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Johnny Guitar Watson – What the hell is this
Johnny Guitar Watson – Love Jones
Released on 1 September 2003
These albums come from 1979 and 1980 and continue the funk/ disco direction that had previously been and continued to be successful. Unquestionably and distinctively JGW from the voice, the humour and the guitar playing. If Johnny is your bag then tis is for you. I must confess to find it all pretty samey and by this time pretty unoriginal and not really going anywhere.
The good tracks are good, the rest are uninspiring. On What the Hell it is the title track, shown here with two different edits, that is the good track. Mother in Law is typical humor in a JGW funky fashion.
Of the two Love Jones is the better album, again the title track being the preeminent one, a great ballad. Booty Ooty runs it close, but just falls short on the basis of being a touch contrived. A couple of tracks show the earlier blues style and jazzy styles because after alll he has done them all and succeeded in all of them.
My favourite track, again for it's humor and embryonic hip hop style, is telephone bill.
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JOHNNY
'GUITAR' WATSON |
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At the height of the disco boom, the Guitar Man reminded R&B fans of their roots with this fine 1979 album. Highlights included a revival of Percy Mayfield’s 'I Don’t Want To Be President’, the Ray Charles-style ballad 'Strung Out’, and the irrepressibly funky title track. |
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JOHNNY
'GUITAR' WATSON |
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Never a man to miss a commercial trick, Watson hit the disco craze right on the nail with the playful 'Booty Ooty’, and dabbled with the new rap sound on 'Telephone Bill’. But as usual, the title track of this 1980 album showed where he was really at, challenging Bobby Womack as America’s funkiest soul man. |
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