Lonnie Johnson Page
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Lonnie Johnson
b. Alonzo Johnson, 8 February 1889,
New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, d. 16 June 1970. A hugely influential
and original blues musicians, in the early 1900s Johnson played
guitar and violin in saloons in his home-town, performing mainly
around the red-light district of Storyville. Shortly before the
outbreak of war he visited Europe, returning to New Orleans in
1919. During his absence most of his closest relatives died in
an influenza epidemic and upon his return, Johnson soon took to
the road. He played guitar and banjo in bands in St. Louis and
then Chicago, where he established his reputation as one of the
USA's most popular blues singers. For two years the OKeh Record
Company issued one of his records every six weeks. During this
period he became a member of the house band at OKeh, recording
with many leading jazz and blues artists, sometimes as accompanist,
and at other times as duettist. Among the blues singers with whom
he recorded were Texas Alexander and Victoria Spivey. The jazz
musicians with whom he played on 20s sessions included Duke Ellington,
Eddie Lang, McKinney's Cotton Pickers, King Oliver and, most notably,
Louis Armstrong. During the 30s Johnson divided his time between
record sessions, club dates and radio shows. This was not all;
like many of his New Orleans compatriots, he seems to have had
a deep suspicion that the bubble would one day burst, and consequently
he worked regularly outside music, usually at menial and physically
demanding jobs. In the 40s Johnson began to gain popularity, adopting
the amplified guitar and singing programmes of blues intermingled
with many of his own compositions, one of which, 'Tomorrow Night',
was a successful record. In the 50s he played in the UK but performed
mostly in the USA, living and playing in Chicago and, later, Cincinnati,
before settling in Philadelphia. In the 60s he again visited Europe
and also appeared in New York and in Canada, where he became resident,
eventually owning his own club in Toronto in the last few years
before his death in 1970. Johnson's ability to cross over from
blues to jazz and back again was unusual among bluesmen of his
generation. He brought to his blues guitar playing a level of
sophistication that contrasted vividly with the often bitter directness
of the lyrics he sang. His mellow singing voice, allied to his
excellent diction, helped to make him one of the first rhythm
balladeers. He strongly influenced numerous blues and jazz guitarists,
among them T-Bone Walker, Lowell Fulson, B.B. King, Teddy Bunn,
Eddie Durham and Charlie Christian.
Encyclopedia of Popular Music Copyright
Muze UK Ltd. 1989 - 1998
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