Published on Aug 2, 1998
It never fails: no sooner do I get through praising an artist
then I forget about them for, oh, eighteen months. Today’s subject:
bluesman Jimmy Johnson, who last graced these pages on January 14,
1997 – our second freakin’ day online. (Fortunately, Jimmy’s been
cool about the whole thing – I haven’t gotten any threatening
messages from him.)
This brings me to today’s review of Johnson’s 1979 outing
Johnson’s Whacks. (By the way, I don’t like the new album
cover art as pictured above. The original cover pictured Johnson’s
guitar about to be struck with an ax; the back cover pictured a
guitar that looked like Pete Townshend got his hands on it.) While
the production work is a little more raw than I’d like it to be, it
does fairly represent Johnson’s skills as a bluesman.
Ironically, the star of the album to my ears isn’t Johnson.
Rather, it’s drummer Dino Alvarez, who demonstrates some
interesting skills as a blues drummer, even to the point of
throwing in fills I normally hear from rock drummers. Having spent
time behind the skins with Junior Wells and Howlin’ Wolf
beforehand, there’s no doubt he knew his chops, and the sound he
gets from the trap kit proves it.
Johnson, meanwhile, breaks from the traditional style of blues
and dares to add a sense of humor to the music. “The Twelve Bar
Blues” is proof of this: “I drank a dozen Buds, but I don’t feel
any wiser” is just one example of the wit Johnson shows. Some of
the humor even dares to go to the sexual side, as heard on “Jockey
Sports”.
Johnson proves on
Johnson’s Whacks he’s capable not only of playing a new
style of blues, but also the traditional style, as heard on J.
Irby’s “Drivin’ Nails In My Coffin”. And when it comes to showing
off his ability on the six string, “Take Five” is as good of a
showcase piece as I can imagine.
The greatest weakness with
Johnson’s Whacks isn’t the rawer sound to the production;
rather, it’s that some of the music doesn’t have an exciting edge
to the sound, leaving the listener a bit bored. The second side of
the album, containing tracks like “Poor Man’s Dream” and “I Need
Some Easy Money” just seemed to blur together for me – and that’s
something a blues album (or
any album, for that matter) shouldn’t do.
Still, the playing of Johnson and his backing band (pianist Carl
Snyder, bassist Ike Anderson and Alvarez, plus a few guest
musicians) is impressive, demonstrating why some people considered
Johnson to be the next big thing in the blues world.
(Unfortunately, he never did reach the levels of artists like B.B.
King or Stevie Ray Vaughan – not that he didn’t deserve to be held
in high regard.)
Johnson’s Whacks might not be the easiest album to find
(though Music Boulevard did advertise as having it available), and
it might not be the best example of what Johnson is capable of. But
if you have heard any of Johnson’s previous work and liked it,
you’re sure to enjoy this disc as well.