Nine O'clock Blues: Aynsley Lister
By Marc Applegate


Also included on this week’s show will be Danny Brooks, born Daniel G. P. Middlebrook in Milton, Ontario, Canada, in 1951.

Danny Brooks has managed to bridge the Saturday night-Sunday morning gulf I’ve previously wrote about. He has recorded quite successful Gospel albums and also has recorded Blues, Country, and Rhythm and Blues works.

Brooks’ sound reflects the influences of Gospel, Blues, Bluegrass, Country and Rhythm and Blues. Danny was introduced to the ministry when his father had him and his siblings stand on Toronto street corners reciting scriptures. He rebelled and had a rough life for a period before he went to work in the music industry in the early 1970s after a short stretch in prison in 1972 which he credits with his song writing ability.

Danny Brooks spent a period of time in the late 1980s committed to the Donwood Institute in Toronto where he was treated for alcohol and drug addiction, and it was there that he found his religious faith. Since 1991 he has had a prison ministry.

Brooks, who has been nominated for Canada’s Juno Award for Most Promising Male Vocalist in 1991, had begun his solo recording career in 1990. After a move to Llano, Texas, in late 2012, Danny recorded an album called Texassippi Soul Man which contains his current style mix of soul, blues, gospel, rock and country. That album has cemented Danny Brooks as a fine exponent of Roots music.

Join me this week for music from Texassippi Soul Man by Danny Brooks.