Blues/Rock Piano of Johnnie Johnson

[delirium]

hi,

anybody knows this DVD, any good?

looks like they have sale in Homespun,

and I'm thinking of buying.

thanks

[Mididude]

I got it on VHS...it's pretty good...He's interviewed by David (something-or-other) and it shows many close-ups on his hands which is satisfying. Johnny breaks down some left-handed boogie woogie patterns which is real cool and then shows how his approach to incorporated riffing in the right hand. I believe it came with a little booklet of sheet music transcribed to go with it but I found it largely useless bcz of several errors in the transcription (I assume transcribed by ear because I don't believe the piano is MIDI'd). At the very least it'll expose you to some of the his chordal voicings/riffs (which face it, are awesome) and I think a lot of stuff's in the key of G.

[delirium]

thanks!

that's enough for me to order it.

[Steve Nathan]

Hey,

You probably already are aware of this, but just in case I thought I'd stick my nose in. I don't have this DVD but I am a huge Johnnie Johnson fan. If you haven't already, dig up some old Pete Johnson and Albert Ammons to see where Johnnie was most influenced. It completely supports the argument that Chuck was "borrowing" from Johnnie...not the other way around.

Steve

[zoomer]

I found the "Blues/Rock Piano of Johnnie Johnson" disappointing. It does show some licks, but when Johnnie is playing with the band, and comping behind the unknown guitar player, the camera goes to the guitar player hands rather than stay on Johnnie's hands, so you cannot learn his comping. Not exactly what I paid for.

Along the same lines, but worse, is the "Boogie-Woogie Piano featuring Mitch Woods". Mitch is a fine player, and does show some basic blues and boogie stuff, but when it comes to the real goodies, he will not show that. Mitch actually says on the VHS, (this is a paraphrase) "You did not expect me to show you the good stuff, did you? It took me too much blood and sweat to learn it". Again, what did I pay for? What 1-4-5 means?

Guitar players have it so easy with their bazillions of videos laying out every note from all the great players. Sigh.

Suggestion: Save your money for a riff capture machine.

[delirium]

well, I don't really think anybody will show you everything ever. Same was with Dr.John, Donald Fagen DVDs I got. I had to use ears to get all I needed. Looks like the idea is to "steal" as much as possible from anybody you can and mix with your own stuff. For 24$ it's still good buy.

 

thanks

[Joe Muscara]

Originally posted by Steve Nathan:

It completely supports the argument that Chuck was "borrowing" from Johnnie...not the other way around.

Steve

*cough*

 

Yeah, not many guitar players write in keys like Bb! :lol:

 

Saw him once live when he came through Houston, great show. He will be missed!

[David Loving]

Steve is being kind to Chuck Berry, and he is correct in the view that Johnnie Johnson was the real creator of a lot of those hits. I am a real fan of his. He is a master at driving a band. He was a real big man with huge hands as I remember. I was lucky to get to see him in the early 90's at Poor David's Pub in Dallas playing I think a Rhodes, or it might have been a Wurlitzer. He was just holding forth and a joy to see and hear. It was a smallish place. Nice guy between sets - I got to just say hello, etc. An honor to get to experience that man. I do not have the dvd either, but I'd say buy it - if you can't see his hands just listen to it a 1,000 times so what he is doing sinks in! He was a great player, R.I.P.