Take 5 with Lonnie Johnson

Lonnie Johnson was one of the pioneers of blues whose influence was vast. As blues balladeer, he was a popular artist from the twenties until his passing, while as a guitarist he transcended genres, recording with Eddie Lang, Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. He also was in duets with Victroia Spivey and Clara smith as well as accompanied the free-floating vocals of Texas Alexander. On today's Take 5, we focus on his own recordings. His jazz accompaniments and vocal duets will be the subject of another post.

First up is "Blue Ghost Blues" from 1927.

Next up is "Careless Love" from 1928.

From 1939" we have "She's Only a Woman."

In 1947 he had a commercial hit with "Tomorrow Night."

While his commercial career may have ended, he was a beneficiary of the folk-blues revival, touring Europe and spending some time in Toronto. I recommend Mark Miller's, "Way Down That Lonesome Road: Lonnie Johnson in Toronto, 1965-1970"for an account of his last years. There is also Dean Alger's biography "The Original Guitar Hero and the Power of Music: The Legendary Lonnie Johnson." To close this edition of the blog, we have a performance from when he toured as part of the Amercian Folk Blues Festival, "Another Night To Cry."