I have recently rediscovered Johnny "Guitar" Watson and his funky blues music (or should I say bluesy funk?). In this thread I would like to show the man some love. Watson is a blues guitar master and plays most of the instruments on his 70's funk albums except drums and horns. He developed a completely unique blend of blues and funk that is irresistable to my ears and well worth checking out if you haven't heard of him before.

This song here is one that features less of his signature guitar sound and features some sort of talkbox instead. It is triggered by his guitar though, so you can still hear his playing seep through. The track is just so damn funky and in the pocket and cool with the talkbox thing!!

Better get me 2 hot dogs and a strawberry soda.

"DAAAANCE to the muzak...that the dj plays..."

I discoverd him about 3 or 4 years ago. I bought two of his albums - "A Real Mother For Ya" and "Ain't That A Bitch". I think "Nothing Left To Be Desired" is my favorite......

x

Thanks for the tag. Its funky as hell!

Great to see people here appreciating this r&b originator!

His band was pretty tight too, I saw them perform in here in The Netherlands in the early nineties, just a few years before he died. I found this 1977 gig on YT and it is pretty fabulous! He starts off with a few covers and then heads into his own repertoire. Check this out if you dig some oldschool blues/funk/fusion music!

Have most of his CD's. Been a big fan since I was a kid.

I have a bossa nova compilation with this song on it

MD431Madcat said:

Better get me 2 hot dogs and a strawberry soda.

yes yes yes yes yes.

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this was the 1ST THING that popped into my head when I saw this JGW thread.

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EXCELLENT guitar player. great sense of humor in his music. quite underrated in my opinion.

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listen at this :

TV ONE ought to do an "unsung" on Johnny..

funkaholic1972 said:

Great to see people here appreciating this r&b originator!

His band was pretty tight too, I saw them perform in here in The Netherlands in the early nineties, just a few years before he died. I found this 1977 gig on YT and it is pretty fabulous! He starts off with a few covers and then heads into his own repertoire. Check this out if you dig some oldschool blues/funk/fusion music!

Emry Thomas on the Drums. Played in the group Maxayn w/Andre Lewis (aka Mandre') before hooking up w/Watson. Emry Thomas is in My Top 5 Drummers of all-time!!!!

Love this guy. Asides the obvious A Real Mother For Ya some of my favorites are:

Superman Lover

Tarzan

I Need It

I Won't to Ta Ta Ya Baby

Booty Ooty Ooty (sounds like the Gap Band Party Lights)

Ain't That A Bitch

DarylB said:

Has anyone here seen Mr. Watson and his prime in the Seventies?

No, but I certainly wish I did!

mltijchr said:

MD431Madcat said:

Better get me 2 hot dogs and a strawberry soda.

yes yes yes yes yes.

.

this was the 1ST THING that popped into my head when I saw this JGW thread.

.

EXCELLENT guitar player. great sense of humor in his music. quite underrated in my opinion.

.

listen at this :

TV ONE ought to do an "unsung" on Johnny..

Yeah, I'd be very much interested in seeing an Unsung about Johnny. I saw there has been written a book on him quite recently by a Dutch writer, it is called something like "Performer, Preacher & Pimp". Judging by the title of this book an Unsung episode might be quite interesting!

mrwiggles said:

One of the all time greats that gets little respect from the public but the musicians know he was getting funky way back to the 1950's. Original Gangster of Love.

The man is definately underappreciated by the public!! He is more of a musician's musician indeed...

woogiebear said:

funkaholic1972 said:

Great to see people here appreciating this r&b originator!

His band was pretty tight too, I saw them perform in here in The Netherlands in the early nineties, just a few years before he died. I found this 1977 gig on YT and it is pretty fabulous! He starts off with a few covers and then heads into his own repertoire. Check this out if you dig some oldschool blues/funk/fusion music!

Emry Thomas on the Drums. Played in the group Maxayn w/Andre Lewis (aka Mandre') before hooking up w/Watson. Emry Thomas is in My Top 5 Drummers of all-time!!!!

Emry Thomas is fantastic, right up there with Jerome Bailey for me. His playing is so 'in the pocket', I just love that groovy fatness...

phunkdaddy said:

Love this guy. Asides the obvious A Real Mother For Ya some of my favorites are:

Superman Lover

Tarzan

I Need It

I Won't to Ta Ta Ya Baby

Booty Ooty Ooty (sounds like the Gap Band Party Lights)

Ain't That A Bitch

That's my Johnny "Guitar" Watson cut right there!!

funkaholic1972 said:

woogiebear said:

Emry Thomas on the Drums. Played in the group Maxayn w/Andre Lewis (aka Mandre') before hooking up w/Watson. Emry Thomas is in My Top 5 Drummers of all-time!!!!

Emry Thomas is fantastic, right up there with Jerome Bailey for me. His playing is so 'in the pocket', I just love that groovy fatness...

Word..............POCKET!!!!!

BTW, for Watson afficianados, check out "The Watsonian Institute", which is an off-shoot straight funk enemsble. Recently issued on cd. Man, that stuff is funky, and infectious.

MotorBootyAffair said:

BTW, for Watson afficianados, check out "The Watsonian Institute", which is an off-shoot straight funk enemsble. Recently issued on cd. Man, that stuff is funky, and infectious.

Thanks for the heads up, man! I will surely check this CD.

He was amazing

LittleBLUECorvette said:

Hellyeah, also Lover Jones is one of my top cuts from him, and never get tired of Gangstar of Love. I am assuming everyone has heard Prince's live version of Real Mutha for Ya. Was real cool he did that.

My youtube thang aint working. I just see a black box.

HardcoreJollies said: