Lonnie Johnson Vol 1 1937 - 1940

Lonnie Johnson Vol 2 1940 - 1942

Lonnie Johnson Vol 3 1944 - 1947

Lonnie Johnson, the essential DOUBLE CD
Classic Blues is devoted to re-issuing the classic recordings of America's greatist blues artists. Very LIMITED STOCK

Bill Wyman's Blues Odyssey DOUBLE CD

Rude Dudes - Part 2 Of Bill Wyman's Blues Odyssey

Banana In Your Fruit Basket, If It Don't Fit Don't Force It and He's Just My Size? Well, no prizes for guessing what they're all about. But what is a Southern Can, who is the Boy in the Boat and why a Man O' War? This excellent double CD, with twelve page full colour booklet, is packed with some of the most intriguing and often humorous Hokum, Blues, Jazz and Boogie-Woogie pieces based on the subject of sex. Outrageous double entendres and curious metaphors are abound. If Bananas, Lollypops, Fish and Jelly be the food of love, then play on! Continued...

Blues, Blues Christmas 1925 - 1955

Lonnie Johnson Vol 1 1925 - 1926

Lonnie Johnson, vocal, guitar. Violin, kazoo, harmonium.

 With contributions by James Johnson, violin, piano; James "Steady Roll" Johnson, vocal; John Arnold, piano; De Loise Searcy, piano; Victoria Spivey, vocal.
Genres: Blues, Country Blues, Blues Guitar.

Informative booklet notes by Chris Smith.
Detailed discography.

Abridged from this CDs booklet notes.
In 1925, Alonzo "Lonnie" Johnson won a talent contest sponsored by Okeh, and acquired a seven year contract with them as a result. Male singers playing guitar were about to make the breakthrough on race records; Blind Lemon Jefferson was beginning to record about the same time as Lonnie. Nevertheless, Johnson seems to have been anxious to show his versatility on these first dates; on this CD, he plays violin on more numbers than he does guitar, as well as switching to piano, banjo and harmonium. His contract with Okeh required him to work as a staff musician as well as a name artist, and he may have wanted to impress the company with his range. Controll...

Lonnie Johnson Vol 2 1926 - 1927

Lonnie Johnson, vocal, harmonium, guitar.

Includes recordings by;
Helen Humes, vocal.
Joe Brown, vocal.
Raymond Boyd, vocal.

With contributions by; James Johnson, violin; John Erby, piano, De Loise Searcy, piano.

Genres; Blues, Blues Guitar, Female Blues vocal, New Orleans Blues.

Informative booklet notes by Chris Smith.
Detailed discography.

From this CDs booklet notes;
Lonnie Johnson closed the eight title session of 13 August 1926 with two blues, one backed by the strange combination of his own harmonium and his brother James's violin, the other with just his own guitar. This marked the end of the bewildering display of instrument switching to be heard on Volume 1 (DOCD-5063); not for nearly three years was Lonnie to accompany himself on any instrument but guitar. As if to confirm this decision, he dropped into the studio the next day, Saturday, to cut the dazzling guitar solo To Do This, You Got To Know How, based on a lose 12 bar structure, but in practice owing little to the blues. 1927 found the two brothers back in the studio, both playing guitar; I Done Tole You, unissued at the time, hints at the revolutionary series of instrumental duets Lonnie was soon to cut with Eddie Lang.

Lonnie Johnson Vol 3 1927 - 1928

Lonnie Johnson, vocal, guitar, violin.

Includes two titles by "Keghouse", vocal.
With contribtuions by: John Erby, piano; Jimmy Blythe, piano; Nap Hayes, guitar; Mathew Prater, mandolin.

Genres: Blues, Blues Guitar, Blues Violin, String Band, New Orleans Blues.

Informative booklet notes by Chris Smith.
Detailed discography.

From this CDs booklet notes.
When Lonnie Johnson returned to Okeh’s New York studio in October 1927, he began with an account of the cyclone that had just struck St. Louis, where he had until recently been living. Elzadie Robinson recorded the same song that November, but Lonnie’s version was made a mere four days after the storm, which took 84 lives in five minutes, and caused immense damage. In a very different mood was Bedbug Blues Part 2, a sequel to the popular “Mean Old Bed Bug Blues” that he’d cut in August (see DOCD-5064). October and November found Johnson cutting more of his elegant instrumentals, and Okeh still reluctant to issue them, apparently preferring his imaginative stories in song like Life Saver Blues and Blue Ghost Blues (and, in Bitin’ Fleas Blues, yet another attempt to exploit the craze for blues about parasites). Continued...