Rediscovering Lonnie Johnson is what I’ve been doing for the past couple of weeks. I decided I needed to brush up on his music, just a little, before writing this review. Here it is weeks later and I’m still brushing. It’s easy to do, though, with somebody as proficient, diverse and talented as Lonnie Johnson was.
Lonnie Johnson was born in New Orleans of a musical family. His father was a violinist and led a family band which consisted of mother, father, and all eleven children. Lonnie went on to marry another musician, Mary Smith, a blues singer. In his early life, Lonnie’s instruments included jazz violin and guitar. Later he made a name again with blues guitar, and then again in Philadelphia, reverting mainly back to jazz, but also in blues. BB King called Lonnie his idol and once said of him, “…he was one of the people that made me want to play."
Lonnie played with many famous bands during his career, including Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, which clearly shows the depth and breadth of his abilities. He toured Europe while still a teenager; he toured with Bessie Smith, and he worked with “Baby” Dodds in Chicago. By the time he was in his early thirties he had recorded 130 sides.
Following the Great Depression, Johnson began recording again in Chicago. From there he went to King Records in Cincinatti. There, in 1948, one of the songs Lonnie recorded was a song called "Tomorrow Night," which stayed on the Rhythm & Blues charts for seven weeks, and which he quickly followed with several more hits.
Philadelphia has always been a hotbed of music, beginning in Colonial days, when it was one of the first ports of call for many European musicians emigrating or touring. It was a musical nurturing ground during the Civil War on up to the turn of the century. In the early 20th century it became a jazz haven along with New York and St Louis and New Orleans, although not as well known as the others. Philadelphia was both cruel and kind to Lonnie Johnson. He wasn’t born there, he didn’t die there, but during his long and accomplished life Johnson lived and worked there, and he made many of the musical connections that helped in his later career.
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