Forgotton Heroes? Johnny "Guitar" Watson

[Videoskooter]

I don't see this man's name surfacing in many posts here. Even not in my lists. But when his "Best Of" catches my eyes, he's in my neighbourhood for days.

"Ain't that a b*tch"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYJ81d-zDIk

And of course the undestructable: "A real mother for ya" (Gottagotoadiscothrowyourtroublesaway!):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYUOxVtsXuE

[tony98]

Two big tracks from Johnny on my dance floors late 70's early 80' - "Booty ooty" & "I need It". Lately featured in a deoderant ad in the U.K the Federal early 60's version of "Gangster of love".

[remicks]

*****

I've got a funny Johnny Guitar Watson ( local ... out of Oakland ) story .....
I'll post it when I have more time ......



*****

[paul]

Johan, I never forgot him. In fact I've mentioned him a few times here.
Another song to catch is Lone Ranger.

[tony98]

J.G.W. making a Northern Soul record ? oh yes, Larry(Williams) & Johnny "To late" on Okeh records.I have a good version of "Lone ranger" by Hidden Strength on U.A.

[all*that*glitters*]

Johnny Watson was originally a pianoplayer and guitarist and he played vibes, organ and bass as well. I found this great album he did for Okeh way back in the mid-sixties, his debut for the label. Mostly covers like 'fever', 'summertime', 'hold on I',m coming' and a surprising version of 'coming home baby', one of those old Popcorn style tunes.
Must appeal to Northern Soul lovers too...

Forgotten??
Maybe instrumentalists are easier to forget than vocalists, or maybe his later material never made a big impact...although Johnny Watson had some nice moments in the disco years though.

[visuals]

Originally Posted by all*that*glitters*

Forgotten??
Maybe instrumentalists are easier to forget than vocalists, or maybe his later material never made a big impact...although Johnny Watson had some nice moments in the disco years though.

Very interesting topic. I know very little of his early blues sides that he cut over at Okeh, But he had a excellent run in the mid 70's on DJM with the "Ain't That A Bitch, A Real Mother For Ya, Funk Beyond The Call Of Duty, & What The Hell Is This" albums respectively. The next album, "Giant" if I'm not mistaken, Was when I stopped buying his wax albums. By the time the 80's rolled around, He was releasing sub-par material as far as I was concerned.

Then, The cd craze came in and during the time I was replacing my old vinyl/cassettes, I bought all of the albums from his 70's DJM years and also a couple of the 80's pieces >The "Family Clone" album which I absolutely can't stand and "Love Jones" which wasn't really great but was saved by the cuts Love Jones, Goin' Up In Smoke, Telephone Bill (big radio hit) and Close Encounters. From thereon I don't know much except for 1994's "Bow Wow" album which I don't own but have heard good things about and also read that it yeilded 2 singles that made the R&B charts.

In regards of "Lone Ranger", There are 2 cd reissues floating around that contain this original albums material in it's entirety. Both have the same number of tracks and are listed in the same order on both discs. This could possibly be confusing if looking for the original album reissue*

"Lone Ranger" was released domestically on cd by the Fantasy label in 1995. This is the one that you'll almost always see in his section in the stores. 9 of the 18 tracks listed on this cd were for some reason pulled from his first album for the same label which is 1973's "Listen"


"Listen/I Don't Want To Be Alone Stranger" is a U.K import on the Ace label reissued as a two-fer back in 1992. This reissue rightfully credits the original albums "Listen" from 1973 and "I Don't Want To Be Alone Stranger" from 1975 correctly. These were two of the original albums that Johnny cut for Fantasy before moving over to DJM in later years. Liner notes mention that he was 38 yrs old and was out in California back in 73' and although had been around touring and recording with other bluesmen since the start of the 50's, He still hadn't made the impact that he wanted. All of that changed during the yrs 73-75 as he went from the r&b club circuit to the brink of startime. These albums were entirely self written and produced and gave Johnny the chance to let his own creative energies flow and the result was a cool, laid back funk approach that matched his persona and he continued parlaying this formula for years after he left Fantasy and went over to DJM.

Gone But Never Forgotten....
Respect Due

PS...On the Collectables reissue of the 1979 album "What The Hell Is This", The track "Mother-In-Law" has been jacked from it's original state and some other guy who doesn't even sound like Johnny does a terrible job at performing it.:evil: I'm wondering was this a copyright or rights of ownership dispute or just simply a poor reissue on Collectable's part. I also noticed that there is an import of this same album reissued on Castle in 03' expanded edition with bonus tracks & packaged in a slipcase but was afraid the track may be the same as on the Collectables domestic. Can anybody verify this?

[K-Bee]

Practically all of the important 70s albums by Watson are on cd. Sequel Records reissued the following ones in the mid 90s:

Ain't That A Bitch
A Real Mother For Ya
Funk Beyond The Call Of Duty
Giant
What The Hell Is This
Love Jones
Johnny Guitar Watson & The Family Clone