Customer Reviews

Rediscovering Lonnie Johnson

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I was happy to hear that a group of performers were creating a tribute to Lonnie Johnson, but I'm afraid the end result was a disappointment. If it sparks interest in Lonnie's life, music, and significant contribution to jazz and blues, the CD will have served him well. The performances are obviously well intentioned, but Geoff Muldaur only handles one vocal--he should have had them all. Singer Eddie Davis is painful to listen to, but guitarist Jef Lee Johnson is not. I wish I could embrace this release wholeheartedly, but there is plenty of the real thing available, from the classic sides of the 1920s, 30s and 40s to the post "rediscovery" recordings.

I am very pleased with this album. Lonnie Johnson was so much more than just a blues musician. He was a great all-around musician, playing not only the gut-bucket guitar blues, but also intricate jazz with Satchmo and Eddie Lang. This album showcases that diverse history and ability, covering both genres.

Jef Lee Johnson's guitar playing is immaculate - definitely the highlight of the album, almost ghostly in bringing Lonnie's sound back to life. Blues Anatomy provide lush instrumentation and vocals that set this album apart from most new blues albums. Although I love straight-ahead blues, my one complaint about most albums is that there is too much of one sound. Not the case in Rediscovering Lonnie Johnson. It has an amazing balance and flow, carrying you from song to song through the entire album.

Hats off to producer Aaron Levinson for once again branding an album with his respect for great music and musical history. This is how all concept albums should be approached and executed.

the shortest poem ever recorded?

"Me, We" - Muhhammad Ali.

the shortest review ever on amazon?

rediscovering my love for this clairvoyant and timeless song writer;

rediscovering my respect for recordings produced with real (live) musicians;

rediscovering the truth, the history, the beauty;

rediscovering LONNIE JOHNSON

if you like real (good) music you are certain to love this one.

kudos good people that made this recordign!

Bought this record on a whim and was very pleasantly surprised. Clean, arrangements, excellent lead guitar (Jef Lee Johnson)and catchy tunes. A great change of pace from the 'blues genre' yet elements of great guitar and vocal styles. Looking forward to more music from blues anatomy and other 'rediscovering' artists music series. Worth checking out!!

This CD from Philadelphia-based Range Records and produced by Grammy-winning Aaron Levinson, is a marvelous tribute to the great Lonnie Johnson. Lonnie (1894-1970) was one of the most important musicians of the 20th century, but sadly is little known today. Lonnie was the prime creator of the powerful, virtuoso guitar solo for Blues, Jazz and from there to nearly all the rest of popular music. He was popular music's first truly great genius of guitar, and he influenced major musical figures from Robert Johnson to BB King to Eric Clapton, and many jazz guitarists and beyond.

Jef Lee Johnson (no relation) takes on the impossible task of playing Lonnie in this tribute album, with help from Philadelphia-based Blues Anatomy. They play with soul and great spirit, and Jef contributes his own virtuoso guitar-playing (in his own style, as a tribute, rather than trying to slavishly mimic Lonnie).

They open with a band doing Handy's classic "St. Louis Blues," with excellent vocal work by Eddie Davis. The third song is a cover of the great early jazz piece by Louis Armstrong and his legendary Hot Fives, "I'm Not rough. Lonnie matched Armstrong in virtuosity on the original. The Eddie Davis vocal work on this song is even better than on St. Louis Blues. This version of the song is great; I love this performance!

They do a couple of the legendary instrumental guitar duets Lonnie did in the late 1920s with great white guitarist, Eddie Lang - which still inspire and awe guitarists today. They also include an original tribute song by Joe Mass, "Ben Franklin Blues," in honor of the "rediscovery" of Lonnie by Chris Albertson at the end of the 1950s doing blue collar work at Philadelphia's Ben Franklin Hotel.

The CD winds up with Lonnie's huge 1948 R & B ballad hit, "Tomorrow Night," which was covered by Elvis at the beginning of his career. In fact, if you get a copy of Lonnie's original and the Elvis cover of 1954, you can hear how Elvis got a key part of his vocal technique directly from Lonnie's recording!

-Dean Alger, St. Paul, Minnesota

Rediscovering Lonnie Johnson is what I've been doing for the past couple of weeks. I decided I needed to brush up on his music, just a little, before writing this review. Here it is weeks later and I'm still brushing. It's easy to do, though, with somebody as proficient, diverse and talented as Lonnie Johnson was.

Lonnie Johnson was born in New Orleans of a musical family. His father was a violinist and led a family band which consisted of mother, father, and all eleven children. Lonnie went on to marry another musician, Mary Smith, a blues singer. In his early life, Lonnie's instruments included jazz violin and guitar. Later he made a name again with blues guitar, and then again in Philadelphia, reverting mainly back to jazz, but also in blues. BB King called Lonnie his idol and once said of him, "...he was one of the people that made me want to play."

Lonnie played with many famous bands during his career, including Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, which clearly shows the depth and breadth of his abilities. He toured Europe while still a teenager; he toured with Bessie Smith, and he worked with "Baby" Dodds in Chicago. By the time he was in his early thirties he had recorded 130 sides.

Following the Great Depression, Johnson began recording again in Chicago. From there he went to King Records in Cincinatti. There, in 1948, one of the songs Lonnie recorded was a song called "Tomorrow Night," which stayed on the Rhythm & Blues charts for seven weeks, and which he quickly followed with several more hits.

Philadelphia has always been a hotbed of music, beginning in Colonial days, when it was one of the first ports of call for many European musicians emigrating or touring. It was a musical nurturing ground during the Civil War on up to the turn of the century. In the early 20th century it became a jazz haven along with New York and St Louis and New Orleans, although not as well known as the others. Philadelphia was both cruel and kind to Lonnie Johnson. He wasn't born there, he didn't die there, but during his long and accomplished life Johnson lived and worked there, and he made many of the musical connections that helped in his later career.

Like Robert Johnson, Lonnie Johnson slipped under the radar for a period, reemerging in Philadelphia. But unlike Robert Johnson, Lonnie Johnson's story is one of two successes sandwiching a period of relative obscurity. In the late 1950s Lonnie had fallen into a timewarp, moving to Philadelphia and working as a janitor, until his rediscovery around 1960 by banjoist Elmer Snowden, who brought Lonnie to the attention of noted jazz reviewer Chris Albertson. He toured Europe again with the American Folk Blues Festival in 1963; he recorded for several American labels during this second career, and he recorded in Europe with Otis Spann in Denmark; and he cut some sides with the Fontana label in Germany.

Johnson moved to Canada in 1965 and opened a club called The Home of the Blues Club. His demise began in 1969 as a result of being hit by a car while walking on a Toronto street. This was followed by several strokes which caused him to limit but not entirely cease his musical performances. His final stroke came shortly after he appeared with Buddy Guy at Toronto's renowned Massey Hall at the age of 81.

Rediscovering Lonnie Johnson is a good cross-section of Lonnie's accomplishments, giving you the pleasure of hearing at least a sampling of most of his dossier. I also encourage you to learn about Lonny Johnson's storied and momentous career, and to seek out his other recordings. Start with Bill Dahl's biography on the All Music website, which begins, "Blues guitar simply would not have developed in the manner that it did if not for the prolific brilliance of Lonnie Johnson. He was there to help define the instrument's future within the genre and the genre's future itself at the very beginning, his melodic conception so far advanced from most of his pre-war peers as to inhabit a plane all his own." You can find it on All Music Guide.

My favorite tracks: I'm Not Rough (BOURBON STREET); Swing Out Rhythm (WILD RIDE ON THE STRINGS); 6/88 Glide (SLIPPERY); He's a Jelly Roll Baker (NAUGHTY); Have Keys (SENSATIONAL STRUMMIN'); Bull Frog Moan (IT DOES); Careless Love (GREAT LAMENT); Playing With The Strings (SERIOUS PLAYING!); Tomorrow Night (A LOVERS WORRY). This music is not of a genre I would normally listen to, but it swept me up and kept me spinning. Jef Lee Johnson is an artist's artist. The disc might have been better if the vocalist had a chest cold. Check it out; you'll be hooked.

Lonnie Johnson was the original pioneer of the guitar. From jazz to blues and pop Lonnie synthesized all these forms into a seamless whole. Jef Lee Johnson and the Blues Anatomy crew do a stellar job of encapsulating Lonnie's astonishing contribution to our cultural history. Solo guitar, duets,trio and big band it's all here in glorious stereo. If you are a fan of soulful music this album is a must have.