Blues
Johnny Littlejohn's stunning mastery of the slide guitar somehow never launched him into the major leagues of bluesdom. Only on a handful of occasions was the Chicago veteran's vicious bottleneck attack captured effectively on wax, but anyone who experienced one of his late-night sessions as a special musical guest on the Windy City circuit will never forget the crashing passion in his delivery.
Delta-bred John Funchess first heard the blues just before he reached his teens at a fish fry where a friend of his father's named Henry Martin was playing guitar. He left home in 1946, pausing in Jackson, MS; Arkansas, and Rochester, NY, before winding up in Gary, IN. In 1951, he began inching his way into the Gary blues scene, his Elmore James-influenced slide style making him a favorite around Chicago's south suburbs in addition to steel mill-fired Gary.
Littlejohn waited an unconscionably long time to wax his debut singles for Margaret (his trademark treatment of Brook Benton's "Kiddio"), T-D-S, and Weis in 1968. But before the year was out, Littlejohn had also cut his debut album, Chicago Blues Stars, for Chris Strachwitz's Arhoolie logo. It was a magnificent debut, the guitarist blasting out a savage Chicago/Delta hybrid rooted in the early '50s rather than its actual timeframe.
Unfortunately, a four-song 1969 Chess date remained in the can. After that, another long dry spell preceded Littlejohn's 1985 album So-Called Friends for Rooster Blues, an ambitious but not altogether convincing collaboration between the guitarist and a humongous horn section that sometimes grew to eight pieces. The guitarist had been in poor health for some time prior to his 1994 passing.
By Bill Dahl. AMG.
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Carey Bell- Harmonica, Vocals
Larry Burton- Guitar
Willie Kent- Bass
John Littlejohn- Guitar, Vocals
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01. Bloody Tears Dixon 5:19
02. Hoochie Coochie Man Dixon 4:15
03. Mama Told Me Bell 4:12
04. Sweet Home Chicago Johnson 4:08
05. Dream Funchess 5:44
06. Carey Bell's Rock Bell 4:05
07. Easy to Love You Bell 7:10
08. Kiddio Otis/Benton 3:44
09. Slidin' Home Funchess 4:54
10. Shake Your Money Maker James 4:05
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