Author Topic: Larry Johnson - "Fast & Funky" (Read 9084 times)

Muddyroads · « **on:** March 08, 2005, 06:27:02 AM »

It cheered this old heart to hear Larry Johnson on the WC Juke this morning. His LP on Blue Goose, Fast and Funky is a gem of my collection. Don't know if it has been reissued on CD or not but I burned my copy to CD for portablity. Another old gem is Living Legends L:ive on Verve Folkways featuring Big Joe Williams, Skip James, Son House and Bukka White..

I remember watching Skip James sing Devil Got My Woman on a sultry August afternoon. It transported me through time.

The old blues are best.

Mud

book · « **Reply #1 on:** March 16, 2005, 08:13:16 AM »

Mud, Larry Johnson Fast and Funky available on cd from Baltimore Blues Society.? It is great!? I was friends with Laryry back in the old days and recently recorded CHARLEY STONE.? Back in the 70's,? I recorded?his version of KEEP IT CLEAN.?Larry and I did a few festivals together in the past few years.? He can still do it!? 'Boy Howdey', he really can!
The Book

Muddyroads · « **Reply #2 on:** March 17, 2005, 05:38:05 AM »

Hey Book,

Has Larry recorded anything new since then? Where can I get it?

Thanks,

Mud

uncle bud · « **Reply #3 on:** March 17, 2005, 07:13:58 AM »

Hiya Mud - check out Stefan Wirz's Larry discography at http://www.wirz.de/music/johnsfrm.htm

I was just listening to the Midnight Hour Blues CD the other day for the first time in ages. I really enjoyed it.

Oh, and a hearty welcome to the Book as well!

Parlor Picker · « **Reply #4 on:** April 24, 2006, 06:48:16 AM »

Does anybody out there know where I can buy a copy of the CD reissue of Larry Johnson's Blue Goose album "Fast & Funky"?

Thanks a lot.

Michael

uncle bud · « **Reply #5 on:** April 24, 2006, 08:00:51 AM »

Michael - check this thread:
http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?amp;Itemid=83&topic=1753.msg13459#msg13459

Instructions are there on how to get it.

Kokomo O · « **Reply #6 on:** April 27, 2012, 09:02:50 PM »

The other day I came across a few LPs I had picked up just before moving a few years ago. I hadn't had a chance to listen to them back then, and as a result of the move I guess I just forget to get to them. Anyway, one of them was none other than Larry Johnson's Fast and Funky, which has a different picture than the CD reissue. The LP shows him playing what looks like a Sovereign from the teens or '20s, although I don't really think it sounds like it's that guitar on the record. Does anyone know if that's the guitar he was playing on this disk

Here's a link that shows the album cover; the first is the CD reissue, the second the original LP: http://amillionmilesfromnowhere.blogspot.com/2010/05/fast-funky-larry-johnson.html.

oddenda · « **Reply #7 on:** May 12, 2012, 08:09:28 PM »

I'm sure that the guitar on the LP release was one of Nick Perls' collection - the whole idea would have been his: the suit, the suitcase, like that. N.B. that the guys on the cover of a Yazoo collection whose name eludes me (Mr. Charlie's Blues?) of White blues has Nick in blackface and Larry in whiteface! Not p.c. today, but funny back then. Back to the original topic - Larry can PLAY!

Peter B.

Blues Vintage · « **Reply #8 on:** August 30, 2015, 08:10:24 AM »

I'm searching for this record but don't wanna spend half a paycheck for the LP (currently listed on Amazon). Can anyone help me out?

Bunker Hill · « **Reply #9 on:** August 30, 2015, 08:31:58 AM »

FWIW was re-released on CD by the Baltimore Blues Society in 1997. Copies of that may be floating around.

Stuart · « **Reply #10 on:** August 30, 2015, 08:44:55 AM »

Hi Harry:

Try asking Brian Kramer. When the IGS forum was up and running, he posted about Larry a couple of times, IIRC. Perhaps he has contact info for Larry and/or info about the CD. There's a contact e-mail on the page:

http://www.kramerblues.com/

Stefan Wirz · « **Reply #11 on:** August 30, 2015, 08:43:54 PM »

Quote from: oddenda on May 12, 2012, 08:09:28 PM

I'm sure that the guitar on the LP release was one of Nick Perls' collection - the whole idea would have been his: the suit, the suitcase, like that. N.B. that the guys on the cover of a Yazoo collection whose name eludes me (Mr. Charlie's Blues?) of White blues has Nick in blackface and Larry in whiteface! Not p.c. today, but funny back then. Back to the original topic - Larry can PLAY!

Peter B.

Sorry to have to contradict you, Peter, but afaik the guy in whiteface on Yazoo L-1024 is not Larry Johnson, but one of Perls', errh, playmates!

Parlor Picker · « **Reply #12 on:** August 31, 2015, 02:10:53 AM »

I remember studying that LP cover when I got it and coming to the conclusion that I did not think it was Larry. Thanks for the confirmation, Stefan.

And I make no apologies for mentioning yet again that "Fast & Funky" is one of my all-time favourite records.

Vermonter · « **Reply #13 on:** August 31, 2015, 08:37:52 AM »

Looks like there are a few cuts on Youtube.

CF · « **Reply #14 on:** August 31, 2015, 11:32:23 AM »

Quote from: Parlor Picker on August 31, 2015, 02:10:53 AM

I remember studying that LP cover when I got it and coming to the conclusion that I did not think it was Larry. Thanks for the confirmation, Stefan.

And I make no apologies for mentioning yet again that "Fast & Funky" is one of my all-time favourite records.

FAST & FUNKY is a stone cold masterpiece. The pinnacle of revivalist country blues recordings imho.

Johnm · « **Reply #15 on:** August 31, 2015, 02:40:32 PM »

Hi all,
I agree, "Fast and Funky" is a great album, but I wouldn't consider Larry Johnson a revivalist. He was born in the late '30s, and is an older man than either Robert Belfour or Precious Bryant, both of whom have died before him and neither of whom would be described as revivalists. Larry grew up in Georgia, heard blues around him in his early years and first learned from musicians of his own acquaintance, I think. I think Larry is at the very tail end of the East Coast Blues tradition, but came up in it more or less the way many of his predecessors did. I see a real break between him and most present-day revivalist players, who more often than not, have learned primarily from recorded sources rather than from older friends and neighbors.
All best,
Johnm

CF · « **Reply #16 on:** August 31, 2015, 03:50:37 PM »

Thank you John, I thought Larry was a late bloomer er something, might be thinking of someone else.
He was in a particularly inspired mode when he made this record. I haven't heard everything he's done but F&F is as good as I've heard of him.
As an aside, I love how he pretty much has no endings worked out for many of the tunes on the record! They kinda just fall apart at the end. I tend to do the same thing, it's really fun & interesting to leave certain parts of tunes unplanned & try to dig yourself outta holes

Stuart · « **Reply #17 on:** August 31, 2015, 04:47:06 PM »

"Fast & Funky" is a great album, but don't overlook "Country Blues" ("Midnight Hour Blues") that was recorded about a year later. It's available for around $10-$12.

I agree with John--Larry was and is in the continuum.

oddenda · « **Reply #18 on:** September 01, 2015, 01:19:14 AM »

Larry was one of Gary Davis' few Black students as well. There is an LP of material recorded by Bobby Robinson (he actually issued a single in the mid 60s! on the Blue Soul label), much of it released by Blue Horizon. They also recorded him in 1969, unreleased so far. His first recordings were with guitarist Hank Adkins for Prestige Records in 1965. Since then, at least one album for Armadillo in the UK.

pbl

alyoung · « **Reply #19 on:** September 01, 2015, 06:42:02 AM »

At least the person on the cover of L-1024 looks roughly as though he knows how to hold a guitar (even if the chord he is fretting looks a bit suss). My favorite of this type of cover shot is the cover of Yazoo L-1026, Bottleneck Guitar Classics, which shows a man purportedly playing a Style 0 National in lap position. Only problem ... he's picking behind the bridge.

Johnm · « **Reply #20 on:** September 01, 2015, 07:59:01 AM »

Hi all,
Larry's first recordings were on Prestige Bluesville, and they were as a harmonica player, backing Big Joe Williams and Alec Seward on two different releases.
All best,
Johnm

Stefan Wirz · « **Reply #21 on:** September 01, 2015, 08:57:39 AM »

... seems like hight time that I refer y'all to my Larry Johnson discography at www.wirz.de/music/johnsdsc.htm

Blues Vintage · « **Reply #22 on:** September 05, 2015, 10:38:37 AM »

I'm now in possession of this masterpiece. Thanks.

CF · « **Reply #23 on:** February 02, 2017, 06:13:02 AM »

Just heard over at the RBF that Larry passed away last year at a Senior's residence. There does not seem to be any more information about it. RIP

Lignite · « **Reply #24 on:** August 02, 2020, 06:11:13 PM »

Well, my day is made. I received a record collection from a friend who is downsizing and in it was a copy of the LP Fast And Funky on Blue Goose from 1971 by Larry Johnson. This is a very hard record to locate and is kind of holy grail material for Piedmont Blues aficionados. The guy sure had the feel and knew his way around the acoustic Piedmont style. A better album I could not recommend. It is too bad that it is not more widely available. It is a classic for all times.

Stuart · « **Reply #25 on:** August 03, 2020, 08:33:29 AM »

I'm glad you were able to get a copy, Lightnin'. It's been one of my favorites for decades. I picked up the LP soon after it was released and bought a copy of the CD from the Baltimore Blues Society in the late 1990s. I spoke with a fellow from the BBS on the phone and he told me that although they had a pretty good relationship with Larry, securing the rights to the album took some work. Like many of the Blue Goose releases, it's a such a great record. I hope that someone will secure the rights to the album and make it available. It's music at its best, IMHO.

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Author Topic: Larry Johnson - "Fast & Funky" (Read 9084 times)

Muddyroads

Muddyroads