to have a string of hits on the R&B chart, including the smooth "Next Time You See Me" (1957); remakes of Roosevelt Sykes's song "Driving Wheel" (1961), "Annie Get Your Yo-Yo" (1962), Robert Johnson's "Sweet Home Chicago", Guitar Slim's "The Things That I Used to Do" (1963), and Don Robey's "Mother-in-Law Blues" (1956), plus his own "Stand by Me" (1961). His success was limited after he left Duke in 1966. He recorded for various labels, including Mercury, Blue Rock, Minit, and Capitol. His final chart hit came in 1971 with "Drowning on Dry Land" on Capitol, which peaked at number 48 on the Billboard R&B chart. Death Parker died on November 18, 1971, at age 39, in Blue Island, Illinois, during surgery for a brain tumor. His next album was released by United Artists Records in 1972, titled I Tell Stories Sad and True, I Sing the Blues and Play Harmonica Too, It Is Very Funky. Reviewing it in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau said, "Once a big man on the blues circuit, Parker was turning into the forgotten Beale Streeter by the time he died ... and this is a respectful farewell... Never as penetrating as B.B. or Bobby, Parker smooths his way over the arrangements with the calm of a man who was mellow before the concept existed, at least in its present deracinated form. Highlight: the sad, true story that goes with 'Funny How Time Slips Away.'" Legacy On the 1974 album ...Explores Your Mind, Al Green dedicated his song "Take Me to the River" to Parker, whom he described in the song's spoken introduction as "a cousin of mine who's gone on, and we'd kinda like to carry on in his name". In 2001, Parker was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. He is also inducted into the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame. In 2011, Parker was honored with a marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail in Bobo. Discography Albums Blues Consolidated, 1958 (Duke DLP-72) Driving Wheel, 1962 (Duke DLP-76) The Best of Junior Parker, 1967 (Duke DLP-83) Like It Is, 1967 (Mercury SR 61101); also issued as Baby Please, 1967 (Wing SRW-16401) Honey-Drippin' Blues, 1969 (Blue Rock SRB-64004) Little Jr. Parker: Blues Man, 1969 (Minit 24024) Jimmy McGriff/Junior Parker [AKA Chicken Fried Soul], 1971 (United Artists UAS-5597); also issued as Jimmy McGriff with Junior Parker, 1972 (United Artists