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  Johnnie
Johnson - Johnnie Be Eighty. And Still Bad!
{2005 | Cousin Moe Music}
Jeff
Alexander brings back Johnnie Johnson, Larry
Thurston and Gus Thornton for a second CD following
"School For Fools".
Instead
of being called a Johnnie Johnson CD perhaps
Johnnie and St. Louis Blues Super Guests would've
worked, as the talent is huge on this. The music
makers are: Johnnie Johnson (piano), Gus Thornton
(bass), Rich McDonough (guitar), Joe Pastor
(drums), Larry Thurston (vocals - all but track
#5) and Victor Johnson (vocals on track #5).
1.
Beach Weather (4:14) - excellent guitar
and man can Larry sing the blues, the piano
was right on and sounded great.
2. Find Me A Woman (4:09) - an outstanding
blues shuffle of Johnnie and Gus.
3. The Blues Don't Knock (8:40) - over
eight minutes of solid, steady soulful blues
tune as you'd expect from Larry and Rich.
4. Lucky Four (5:09) - the song starts
with just Johnnie, this boogie-woogie is mighty,
mighty fine.
5. Better Sell My House (6:54) - musically
a good song, the vocals were horrible (almost
cartoon-like).
6. A Good Day (3:09) - a fast paced tune.
Gus Thornton's bass lines were dominant and
great.
Total
time: 32:25. The CD was good, much too short
for a production CD, would've enjoyed hearing
Johnnie sing a song or two on a Johnnie Johnson
CD. While this CD has Johnnie playing piano
it's more of a sequel to "School".
What we get is six songs that are quite good.
Rating: 4.
I'm
a huge fan of Johnnie Johnson, at eighty he
had nothin' to prove. Johnnie Johnson was the
real deal. His presence was proud and genuine.
He mastered the piano and just made great music.
Unfortunately, Johnnie passed away on April
13, 2005 prior to the release of this CD. To
Johnnie, thank you, you will be missed!
Ciao’
for now, peace.
Cornbread
Cornbread@stlblues.net
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