Johnny "Guitar" Watson

[Steve Nathan]

Who knew Notice (as a bud pointed out) his vocal style seems possibly influential on future labelmate Etta James.

 

[video:youtube]

[MAJUSCULE]

Wow! That's Johnny on piano? Amazing, he can really swing! Thanks for sharing, Steve!

[Kungfu]

re: Etta James influenced by Johnny 'Guitar' Watson:

 

"Etta James stated, in an interview at the 2006 Rochester International Jazz Festival: "Johnny 'Guitar' Watson... Just one of my favorite singers of all time. I first met him when we were both on the road with Johnny Otis in the '50s, when I was a teenager. We traveled the country in a car together so I would hear him sing every night. His singing style was the one I took on when I was 17 people used to call me the female Johnny 'Guitar' Watson and him the male Etta James... He knew what the blues was all about..."

 

James is also quoted as saying: "I got everything from Johnny... He was my main model... My whole ballad style comes from my imitating Johnny's style... He was the baddest and the best... Johnny Guitar Watson was not just a guitarist: the man was a master musician. He could call out charts; he could write a beautiful melody or a nasty groove at the drop of a hat; he could lay on the harmonies and he could come up with a whole sound. They call Elvis the King; but the sure-enough King was Johnny 'Guitar' Watson."[citation needed]

 

Wikipedia page for Johnny 'Guitar' Watson

[synthizen2]

Interesting story.

 

This guy was a BIG influence on the guitar playing style of Frank Zappa... and Zappa clearly states this many times throughout his life. In fact I think he even mentions Johnny somewhere in the liner notes of his first album "Freak Out".