• NEWS
  • REVIEWS
  • INTERVIEWS
  • EVENTS
  • VIDEOS

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest creative news from Blues Scene about music & art.

Exclusive: Chris Yakopcic Premieres Video for ‘Gotta Get Goodbye Somehow’ From ‘Live at the Hidden Gem’

September 21, 2023

Exclusive Album Premiere: Louis Michot Conveys Dreamlike Imagery on ‘Rêve du Troubadour’

September 20, 2023

10 More Things You Didn’t Know About Joe Cocker

September 19, 2023

New VizzTone Artist Mathias Lattin Previews Upcoming Album with ‘Lose Some Weight’

September 18, 2023
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Facebook Twitter Instagram Vimeo
American Blues SceneAmerican Blues Scene
  • NEWS
  • REVIEWS
  • INTERVIEWS
  • EVENTS
  • VIDEOS
Advertise
American Blues SceneAmerican Blues Scene
Home»News»C.C. Rider the Venerator: Lonnie Johnson
News

C.C. Rider the Venerator: Lonnie Johnson

C.C. RiderBy C.C. RiderFebruary 8, 2016Updated:April 10, 2020No Comments2 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email VKontakte WhatsApp
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

This is the latest from The Bluesmobile’s C.C. Rider, who spends her life venerating the founding fathers of the blues. She’s walked the crooked highways of this singing country to resurrect the voices of the past. With the dirt of the Delta on her hands, she sleeps in the shadow of the giants on whose shoulders popular music now stands.

Lonnie Johnson

(February 8, 1899 – June 16, 1970)

Growin’ up in New Orleans, Lonnie Johnson learned to play music alongside his brothers and sisters.  His dad, a violin player, brought up the family to play together. But after he lost all his kin to the Spanish Flu, Lonnie was on his own.  So he moved to St. Louis. Became a riverboat performer. Played music for popular comedy acts.

In 1925 Lonnie Johnson entered a talent contest hosted by Okeh records. He’d never even really sung before—but he won. Cause of that unexpected win, the jazz-minded Johnson was branded a traditional blues player. He didn’t like that label, but the Okeh contest landed him work as a session musician.

And it was a 1927 Okeh Session that really changed the game. For historians anyway. See, on a track called “6/88 Glide,” Johnson turned to his jazz background and started to improvise on his guitar. According to many, that was the first real guitar solo on record.

Lonnie Johnson went on to play masterfully on cuts by Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. Recorded vocal numbers with blues queen Victoria Spivey. And guitar duets like this one with Eddie Lang. What you heard there’s some of the first one-on-one collaborations between a black and a white musician. Incredible.

Here’s a beautiful track.  Lonnie Johnson and “Feeling Low Down.”

C.C. Rider Lonnie Johnson The Bluesmobile
Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email WhatsApp
Previous ArticleTommy Z Blows Us Away with 'Blizzard of Blues'
Next Article WORLD PREMIERE: Supersonic Blues Machine debuts “Can’t Take It No More” Featuring Walter Trout
C.C. Rider
  • Website
  • Twitter

C.C. Rider, who spends her life venerating the founding fathers of the blues. She’s walked the crooked highways of this singing country to resurrect the voices of the past. With the dirt of the Delta on her hands, she sleeps in the shadow of the giants on whose shoulders popular music now stands.

Related Posts

New VizzTone Artist Mathias Lattin Previews Upcoming Album with ‘Lose Some Weight’

September 18, 2023

Ben Harper and Charlie Musselwhite’s Grammy®-winning ‘Get Up!’ Returns to Vinyl

September 15, 2023

Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame Announces Inaugural Class – Gordon Lightfoot, John Prine, Pete Seeger, and Woody Guthrie Among Inductees

September 14, 2023

Cat Power to Release ‘Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert’

September 14, 2023

Comments are closed.

Advertisment
Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest
  • Home
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Events
  • Videos
  • About

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.