Johnny "Guitar" Watson Love Jones CD

The follow-up to Johnny "Guitar" Watson's WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?, 1980's LOVE JONES continues in the wacky, funkier-than-thou vein of its predecessor. Standing in stark contrast to the singer/multi-instrumentalist's bluesy early work, this disc is slick, of-the-era R&B that careens from silly dance-floor workouts (the propulsive "Booty Ooty" and the hilarious "Telephone Bill") to velvety smooth ballads (the chiming title track) to absurdist mid-tempo numbers ("Close Encounters" and "Funky Blues"). Of particular note is the groove-laden Watson classic "Lone Ranger," which finds the fun-loving performer embarking on a wonderfully ridiculous scat solo while cruising along on a sea of burbling keyboard lines. Although many of Watson's '70s-funk contemporaries (Parliament, Ohio Players, etc.) were fading by this point, LOVE JONES finds the Texan jack-of-all-trades welcoming in the '80s with unrestrained energy, making it one of his most enjoyable outings.

From 1974 through 1980, Johnny "Guitar" Watson was on a tear no one, including George Clinton or Bootsy Collins, could equal. While the P-Funk machine began to run out of steam by 1978 -- with the exception of the Brides of Funkenstein -- Watson kept churning out the weird, kinky funk well into the era of Rick James. Love Jones, his last fine record for quite awhile, had all the trademarks in place: the choppy, heavily reverbed and wah-wahed guitar that had made Watson a blues sensation, the sci-fi keyboards, the handclap that Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards ripped off for Chic, the expandable horn section that intertwined with the guitar riffs, and the punched up basic basslines that kept the funk a simple but ultimately moving thing. It's true that some of the crazy lyrics that graced Ain't That a Bitch had given way to chanted clichés by this time, but it hardly mattered since Watson was making music for discos and clubs, and not for radio play any longer. He got hip to the fact that if you wanted to break a record you had to get a club DJ to play the hell out of it. Here, the standouts are "Booty Ooty," the truly weird and wonderful "Goin' Up in Smoke," "Telephone Bill," and the hilarious -- and extremely funky -- "Lone Ranger." This may have been the last real winner in Watson's catalog for a long time, but there is plenty of magic still present in these grooves. [Shout Factory's 2006 reissue of Love Jones features two previously unreleased bonus tracks.] ~ Thom Jurek

Additional Tracks

Recorded at Paramount Recording Studios, Hollywood, California.

Personnel: Johnny "Guitar" Watson (guitar, piano, Fender Rhodes piano, drums, triangle); Walt Fowler , Albert Wing, Bruce Fowler (horns); Ron Brown (piano); Emry Thomas (drums, background vocals); James "Super Chikan" Johnson, Randie Redman, Rudy Copeland (background vocals).

Audio Mixer: Clint Bennett.

Audio Remasterer: Keith Blake.

Liner Note Author: Ernest Hardy.

Recording information: Paramount Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA.

Arranger: Johnny "Guitar" Watson.

Personnel: Johnny "Guitar" Watson (vocals, guitar, Fender Rhodes piano, bass, drums, percussion); Walt Fowler, Albert Wing, Bruce Fowler (horns); Ron Brown (piano); Emery Thomas (drums, background vocals); Randie Redman, James Johnson, Rudy Copeland (background vocals).