🎸 Blues Chronicles #15: Lonnie Johnson - Guitar History Lesson - Reverend Robert Jones 

Absolutely the greatest guitarist of all time. The fact is he invented "improvised" lead guitar. With out this great man, no Hendrix, Charlie Christian, Clapton, etc., etc.! Prior to Lonnie lead guitar was basically the guitarist playing the melody of the song. He was a great violinist as well. He was 2nd only to Louis Armstrong, as far as his influence on popular music(Both from New Orleans BTW) He recorded with Duke Ellington, was a member of the Hot 7s. I found out I could get music books of any lead guitarist & play their solos note for note, well all except Lonnie it's been 95 years since he burst onto the music scene in 1925,& we still havent figured him out. I recommend Document's Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order, Volumes 4 & 5,(those 2 discs have all the duets he recorded with Eddy Lang). Note* there are 2 sets of Lonnie's Complete Works offered by Document, order from the set that begins in 1925. I was 1 who thought Robert Johnson was the be all end all, but after I saw Lonnie kept showing up, in different sets, Roberts as well as Charlie Christian, I decided I'd give him a listen. Ordered "Stepping On The Blues" from Columbia Legacy series. Played it in my car while driving. Asked my late wife "When was that tune recorded?" "1927!" She answered. The same thing for every tune. The latest date was 1930! So I started chasing Lonnie. As I said before, 2nd to Louis Armstrong, as far his influence, on music. I could write a book about him. No one could touch him in his hey day, nor since, IMO. I'm sorry if I carried on too long, but to me Lonnie is the king of the strings! Thanks for this short history. Would've liked to seen a song or 2 of his broken down, for us. Btw Robert used to tell crowds the L of his middle name (Leroy) stood for Lonnie! My daughter who was age 12 said to me one day "If Robert Johnson sold his soul to be the best guitarist ever, the Devi ltricked him...as He's NO Lonnie Johnson.(I had almost every song he ever recorded, except some those on King Records!) He had a #1 hit in 1948 with "Tomorrow Night", sold 3 1/2 million copies. He been recording for 23 yrs!(had the RCA Bluebird recordings, as well as his later recordings for Prestige Records. I'll admit it, I bought everything I could find! Face it, I've been beguiled! Blessings to all, who love Lonnie, even those who dont!

Great unsung guitarist huge influence on B.B.

Thanks for sharing another episode.

Thank you Rev.🙏🏻 Lonnie Johnson’s Slow and Easy is a Masterpiece and I played it over and over when I discovered it in 2005. To this day I rank it in my top five blues of all time. 1) Hard times (Ray Charles) 2) Red House (Jimi) 3) Sky is Crying (SRV) 4) Sweet little Angel (B.B.) 5) Slow and Easy (L.J.) Thank you for the post. Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown is also more than an Honorable mention! So many!

Awesome

NOW....we're talkin' 👏🏼

I love these

Really enjoyed this episode. No Johnson courses on Truefire though.

Wow, thank you for the video.

AWESOME dude... Loved and emulated by many...

I love the chronicles. . Thank you

Thanks!!!

Excellent!