Part of the fun in listening to The Funk Anthology is the joy in discovering today's favorite track. In the last week my loyalties have shifted between the deep, chunky blues funk of "Ain't That a Bitch," the classic "Superman Lover," and the absurd "Booty Ooty" to the sexxxier "I Want to Ta-Ta You Baby" and "Love Jones" and the more political "I Don't Want To Be President." Today I have had on auto-repeat the heretofore unreleased "Spirit of My Guitar," a five-minute instrumental that funks up the Frampton with Watson asking us through a talk box, in finest Comes Alive! fashion, "Do you feel... the spirit of my guitar?" before ripping off a smooth, tasty solo in the finest Eddie Hazel-Jimi Hendrix fashion. Both of whom, of course, got their thang from Watson in the first place. Nice.
Of course, not every track is a winner - "Miss Frisco (Queen of the Disco)" and the sub-Clintonian "Funk Beyond the Call of Duty" in my opinion notably lack the oomph, the ooty the jam that shows up elsewhere - but nonetheless The Funk Anthology is a very worthy addition to any career funkateer's library. Watson could turn out a fun jam, and a new look at his career is worthwhile if only to provide a peek at the missing link between Albert Collins and Bootsy Collins.
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Listen to "Superman Lover" in Quicktime:
http://www.shoutfactory.com/av/superman/SupermanLoverFull.mov
... or Windows Media:
http://www.shoutfactory.com/av/superman/SupermanLoverFull.wma
The official Shout factory anthology site is here.
Article comments
1 - godoggo
Clapton said Watson was his favorite guitarist, according to a customer reviewer on Amazon; the album was something like The Very Best of Johnny "Guitar" Watson.
2 - crooked spine
"Space Guitar" was indeed years ahead of its time. The first time I heard it, I thought it was Jeff Beck circa 1966. Hard to believe it was recorded in 1954. Johnny Watson definitely is an underrated guitarist.