Blues Artist Luther “Guitar Junior” Johnson and his band, The Magic Rockers, performed a very swingin’ show before a packed crowd Saturday night in the McNeil Room.
As a huge fan of modern blues rock artists Jonny Lang and the Kenny Wayne Shepard Band, I was intrigued to hear the classic blues rock that influenced their melodies. I wasn’t disappointed by what I heard.
Johnson’s music, a mixture of blues, rock, 60’s soul, rhythm and blues, and country boasts incredibly emotive original songs and talented renditions from Magic Sam, Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, Jimmy Reed, Slim Harpo, T-Bone Walker, Robert Johnson, Howlin’s Wolf, and Willie Dixon.
His incredibly stirring, powerfully-tuned guitar work and emotionally expressive singing kept me enthusiastically gripped for the show’s duration. The band’s interaction with the audience during a number of the songs was an impressive touch.
I especially enjoyed “It’s Your Thing—I’ll pay you back,” a medley of an Isles Brother’s song and Bobby Rush’s “I’ve Got a Woman.”
Johnson’s shows are very memorable because “you really get into it. It makes me feel so good,” said Johnson. “I like [performing live] because it gives me a [good] feeling—you know, when you do something you love.”
The free communiversity event, coordinated by the Office of the First-Year Experience and UPAC Concerts, had originally been scheduled for September 15 but was re-scheduled for Saturday because of the events of September 11.
Born and raised in Itta, Mississippi, Johnson grew up enjoying the local blues and gospel music scene. He moved to Chicago during the 50s and became a promoter of the west side guitar style. The style, which intricately combines stinging single-note leads and roaring, distorted cords, has influenced such well-known artists as Eric Clapton and Mark Knopfler.
Johnson achieved fame as a sideman guitarist and vocalist for the Muddy Waters band and Magic Sam during the 70s.
His own band, the Magic Rockers, has recorded four CDs since the 80s: Doin’ The Sugar Too (Rooster Blues), which was voted number four contemporary blues album of the year at the 1985 Hardy’s; I Want To Groove With You; Slammin’ on the West Side; and the newest album, Talking about Soul. Their song, “Walkin’ The Dog,” recorded live at the Montreux Festival’s Blues Night, won a Grammy award in 1984. Luther Johnson captured the W.C. Handy Award for Blues Single of the Year with “Woman Look What You’re Doin’ To Me” and “Nine Below Zero” in 1988.
Since leaving the Muddy Waters, Johnson has toured with The Magic Rockers from coast to coast and has completed three European tours.
Johnson is the most well-known of the three Luther Johnsons (the other two being another Muddy Waters sideman named Luther “Georgia Boy” Johnson and Luther “Houserocker” Johnson.)
