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I started a guitar school. It was called Home of the Blues, on 125th Street in New York. I did that for five, six years and had a lot of students - Brownie McGhee

Author Topic: Larry Johnson  (Read 10763 times)

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Offline Bunker Hill

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Re: Larry Johnson
« Reply #30 on: February 24, 2011, 11:08:15 PM »
Larry's enjoyed quite an active recording career between 1962 and 2004 bur with noticeable hiatuses   http://www.wirz.de/music/johnsfrm.htm
« Last Edit: February 24, 2011, 11:11:46 PM by Bunker Hill »

Offline Tom Rushen

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Re: Larry Johnson
« Reply #31 on: April 27, 2011, 05:30:47 PM »
I posted the following in the recent Shirley Griffith thread, since someone inquired what it took the Baltimore Blues Society to get the rights to reissue Larry Johnson's Blue Goose "Fast and Funky" album...with the hope that something similar could be done with the Blue Goose Griffith material....and I thought it might be appropriate to post it in a Larry Johnson master thread, so that it doesn't get lost in a non-related thread. Suffice to say, even the BBS reissue is OOP now, and finding a copy isn't especially easy:

this week I *finally* snagged a used copy of their reissue of "Fast and Funky", after searching for 10 years for one. There is one possible clue on the liners: The Baltimore Blues Society in cooperation with Larry Johnson is proud to reissue the 1971 Blue Goose album "Fast and Funky".

And the CD is apparently from a decent tape source, it is not a needledrop. As best I can guess, Larry Johnson likely has a copy of the tape, or has the master tape, and either has the rights to the recordings....or he doesn't have the rights but figures Nick Perls can't touch him legally....and whoever does have Blue Goose rights (if it's not Larry himself) is okay with the reissue. The liner notes also reference  "Legal Counsel: Jay Grubb, Esq.", so I'd guess they did their homework. Mr. Grubb is a Baltimore attorney who specializes in entertainment law, and has his own blog at http://entertainmentanswers.blogspot.com/. However, the blog contains exactly *one* post from him, from 2009, so it isn't exactly a hotspot of discussion and dialogue

Offline Bunker Hill

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Re: Larry Johnson
« Reply #32 on: May 03, 2012, 01:43:40 AM »
Discussion elsewhere of the former blues pub, The Onslow, in Southampton reminded me that Larry Johnson had the venue packed on 1st October 1989. Here's a photo from that event - Larry with two star struck admirers....
« Last Edit: May 03, 2012, 01:45:03 AM by Bunker Hill »

Offline Pan

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Re: Larry Johnson
« Reply #33 on: May 03, 2012, 05:02:33 AM »
After rereading this thread I thought perhaps a few YouTube findings would be appreciated by some of you. Many songs from "Fast and Funky" can be found there.

Mr. Johnson recorded two songs with a Willie Dixon led all-stars Chicago band, as can be seen from Stefan's discography: http://www.wirz.de/music/johnsfrm.htm

The songs  were:



and



Here he is playing solo at a festival in 1986:



Here he is playing at a festival in Sweden in 2000, with guitarist Brian Kramer. I believe their whole set can be found as related videos in YouTube:



Cheers

Pan

Offline Stefan Wirz

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Re: Larry Johnson
« Reply #34 on: May 03, 2012, 06:42:42 AM »
BTW: The man in the middle of Bunker Hill's 1989 photo is "the late" (as he's now always addressed) Bill Rowe of "Career Discographies" fame !!!
(source: Eric's Blues Dates):
ROWE, BILL (blues discographer) b. 1947-0913,?PORTSMOUTH, UK
ROWE, BILL (blues discographer) d. 1997-1209, PORTSMOUTH, UK 50

http://ourblues.wordpress.com/2011/12/19/introduction-to-otis-spann-the-discography-compiled-by-bill-rowe/

Offline Bunker Hill

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Re: Larry Johnson
« Reply #35 on: May 03, 2012, 08:46:09 AM »
BTW: The man in the middle of Bunker Hill's 1989 photo is "the late" (as he's now always addressed) Bill Rowe of "Career Discographies" fame !!!
You never cease to amaze me Stefan. I won't ask how you managed to work that out, but well done. Here's the short "about" from the Spann booklet:

Bill Rowe was born in 1947 and became interested in African-American music in the mid 1960s.  Inspired by the approach the French magazine Soul Bag had taken to discography, Bill developed a passion for the art, and after many years spent painstakingly collecting, researching and, above all, listening  ("a very necessary discographer?s tool ? ears") he began to self-publish booklets under the self-explanatory series title Career Discographies.  These were all met with critical acclaim. At the time of his sudden death in December 1997, Bill was very pleased to have almost completed this Otis Spann discography.

Bill Rowe was a very private person, but never too proud or egotistical to ask for assistance or share information.  The "afterword" contained in his last published issue of Career Discographies explains the man and his philosophy far better than I ever could, and is reprinted here without apology. It also shows the extent of his research, both in progress and planned:

Successful and 'definitive' discography has always depended upon co-operation, mutual aid and the free exchange of information. It is therefore pleasing that so many have been so generous with both time and information in contributing to ?Career Discographies?. Future issues will include discographies which have also benefited from just such input - Carey Bell (Wolfgang Lorenz), Billy Branch (Charlie Hussey), and Little Joe Blue (Jan Barker). Should any reader have the time or inclination to pass comment on those or one, or more, of the forthcoming ?Career Discographies? listed below, or to contribute a discography of their own, would they please get in contact. All help will, of course, be duly acknowledged. They are: Mojo Buford, George 'Wild Child' Butler, Larry Garner, Big Jack Johnson, Jimmy Johnson (Thompson), Little Sonny (Willis), Robert Lockwood, Jr., Sonny Rhodes, Bobby Rush, Otis Rush, Mack Simmons, Byther Smith, Eddie Taylor, Joe Louis, Walker Artie, White Chick Willis.

The Lockwood discography was published in two parts by Soul Bag in memory of Bill, and perhaps the remainder will, at some stage, be updated and published. There may well be more work in progress in Bill?s files.



Offline Mr.OMuck

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Re: Larry Johnson
« Reply #36 on: May 10, 2012, 08:48:40 AM »
According to my mysterious sources Larry is living right here in NYC.

My loathings are simple: stupidity, oppression, crime, cruelty, soft music.
Vladimir Nabokov (1899 - 1977)

http://www.youtube.com/user/MuckOVision

Offline Prof Scratchy

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Re: Larry Johnson
« Reply #37 on: May 10, 2012, 09:35:26 AM »
Quick! Get round there with your video camera!

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

Offline Gumbo

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Re: Larry Johnson
« Reply #38 on: May 10, 2012, 10:57:33 AM »
tell him "Thank You" from me if you do!!

Offline Prof Scratchy

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Re: Larry Johnson
« Reply #39 on: May 10, 2012, 11:51:54 AM »
Quote
tell him "Thank You" from me if you do!![/quote
From me too - I only saw him twice, but both times he was brilliant.
« Last Edit: May 10, 2012, 11:53:01 AM by Prof Scratchy »

Offline Johnm

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Re: Larry Johnson
« Reply #40 on: May 10, 2012, 01:17:17 PM »
Hi all,
For what it's worth, I know Larry has absolutely not been interested in being filmed in the past.  I reckon we'll have to use our ears.
All best,
Johnm

 


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