Blues
One of the towering figures of the blues, Lonnie Johnson is rarely put in the category of the other blues greats — men with household names such as Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker — and it's hard to understand why. A mesmerizing guitarist, a gifted singer, and a great songwriter, Johnson is revered among blues enthusiasts despite his rather slim recording output. Rambler's Blues, a budget-line collection of Johnson's work, is a decent enough overview of the guitarist's output, containing the classic title track and 15 other top-drawer performances. But it's hard to see the purpose of the collection. As a scattershot 'best-of', it's fine, but it faces strong competition from both Document and Columbia, each of whom offer superlative collections of Johnson's work. And there seems little point in selecting this disc as a sampler of the artist.
By Thomas Ward. AMG.
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Johnson was a pioneering Blues and Jazz guitarist and banjoist. He started playing in cafes in New Orleans and in 1917 he traveled in Europe, playing in revues and briefly with Will Marion Cook's Southern Syncopated Orchestra. When he returned home to New Orleans in 1918 he discovered that his entire family had been killed by a flu epidemic except for one brother. He and his surviving brother, James "Steady Roll" Johnson moved to St. Louis in 1920 where Lonnie played with Charlie Creath's Jazz-O-Maniacs and with Fate Marable in their Mississippi riverboat bands. In 1925 Johnson married Blues singer Mary Johnson and won a Blues contest sponsored by the Okeh record company. Part of the prize was a recording deal with the company. Throughout the rest of the 1920s he recorded with a variety of bands and musicians, including Eddie Lang, Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five and the Duke Ellington Orchestra. In the 1930s Johnson moved to Cleveland, Ohio and worked with the Putney Dandridge Orchestra, and then in a tire factory and steel mill. In 1937 he moved back to Chicago and played with Johnny Dodds, and Jimmie Noone. Johnson continued to play for the rest of his life, but was often forced to leave the music business for periods to make a living. In 1963 he once again appeared briefly with Duke Ellington.
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01. I Did All I Could (3:00)
02. What A Real Woman (2:35)
03. Falling Rain Blues (2:44)
04. Mean Old Bed Bug Blues (2:51)
05. Jersey Belle Blues (2:55)
06. Crowing Rooster (2:36)
07. Ramber's Blues (2:51)
08. Let All Married Women Alone (3:16)
09. Deep Minor Rhythm Stomp (3:01)
10. I'm Just Dumb (2:56)
11. Get Yourself Together (3:08)
12. In Love Again (2:51)
13. What A Woman (2:47)
14. Swing Out Rhythm (2:28)
15. Blue Ghost Blues (2:59)
16. Somebody's Got To Go (3:02)
**
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