Johnny Guitar Watson - Giant

Once was a time when my three favourite artists were filed under W (Womack, WAR, Watson). Years later, I still find myself drawn toward the W section of a record shop first.

Johnny Guitar Watson always tried to adapt to whatever the current trend in black music was. By adapt, I mean he did his signature singing, scatting and clean Texas blues guitar playing largely unchanged, over the new-style backing. Sometimes this works really well; sometimes it doesn’t. It helps if you’re a fan, which I am.

This album tries to hit the jazz-blues-disco highs of his hit I Need It from a couple of years prior. Whilst it doesn’t achieve that, its still a decent album – mostly disco-orientated. Apart from an updated version of his early hit, Gangster Of Love and his cover of WAR’s Baby Face (She Said Do Do Do Do).

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Johnny Guitar Watson - Strike On Computers

There’s not a lot to say about this slab of 1980s JGW, except perhaps to point out the irony of an album whose titular track is a cautionary tale about the takeover of computers being almost entirely recorded on...yep, computers. Or have I just missed the joke completely?

I bought this on import.

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Johnny "Guitar" Watson – Listen

This 1973 album marks Watson’s transition from blues to a kind of funky southern soul-blues hybrid.

It’s great.

That guitar sound, man. It sends shivers down my spine.

I went into JiFS Records one day in the 80s, and George, the owner, (remembering I would buy JGW records) says "I've got something you might be interested in." He goes out back and returns with this and a copy of the Lone Ranger album. Fifteen quid apiece. Bargain. That's what you want in a record shop, man.

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