|
Love Jones (1980)
Johnny "Guitar" Watson
User Rating: 5 / 5 [ Add Your Rating ] | |
|
| Name: |
Juergen Martens
<dj.martens@t-online.de> |
| Rating: |
5 / 5 |
| Comments: |
I've been recommending JGW's unique work here earlier when introducing his "Best Of" compilation. Especially interesting for all Rhodes afficionados is this one, released in 1980 and showing lots of echoes of that era, be it leanings towards EWF or Kool & The Gang, first rap anticipations or Steven Spielberg ("Close Encounter of the Wrong Kind" ;-). Watson does not only play guitar and sing, but als does the bass parts and mans all the keyboards. His Rhodes work on many tunes shows him as a tastefully grooving comper as well as an accomplished soloist with great feeling for sound and style. "Love Jones" with 2 extra tracks, obviously from later dates (1 filler, 1 killer) goes for little money these days. Get your copy as long as it's still in the catalogs. |
|
| Name: |
Juergen Martens
|
| Rating: |
5 / 5 |
| Comments: |
One more about this one - Johnny "Guitar" Watson was a true prophet! Listen to his lyrics in "Going Up In Smoke" that tell exactly the story of the 2008/09 financial crisis about people living a big life on money that's not their own and finally see everything go down the drain. What's more, when my wife (born in the early 70s) listened to this record for the first time today, she couldn't believe that this fresh, funky and witty stuff had been recorded as long ago as 29 years! To me, this proves that if a person has a deep-rooted artistic intgrity plus the ability to explore new territory without ever forgetting where he came from (the blues, in this case), he will always come up with instant classics that will stand the test of time summa cum laude. Tom Waits has it, Miles had it, and so did JGW. Go on funkin' beyond the call of duty, wherever you may be pluggin' in your heavely ES now! |
|
|
