who Wayne Baker
Brooks is.”
Rap artists
have long ago proven they are comfortable stepping outside of their
normal zone and are routinely heard on a number of pop, rock and top 40
tunes these days.
But a
big-time superstar like Twista free-styling over a blues track?
“Man, he
absolutely loved it. I got another track with Twista on it and that kind
of shocked me,” said Brooks. “I sent him two tracks so he could choose
the one he wanted to work on. But he messed around and liked them both,
so he did both of them. That lets me know that these youngsters do want
the blues, but they just don’t know how to put them together.”
Fans of
Mystery, Brooks’ 2004 solo release, shouldn’t fret about his dabbling in
the world of hip-hop.
Because
Wayne Baker Brooks sure hasn’t turned his back and abandoned the
incendiary, guitar-driven blues that he cut his teeth on when he was
growing up and gigging with his dad, along with Buddy Guy, Luther
Allison and a score of other forefathers of the genre.
His latest
single, “Changeling,” issued July 12 on Brooks’ own Blues Island
Records, is proof positive of that.
“Oh, yeah.
That was a song I recorded with Tom Hambridge, who has produced a host
of others, like Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Shemekia Copeland
and a lot of other big names,” said Brooks. “I’m so full of gratitude to
be included on his producer’s list. That song is currently being picked
up all over Canada and the United States right now, so it’s doing well.
Those that knew me only as my father’s guitar tech now know I’m a major
player in this industry.”
While he
definitely has one eye on the future, with the way his music is composed
to reflect our modern times, Brooks also has one eye turned on the past,
taking a page out of the way the record industry used to do business –
with artists releasing a series of singles before their long-player
would ever hit the open market.
“I have 22
tracks finished and I feel like I can release a single every three to
four months. And that seems to be working. I know people are waiting for
a new album from me, but with the technology these days, it’s allowing
us to bring back the old days,” he said. “If you look at the way hip-hop
does things, they release mix-tapes, or even give away mix-tapes. People
are so tired of buying an album and only liking one song on it.
Nowadays, the people are only going to buy what they like - with iTunes
and Amazon and Rhapsody and these other digital retailers selling
singles – so I’m releasing the stuff that I think my audience will like.
And that’s been working out. Not only are the people liking what I’m
doing, the tastemakers are liking it, as well. And with this collection
of singles, I have music for everybody. But the bottom line is, the
audience is my boss. I listen to what the people want.”
And with
the people digging the direction that he’s been heading in lately,
Brooks is confident that following his heart is the only way to go,
regardless of where that journey takes him.
“Well, each
song I write is a part of me. I truly think that’s my strongest point
–songwriting. I’m not looking to be a Jimi Hendrix or some singing
sensation; I just love to write songs,” he said. “I want to be the best
Wayne Baker Brooks that I possibly can be. I am trying to master the
Chicago blues, but I also have this other side of me, where I would like
to expand the blues. My whole purpose is to turn people on to the blues
that know nothing about the blues. So I’m using that other side of me to
grab that audience and say, ‘hey. This is where that music (popular)
comes from.’ All American music comes from the blues and my purpose is
to turn other people on to the blues. I’ve figured it out. That’s why
I’m here.”
One heck of
a busy dude, in addition to being a singer, song writer, guitar player
and producer, Wayne Baker Brooks also owns a record label, is his own
booking agency and manager, and he also owns his own publishing company.
Whew!
But there’s
yet another facet to Wayne Baker Brooks.
He’s also a
published author.
Released in
1998, Blues for Dummies is 400 well-written pages that spotlights the
founding fathers of the genre, gives insightful tips on
how to listen to
the blues and even tells the proper way to throw a juke joint-styled
party.
Novices to
the music, as well those well-versed in the blues, can all pick up a
host of helpful information from Brooks’ book.
“That was
an unexpected project. I came up with the idea and took it to IDG
Books,” he said. “It was during the 1996 Chicago Blues Festival. It was
the first time in seven or eight years that we didn’t have anything to
do that weekend, so I went and hung out with a couple of my friends. And
they were showcasing Muddy Waters’ house at the blues fest. So I walked
into this shack that 17 people had lived in and I thought, ‘wow. This is
the deep blues right here.’ But at the same time, I was so angry that
they uprooted this man’s house to come and show people where he lived. I
thought they would never do that to Elvis’ house – never do that to
Graceland. Everybody knows who Elvis is, but everybody doesn’t know who
Muddy Waters is. And that’s when I came up with the idea to write a
book. People should know who Muddy Waters is. They shouldn’t have to
uproot his house. People should go to Muddy Waters’ house just like they
go to Graceland. So the next morning, I woke up and told my friends,
‘I’m going to write a book.’ And they laughed. I said, ‘I’m going to
write Blues for Dummies,’ and then they really laughed.”
At that
time, the … for Dummies series was red-hot. Taking advantage of that,
Brooks found a willing publisher, IDG Books. After a meeting in a
downtown Chicago restaurant that was full of businessmen in suits (“I
was the only one in a baseball cap and jeans. I stuck out like a sore
thumb,” Brooks said), he was given the green light to proceed. But in
addition to coming up with the content for the book, he also had to come
up with a blues historian and a blues legend to help verify facts and
provide support when needed.
After a
quick phone call to former Brownsville Station and noted lover of all
things related to the blues, the late, great Cub Koda, Brooks had his
historian on board.
And as for
the blues legend? That shouldn’t have been hard to find with Lonnie
Brooks sitting right in the living room, right?
Wrong, says Wayne Baker Brooks.
“I told dad
the name of the book was Blues for Dummies and he said, ‘man, I ain’t
going around calling nobody a dummy, dummy.’ I felt like I was on
Sanford and Son for a minute and he was Fred Sanford calling (me) Lamont
a dummy,” laughed Brooks. “But he said no, he didn’t want to do it. So I
told him to just go to a book store and he’d see the … for Dummies
series everywhere. It was a big brand. So he went to the bookstore and
saw the series and came back and said, ‘man, I saw Wine for Dummies and
Math for Dummies and Sex for Dummies ...’ So I said, ‘are you going to
do it then?’ And he said, ‘hell no! I’m still not going to do it.’”
Faced with
the prospect of throwing in the towel, since he had already promised the
publisher that Lonnie Brooks would be the legend involved with the book,
Wayne Baker Brooks nevertheless stayed the course and called John Lee
Hooker, B.B. King and Robert Cray to see if they were interested in
coming aboard.
They were. All three
of them.
“They all
graciously said they would love to do the book. So I thought, cool, I
can choose any one of the three to be my co-author,” said Brooks. “So
the next day, I went back to my dad and told him that I had talked to
John Lee, B.B. and Robert and that they all said they would be involved
in the project. And then he said, ‘for real? They said they’d do it?’
And after a quick minute, he said, ‘never-mind. I’ll do it.’ So (helped
by a little peer pressure) dad got involved after all. So that’s how the
book came about, how Cub Koda and my dad
got a part of it. A lot of
people at the time the book came out thought I was coat-tailing my dad
and everything. They did not know that I actually came up with the idea,
spearheaded it and got all those cats involved with it. That was one of
the best times of my life, man.”
Even though
his calendar stays filled with the projects that he’s concentrating on
as a solo artist, Wayne Baker Brooks still makes sure to leave enough
open time to take the stage with Lonnie and Ronnie, treating blues fans
worldwide to the real-deal as a part of the Brooks Family Band.
“We just
did a very successful mini-tour up in Canada and we’re looking to do a
lot more,” Brooks said. “A lot of people know who my dad is and in the
last decade or so, they’re learning who me and my brother are. But
playing with my dad and brother is just so much fun. We’re all going to
find time to make this happen a lot more these days.”
Not only
does it give the Brooks kids an opportunity to spend time with their
dad, the Brook Family Band gives Lonnie a chance to just focus on
nothing but just playing the blues.
“The whole
purpose of doing the Brooks Family Band is so my dad can relax,” Brooks
said. “The only thing he has to do is turn on his amp, grab his guitar
and get up there and turn the people on. So the role between Ronnie and
I is to just let dad have fun and not have to worry about the stuff he
has to when he’s running his band. We have a lot of fun when we do the
Brooks Family Band and we plan to keep on doing it.”
Not content
to just lay back and wait for people to discover the healing power of
the blues on their own, the way Wayne Baker Brooks sees it; it’s his
duty to personally help lead the un-initiated to the wonderful world of
the blues.
“Blues
music gets a bad rap. It’s usually associated with being down, sad and
depressed. It has a negative name. But I look at blues music as an
oxymoron,” said Brooks. “Because when you hear blues players play blues
music, it’s joyous. You get up and dance and move around and get rid of
your blues. But youngsters can’t seem to associate blues music with
being a positive. But I truly believe that while blues was derived from
hardships, it was a way to make people get over those hardships. That’s
why blues is appreciated worldwide. When you listen to the blues, you
tend to forget about your own blues.”
And if
those efforts require the use of hip-hop - or other forms of popular
music – to turn newcomers on to the blues, Brooks is more than willing
to get involved on that level, as well.
The way he
sees it, getting people to embrace the blues might help solve this
country’s health-care crisis.
“I know
it’s going to take me a long time to get the mainstream to appreciate
what I’m doing, but if I could gather someone with a big name – like
Kayne or Jay-Z – and get them in the studio, man you have no clue how
many blues followers we’d have after that record,” he said. “I’m dying
to do something like that. And the reason why is to turn more people on
to the blues. That’s needed more than ever now. People are so eager
these days to go to the doctor or the physiatrist or spend all this
money on pills, when all you’ve got to do is go and support your local
blues band. You’ll have a good time AND forget all your problems. That’s
why those Blues Cruises are the biggest thing out there now. You’ve got
a whole week of just listening to the blues and having a damn good time.
Those people have found that one week of the blues is worth 52 weeks of
therapy.”
Blues
Music from the Florida Folklife Collection - Where The Palm Trees
Shake At Night
Franco
Paletta & The Stingers - Can’t Kick Love
Peaches
Staten – Live At Legends
The
Mighty Mojo Prophets – The Mighty Mojo Prophets
Greg
Nagy - Fell Toward None
Rod
Piazza and the Mighty Flyers - Almighty Dollar