Customer Reviews

Folkways Years

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

I love his vocals and his guitar playing. He brings a unique and wonderful style to standards such as "Summertime" and "What a Difference a Day Makes. " Check out the amazing guitar on a track like "Prisoner of Love." The disc also includes some snippets of an interview with Johnson. It's quite an eyeopener to hear this man's humble descriptions of his life - it's quite refreshing compared with the pampered and spoiled attitudes of celebrity muscians today.

These records are unique. Johnson plays all of these selections solo on an a very acoustic sounding electric guitar and sings them all. Now and then he talks about the songs. They range from blues to "my mother's eyes" and include a number of great pop ballads from "I'm Confessin" to "What a Difference a Day Makes." This is a master who had been playing and singing for 40 years, yet there is so much personal sentimental and feeling here, so much expression in the guitar playing. You feel like you know the man after you hear this. You feel like you really know these songs anew after you here this album. This is a good album for a thoughtful evening with a good glass of wine, a good friend, and an open mind!

A fantastic CD of the late great Lonnie Johnson. I bought this CD especially for the tune called 'Mister Trouble' which I had recorded off of a Blues program years ago but did not catch the artists name. When I found out a year later I purchased the CD immediately right here from Amazon ! It is good long CD with a great interview with Lonnie at the end and what a nice guy ! If you love folk blues this is a must have ! Buy it, listen to it, LOVE it. You will not be disappointed.

If you are interested in folk blues then buy this album. Lonnie plays solo on every track and even though uses a lot of the same runs, his guitar work is very enjoyable and has a unique voice. This album has a relaxing feel overall but you can still hear passion and expression in his guitar playing and vocals. As if that is not enough reason to buy the album, its only $8.99 for 24 tracks - great album for cheap price.

Although some hardcore Blues fans may complain about songs like "Old Rocking Chair" and "My Mother's Eyes" being on this album, the fact is that Lonnie Johnson sounded phenomenal when he crooned. This just isn't the Lonnie album for the guitar nerd; that's all. The interview at the end of the disc about his entire family being musicians is fascinating. Also, despite people often listing his birth year as 1899, he was really born in 1889, according to more modern scholarship.

His early recordings, that were recorded around the 1930s or 1940s, or something like that, are the recordings that defined Lonnie Johnson. His guitar playing is great on those early recordings. "Tommorow Night" is a good jazz song that I still here played occationally today. But by the time he recorded this Folkway album, he was a older man. All of these songs sound kind of the same, and they are all boring background music sounding. His guitar playing is predictable and calm, which is the complete opposite of what I feel about his early work.

Overall, this is the wrong album to buy if you are interested in Lonnie Johnson or the blues.

this cd is similar to 'another night to cry'. both cds are excellent