Ronnie Baker Brooks

Biography

Ronnie Baker Brooks (born January 23, 1967) is an American Chicago blues and soul blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was a respected club performer in Chicago, even before recording three solo albums for Watchdog Records. The son of fellow Chicago blues musician Lonnie Brooks, he is the brother of another blues guitarist, Wayne Baker Brooks.
AllMusic journalist, Andy Whitman, described Brooks as "... a better than average soul singer, a fine blues interpreter, and a monster guitarist with an ample supply of technique and passion."

Life and career

He was born Rodney Dion Baker in Chicago, Illinois, United States.
At the age of nine, he first appeared on stage playing guitar alongside his father. In 1985, he graduated from Hales Franciscan High School. He learned to play bass guitar and joined his father's band in 1986. He played guitar on his father's live album, Live from Chicago: Bayou Lightning Strikes, released by Alligator Records in 1988. He was then part of Alligator Records' 20th Anniversary Tour, performing alongside Koko Taylor, Elvin Bishop, and Lil' Ed Williams.
By 1998, Brooks was pursuing a solo career. His debut album, Golddigger×Golddigger1998 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1She’s a Golddigger5:152Turn a Bad Into a Positive4:143Baby Please (Come Back Home)5:044Where Do I Stand in Line6:005Love Rebound5:566Stuck on Stupid7:477You Make Me Feel So Good3:548Make These Blues Survive4:099Must’ve Been Bought4:0310Bald-headed Woman4:4511Cry Baby Cry5:0312I’ll See You Again4:18, was released the same year by the Watchdog label. It was produced by Janet Jackson. He was nominated for a Blues Music Award in 2000 for Best New Artist. His second album, Take Me Witcha×Take Me Witcha2001 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 15 tracks1I Had My Chance5:232Hit Me On The Hip4:143See You Hurt No More5:554Take me Witcha4:175Do You Love Me Baby?4:056It Takes a Smart Man To Play Dumb (smart dummy)4:437Pick Power3:138Set Me Free4:519Time Will Tell5:5510Bring Back the Love5:5111Drama Queen3:5512Perfect Love4:0213Flavor of the Week4:1114Give Me Your Heart3:3715I Laugh to Keep From Cryin'3:42, was released in May 2001.
Brooks next album was The Torch×The Torch2006 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 17 tracks1Born In Chicago4:332Are You Free For Me4:073It's On5:024A Long Goodbye3:545Love Again4:306You Wrong For That Now3:397Half3:568Be A Good Man4:119Train4:0010Other Side Of Love5:4011If It Don't Make Dollars, Then It Don't Make Sense3:4712Can't You See4:1113It's All About You3:5914Mack Momma4:2815The Torch Of The Blues5:0616Love Me Baby4:2717A Whole Lot Better Too4:29 (2006). The Boston Herald described it as "ferocious and unrelenting, The Torch may be
the year's best blues album." The album included contributions from Lonnie Brooks, Eddy Clearwater, Jimmy Johnson, Willie Kent, and Al Kapone and was produced by Jellybean Johnson. From 2007 to 2010, Brooks toured with band members Carlton Armstrong, C.J. Anthony Tucker, and Steve Nixon, to support The Torch. On occasions when his younger brother, Wayne Baker Brooks, joined him and his father on stage, they were billed as the Brooks Family Band.
Brooks played at the Notodden Blues Festival in 2007 and at Memphis in May and the Musikfest in 2009. In August 2010, he co-wrote three tracks with Chris Beard for the latter's Who I Am and What I Do, released by Electro Glide Records.
In 2012, the blues journalist David Brais declared Brooks "blues royalty", stating that "his particular style of Chicago blues has been performed on stages around the world. It honors the true torch bearers of this unique sound which includes Willie Dixon, Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Luther Allison and his father."
Times Have Changed was released in January 2017.
His latest album Blues in My DNA×Blues in My DNA11 October 2024 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1I'm Feeling You4:372Lonnie Brooks' Blessing0:143Blues in My DNA4:484My Love Will Make You Do Right4:395Accept My Love4:246All True Man4:107Robbing Peter to Pay Paul4:158Instant Gratification3:599I Got to Make You Mine4:1210Stuck on Stupid8:1211I Found a Dollar Looking for a Dime4:5212My Boo3:39, was released on October 11, 2024. It was his Alligator Records debut. He won a Blues Music Award for 'Song of the Year' for that album's title track, along with two further such awards for 'Contemporary Blues Album of the Year' and, in his own name, as the 'Contemporary Blues Male Artist of the Year'.
Brooks lives in Dolton, Illinois, and when he is not touring, he is a regular performer at the Odyssey East Lounge on Chicago's South Side.