Lonnie Johnson Unsung Blues Legend: The Living Room Sessions CD

Blues guitarist Lonnie Johnson is captured in a rare, never before released recording that took place at a small gathering in the home of his close friend Bernie Strassberg in 1965, demonstrating both his superb guitar and stunning vocals. Features unpub

Solo performer: Lonnie Johnson (vocals, guitar).
Reissue producer: Jim Eigo.
Recorded in Queens, New York in 1965. Includes liner notes by Bernie Strassberg.
Digitally remastered by Malcolm Addey.
This one of a kind CD, a never-before-released solo performance by Lonnie Johnson, features the bluesman five years before his death, playing guitar and singing in the living room of painter and friend Bernie Strassberg in 1965. The raw recording quality and solo guitar-and-voice format recall the classic Delta blues recordings of Robert Johnson (no relation). The ultra-informal setting also brings to mind Lenny Breau's Cabin Fever, on which the acoustic 7-string master was recorded in an isolated log cabin. While there's a deeply traditional blues feeling to Johnson's performances, many of the songs he performs come from the jazz canon: "I'm Confessin'," "I Can't Give You Anything But Love," Kurt Weill's "September Song," Duke Ellington's "Solitude," Hoagy Carmichael's "Rockin' Chair," and Gershwin's "Summertime." But there's also plenty of straight blues, in particular Johnson's own "New Orleans Blues" and Bessie Smith's "Back Water Blues." Johnson's singing voice is remarkably versatile -- effortless and earthy on the blues, yet sophisticated enough to handle the tricky melodies of Ellington and Weill. Johnson goes for long stretches without a break, stringing together as many as seven songs back-to-back; a few are barely more than a minute long. But he stretches out for over five minutes on his own "There'll Be Some Changes Made," and he pulls off a seven-minute tour de force on W.C. Handy's "St. Louis Blues." Throughout, Johnson displays an all-out mastery of the guitar, playing deft call-and-response licks in the manner of Nat King Cole, subtle chord-melody passages à la Eddie Lang, and screaming blues outbursts that nearly suggest Jimi Hendrix. One is struck by Johnson's stylistic breadth and depth and his contributions to a whole range of 20th century genres. ~ David R. Adler
New Orleans-bred guitarist/singer Lonnie Johnson is a seminal figure in American music. Johnson, one of the 1920s' first recorded jazz guitarists, played both blues and jazz brilliantly, and recorded with Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Helen Humes, while his songs were recorded by such luminaries as Big Joe Turner and Elvis Presley. This previously unreleased session, recorded in 1965 at the house of a friend/fan in Queens, New York, captures the master musician in an intimate and relaxed setting.
Johnson has a mellow yet spirited voice, somewhat like B.B. King if he were a crooner, and, though it's not as innovative as his '20s/'30s work, his guitar playing glistens, combining Delta blues dexterity with urban savoir faire. The tunes are a surprising mix of originals ("New Orleans Blues"), blues gems (Bessie Smith's "Back Water Blues," "Jelly Jelly"), and Frank Sinatra (Ol' Blue Eyes' "This Love of Mine" and "September Song"). Though the recording quality is primitive by digital-age standards, it's still uniformly crisp and clear.Entertainment Weekly (7/21/00, pp.78-9) - "...A major addition to the Johnson canon....[His] unaffected voice aches with feeling..." - Rating: B+
Down Beat (12/00, p.88) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Every time Johnson's handsome but overwrought singing threatens to sink a tune, his guitar crackles with urgency and sets things right."
JazzTimes (10/00, p.121) - "...A rarity in his lengthy discography....A fascinating document and revealing look at this fabulous interpreter of classic melodies..."
Dirty Linen (4-5/01, pp.82-3) - "...Essential listening for blues/jazz aficionados....showing the guitarist at the end of his career...still in fine form..."