Lonnie Johnson: The King Sides Part 3

Another dozen sides were cut in 1949 including two unissued and one rejected side. Many more ballads were cut during this period including the dreamy “Bewildered”, “Don’t Play With My Love”, “I Found A Dream”, “I’m So Afraid” and his last hit “Confused” which charted in February 1950. Of special interest were a pair of instrumentals backed by a group called The Three Clouds, particularly “Playing Around” a pure jazz number sporting fine tenor from Paul Renfro and a truly jaw dropping guitar solo from Johnson. On the blues front were “You Take Romance” a take on “Romance Without Finance” featuring a stunning, nearly thirty second solo and the grinding “She’s Sweet” featuring a hard blues edge that contrasts nicely with Johnson’s bittersweet delivery. Johnson tapped into country music covering a pair of 1946 tunes by label mates the Delmore Brothers. It’s not a great leap as the Delmore Brothers were strongly blues based and Johnson turns in marvelous covers of “Troubles Ain’t Nothing But the Blues” and the haunting “Blues Stay Away from Me.”

Johnson cut eight sides apiece in 1950 and 1951, following a typical pattern of blues and ballads. “I’m So Crazy For Love” and “Nobody’s Lovin’ You” were two of the ballad highlights of 1950, that latter featuring a particularly heartfelt vocal while “You Only Want Me When You’re Lonely” was a standout of the 1951 sessions. The earlier session yielded several fine blues including “Little Rockin’ Chair”, the jivey jump blues “Nothin’ Clickin’ Chicken” both featuring lengthy guitar flights of fancy plus the low down “Nothing But Trouble.” The first two numbers illustrate both sides of Johnson’s views on love. On “Little Rockin’ Chair” he sings:

Yes, I’m so tired of being disappointed, so tired of being all alone (2x)
Yes, I’m so tired of laying down at night, worried ’bout where my baby’s gone

Sometimes when the sun is rising in the morning, still walking up and down my floor (2x)
My two pillows so covered with tears, and I can’t rest in my bed no more

While in “Nothin’ Clickin’ Chicken” he takes a guarded, wiser outlook in contrast to the joyous tone of the song:

Nothing clicking chicken, chicken you get nothing here (2x)
Now, I know you’re mellow and you’re mighty fine
But you can’t get your hands on this bank-roll of mine
Nothing clicking chicken, chicken you get nothing here

There’s nothing clicking chicken, chicken you get nothing here (2x)
You want to make courts in a Cadillac car
Who in the devil do you think you are
There’s nothing clicking chicken, chicken you get nothing here
You won’t find nothing, ain’t got nothing here

The 1951 recordings are complimented by tenor saxophonists Ray Felder and Wilbur “Red” Prysock. These sessions showcase a trio of fine cuts: “It Was All in Vain” and “Me and My Crazy Self” are sublime blues ballads featuring some of Johnson’s best vocal performances plus some nice guitar and tenor echoing off each other beautifully and the simmering “Seven Long Days.”

Johnson concluded his King stint with a four song session in June 1952. Here Johnson is backed by trumpet, three tough saxes, and a kicking rhythm section headed by pianist Todd Rhodes. Backed by a wailing, full bodied band Johnson croons mightily on “I’m Guilty”, “You Can’t Buy Love” and the soaring “Can’t Sleep Any More” the only number on which he solos for any length, and a typically fine one to boot. Surprisingly none of these numbers hit the charts.

Johnson’s King sides have been rather spottily collected and not all of them have been reissued. In 2005 the French Classics label issued “1948-1949″ and in 2007 issued “1949-1952″ which collects all of the King recordings from those respective years. For some reason they haven’t issued a collection of his 1947 recordings. Charly’s “Me And My Crazy Self” collects 20 of Johnson’s bluesier sides for the label and in 2005 Collectables released “The Very Best of Lonnie Johnson” containing 25 King sides. Also issued in 2005 was Proper’s 4-CD “The Original Guitar Wizard” which contains nearly a disc’s worth of King material. Hopefully some enterprising company will issue a box of all of the King sides but I won’t hold my breath.

Little Rockin’ Chair (MP3)