Happy Birthday, Lonnie Johnson

February 8th, 1894, is the birthdate of New Orleanian Lonnie Johnson, one of the greatest of the early jazzmen and seminal guitar player.

Johnson began playing violin at an early age and added piano and mandolin to his skills. In New Orleans at that time, music studies were encouraged in the African American communities and many students played more than one instrument.

Johnson played in Storyville and, like Louis Armstrong, joined Fate Marable's orchestra on the Steckfuss brothers' riverboat line.  He went on to tour Europe, returning to play in Armstrong's Hot Five recordings, and is on the original 1927 recording of The Mooche by Duke Ellington. His recording career at this point reads like a who's who in blues and jazz: Bessie Smith, James P. Johnson, and Roosevelt Sykes among others.

Robert Johnson (whose father's surname was Dodds, then Spencer) reportedly chose his last name as a tribute to Lonnie.

He achieved his greatest commercial success in the late 1940's/ early 1950's with a series of smooth ballads. His recording of Tomorrow Night for Syd Nathan's King Records (later the home of James Brown and Freddie King) sold over three million copies. He was better known for his crooning than his guitar playing at that point, but today it is certainly the guitar playing that has made him a jazz/ blues immortal.

Despite his successes, he fell on hard times in the late '50's, and was rediscovered working as a maintenance man in Philadelphia at the Benjamin Franklin Hotel. Evidently, he wore white gloves to protect his hands, but otherwise kept a low profile. No one knew the janitor was once a superstar in jazz and rhythm and blues.

In the last decade of his life, he once again toured Europe, made new records, mostly LP's for folk or jazz- oriented labels and was reunited with many old sidemen from his youth, notably former Ellingtonian Elmer Snowden, with whom he recorded a very successful comeback record.

Lonnie Johnson died on June 6, 1970, in Toronto, from consequences due to a 1969  auto injury.











My favorite Johnson recordings are the duets he made with fellow guitar virtuoso Eddie Land. These duets, which usually feature Lang on rhythm and Johnson on lead 12- string have a bounce to them that make them sound completely contemporary. Just incredible. Here's Deep Minor Rhythm Stomp:



Once again, I'm reminded of the rich contribution to American music from AGC, New Orleans. Maybe it's the water.

Saints Win, So Do We!

A victory like this is a victory for every underdog everywhere. Right now, we're all underdogs. This victory belongs to every single one of us.

Thanks again, New Orleans.

The Big Blizzard of 1939

Courtesy of Shorpy.com:

Blogged Down

A friend of mine wrote under the heading, "Enough rest old man":
" I don't want to sound ungrateful,but post SOMETHING!
I don't have much of a life and I really like the stuff You put up! I know your family is important,but I also know your creativity also knocks.
Hey, post something just for me! I'll Know.
Congrats on IBC!!"

Then he wrote:
"I know your fan base is not as important as family. I'm just nudgin'"

Damn it, but he's right- that Memphis trip and subsequent events have left me blogged down and listless. But that's no excuse! Especially when the "fan base" demands it!

So, what's it going to be?

My long- considered rant about how we pay for cable TV and still have to put up with endless commercials and mediocre programming? Whose idea of the future is this?

Or a commentary on the great Little Walter Jacobs whose box set released on Chess/ MCA this last year won a Grammy?

Or to steer you to a great story here in the Onion that gives me much needed confidence that satire is not dead in this humorless, beleaguered country?

Or how about those Saints? This will be the first time since the Skins were Superbowl regulars that I've been planning to watch. That last game was incredible. Best coin toss ever!

Or maybe just a little reminder that the great entertainer Louis Jordan died in Los Angeles on this date in 1975. I could even add a pic:

Or how about an intelligent meditation on J. D. Salinger and his impact on post- adolescent boys flunking out of expensive prep schools?

And then there are my thoughts about creativity and the near impossibility of sustaining it. Think about it: when was the last time Chuck Berry wrote a great song? Or Leiber and Stoller, for that matter?

So much to blog about. Wonder what the "fan base" is thinking?

The Peabody Hotel

The Blues Challenge is over. We made the finals, and Matt Kelley, our young wunderkind guitar player won the top guitarist award (see Memphis blog Memphis Blues Again for the whole story), and now we can get on with making music and growing as a band.

We stayed across the street from the venerable landmark Peabody Hotel, the one with the ducks, and I took a short break and popped over and made these pics.

A quick observation: Memphis is a far- from- happening town. It's numerous glory days are very much in the past, and the recent death of music genius Willie Mitchell seemed to confirm this in a definitive way. Buildings are boarded up and Beale Street is a sanitized semi- reminder of the beauty of the music once made there.

Oddly enough, the Peabody Hotel, which should seem more museum- like than ever, is strikingly vital, grand and stately. It was a pleasure to stroll through the lobby and make these pictures.

 

 

Our Memphis Trip

I've started another blog with ongoing information and observations about the Big Boy Little trip to Memphis and International Blues Competition.

You can get there by clicking the link built into the title to this entry.

I Re-edit Old Posts

That's right. Just so you know, I do go back to old posts and re-write sentences, or add stuff or cut stuff. Just so you know.