Name: Essential Works 1953-1962
Brand: Johnny Guitar Watson

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

MOR908

Colour

Black

Colour details

Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Format Music GB

Limited edition

Release date

2023-01-20

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier GB

Tax rate GB

Standard:20

UPC / Barcode

3760300319956

Total Cap

2 / Black / LP

Artist

Johnny Guitar Watson

Genre GB

Blues / Gospel

Label GB

Diggers Factory

Diggers Factory is a French company based in Paris that has been operating since 2016. They are a vinyl on-demand platform that produces records with the help of the community.
With their innovative approach, Diggers Factory allows music lovers to discover and support new artists by pre-ordering limited edition vinyl releases. By involving the community in the production process, they create a unique and collaborative experience for both artists and fans.
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Johnny Guitar Watson was a seminal electric blues and rhythm & blues guitarist from Houston, Texas. He rose to fame in the mid-1950s with hits like "Gangster Of Love" and collaborated with artists such as *Little Richard*. In the 1960s, he ventured into synthesizer productions. His work became a source for sampling by renowned artists like Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg. Notably, Watson's 1956 song, 'Three Hours Past Midnight', inspired [a92623] to become a guitarist.

Born on February 3rd, 1935, in Houston, Texas, Watson initially learned music on the piano as a child. However, his preacher grandfather prohibited him from playing the blues on guitar. Despite this restriction, Watson took up the guitar when his family moved to Los Angeles in the '50s. As a teenager there, he honed his skills by playing guitar, piano, and singing in local LA 'jump bands'.

Tragically, Johnny Guitar Watson passed away on May 17th, 1996 while performing onstage in Yokohama Japan due to cardiac infarction.

A singer / guitarist known for two essential albums in the funk sphere – Ain’t That a Bitch and A Real Mother For You – Johnny Watson was first of all a highly respected bluesman with close ties to the R&amp;B scene of the Fifties. When Johnny Watson’s grandfather died, he left his grandson a guitar, but Grandma insisted that Johnny shouldn’t ever play “the devil’s music” – the blues – on such a “holy” instrument that had accompanied so many gospels… Johnny at once thought about nothing else. In Los Angeles he would spend the Fifties under the influence of Amos Milburn and Chuck Higgins, with whom he played for a time before creating his own group to trawl through every club in the city. “I was doing things like Jimi Hendrix, fifteen years before [him] playing guitar with my teeth, hanging from the rafters and doing double gigs with Guitar Slim … we used to work together in clubs with 30 foot guitarleads, sit on each others shoulders and walk out into the audience”. Johnny “Guitar” Watson’s shows left an indelible mark. He gave each period in his career a personal stamp that made him an original character: he marked every style he played in, whether it was blues, R&amp;B or funk. The first two styles appear on all four sides of this album, leaving the funk for Ain’t That a Bitch and A Real Mother For You.

Essential Works 1953-1962 

Music GB