Customer Reviews

Best of Johnny Guitar Watson

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Forget about Clapton and Hendrix or Page-one listen to the first track on this cd will convince you that Johnny may have been the greatest guitarist ever in the history of Rock n Roll. 1955's classic "Space Guitar" cooks- I mean the stratocaster played by Johnny is on fire-it will blow your mind the first time you hear it-it just cooks from beginning to end. This cd also contains his 2 top 10 R@B classics "Those lonely,lonely nights" and one of my all time favorites from the early 60's "Cuttin in". So much incredible talent in this man and as with so many Black artists it saddens me that he never recieved the recognition he deserved. Etta James said her whole singing style particularly her ballad style was based entirely on the phrasing and enunciation of Johnny and I can hear it when I microscopically examine her music.Whenever some writer gets around to documenting the true story of RocknRoll( which hasn't been done to this day) the story of Johnny "Guitar"Watson will take up as many pages in that book as Elvis and The Beatles do today in literally every Rock chronical you pick up. What a great artist and what a great cd . On the instrumental spectrum of things, Rock n Roll may have started when "Space Guitar" was laid to wax way back yonder in 19 hundred and fifty five.

before he became a super funakteer in the 70's in the 50's&60's he was a blues&rock-n-roll guitar playing genius.he is very underrated but this disc showcases the many talents of this man not to mention his influence on many guitarists & musicians in general.

Johnny Guitar is a bad, bad man. He's been kept off of many blues fan's radar far too long and it's time he got his due. This brother got down and dirty with some nasty licks, but could also put you in a frenzy with his impassioned singing on such shoulda-been classics as "Cold, Cold Heart" and "Cuttin' In". This CD includes sides he did as a solo artist as well as nuggets from his session work days. THE O.G, the original Gangster of Love.

Johnny Guitar Watson, and his contributions to early rock and roll and blues, is one of the most overlooked aspects and it is sad. 'Cause not only could this guy play a pretty mean guitar, but he could also belt out a tune. Take this into consideration: Johnny was the main inspiration for the guitar playing of Frank Zappa, a true guitar wiz. And Etta James, blues, r&b, and soul singer extroadinairre, has credited Johnny with being the inspiration of her style in singing. Not bad. This CD features Johnny's early output fro the 1950's to early 60's. This is just one phase of his musical career. This man reinvented himself so many times to stay current and all of his music is great, from playing blues, standards,jazz, and pop-funk later on. This CD is a great introduction to his music.