ArtistInfo

Johnny Guitar Watson
For Gangsters And Lovers

Compil. DE 2018 on Koko Mojo Records label
Blues (Rhythm’n’Blues)

Texas-born John Watson Jr. (Houston, Feb. 3rd, 1935) started to play the piano at the age of 8 and guitar at the age of 11 after his grandfather, a guitar-playing preacher, bought him his first guitar. Johnny was a big fan of T-Bone Walker and Clarance ‘Gatemouth’ Brown. At 15 he moved to Los Angeles with his mother where he started his career as a piano player. He toured on the road with sax-ace Chuck Higgins and piano man Amos Milburn. Johnny made his first records as ‘Young Johnny Watson’ for Federal in 1952. After releasing a few singles as a pianist, he switched to guitar and changed his stage name to Johnny ‘Guitar’ Watson in 1954 after he saw the Joan Crawford movie ‘Johnny Guitar’. He recorded his trademark song Gangster Of Love many times in his career. Here you can hear the one he cut for King Records in 1962 (King 57774) plus The Bear, a song he recorded for Class in 1959 (Class 2092) and two numbers he did earlier in his career for RPM Records Hot Little Mama (RPM 423) and She Moves Me (RPM 3066), first released in 1955 and 1956. This EP ‘For Gangster And Lovers’ contains some of the coolest of the many cool tracks our ‘Gangster Of Love’ ever recorded... Dig it! Little Victor (a.k.a DJ "Mojo" Man)

Musicians

Johnny Guitar Watson , 1935-1996 US album by

Producers

ArtistInfo App

Acknowledgements

ArtistInfo for Mac, iPad, and iPhone