Guitar Watson

Although Johnny "Guitar" Watson had already recorded some sides for Federal (including the astonishing instrumental "Space Guitar"), the majority of those tunes featured the piano-playing Young John Watson. It was when he began recording for the Bihari Brothers' RPM subsidiary of Modern Records that he "became" Johnny "Guitar" Watson and his amazing legacy really began. The songs are solid West Coast blues, but they're brought to the next level by Watson's impassioned vocals and his incredible biting, staccato guitar solos. Watson's tenure at RPM was short-lived (as were most of his label relationships) and all these tracks were recorded in 1955, but they were wildly influential on a number of great guitarists and still hold their power 50 years down the road…

Johnny "Guitar" Watson - Untouchable! The Classic 1959-1966 Recordings (2007) {Ace Records CDCHD 1180}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 235 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 158 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 24 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1959-66, 2007 Ace Records | CDCHD 1180
Rhythm & Blues / Blues / Electric Blues / Early R&B

Veteran photographer Brian Smith has good reason to remember the night of 3 April 1965 that R&B legend Johnny “Guitar”’ Watson played Manchester’s Twisted Wheel club, with sidekick- Larry Williams, “It was the first time I took out my wife [39 years married, last June] - though I still stuck to the job in hand and buggered off to the ‘Wheel All-Nighter’ after I had put her on the bus home. I got a few decent black and whites on at Twisted Wheel, and then a couple at the Princess Club, same week: on stage, and some posed too.”

Johnny's smokin' R&B sound continued to funkify (and dip into those Chic-like disco jams) on this 1978 LP. His new version of Gangster of Love went R&B Top 40; here's the complete release plus the unissued bonus cuts Base Station One and Do Me Bad So Good !

It all kinda came together on this 1977 LP: the ferocious funk Johnny had gotten into plus the blistering blues chops he'd always had. Includes Johnny's R&B hit Love That Will Not Die.