Early Blues: The First Stars of Blues Guitar by Jas Obrecht
Author:Jas Obrecht [Obrecht, Jas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: MUS003000 Music / Genres & Styles / Blues
ISBN: 9780816698059
Publisher: University of Minnesota Press
Published: 2015-11-09T06:00:00+00:00
I want all you people to listen to my song,
I want all you people to listen to my song,
Remember me after all the days Iâm gone.19
His smooth, clear delivery would become his trademark. For his second selection, âFalling Rain Blues,â Johnson simultaneously sang and played fiddle. Because of the color of his skin, his 78s, like those of Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, were issued in OKehâs 8000 âraceâ series.
The sales of Johnsonâs initial 78 impressed OKeh executives, and in January 1926 the Johnson brothers traveled to New York City for a more ambitious set of sessions. Over a two-day period, Lonnie recorded nine songs under his own name, as well as two credited to his brother James. On their first selection, âVery Lonesome Blues,â the Johnson brothers soloed simultaneously on violins. âNile of Genagoâ featured them playing a lovely preblues parlor guitar duet. For his brotherâs debut 78, Lonnie played banjo on âNo Good Bluesâ while James sang and played violin. On the flip side, James backed himself on banjo for âNewport Bluesâ while Lonnie used a kazoo or paper-covered comb to approximate a sassy horn part. At a follow-up session in St. Louis, James played guitar while Lonnie alternated between violin and guitar.
Johnsonâs 78s, which sounded unlike any other blues performerâs, quickly found an audience. âClearly, this was no ordinary artist,â wrote Chris Albertson. âHe was far more polished than the dayâs male blues singers, and his extraordinary instrumental skills matched those of the eraâs leading jazz players. Consequently, Lonnie began performing along the RKO and T.O.B.A. vaudeville circuits, outlets that remained closed to such contemporary country blues artists as Blind Lemon Jefferson, Papa Charlie Jackson, and Blind Blake.â20 A June 1926 ad in the Chicago Defender placed Johnson, whoâd only been recording for seven months, in grand company. The eveningâs âCabaret and Style Showâ featured âOKeh Race Record Starsâ performing a benefit for the Chicago Musicianâs Union. Among the musicians depicted in the ad are Sylvester Weaver, Bertha âChippieâ Hill, Butterbeans and Susie, Louis Armstrong, and Lonnie Johnson.21
In the Oliver interview, Johnson spoke of his time playing the Theater Owners Booking Association (T.O.B.A.) theater circuit:
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