look: Lonnie Johnson - The Original Guitar Wizard (Box Set) - Proper Records, 2005 - BUY

buy:

I can't get enough of this box set. It contains four CD's with a total of 95 tracks. Lonnie Johnson is often over-looked with it comes to blues history, but his style of combining blues with jazz forever blurred the lines between the two. Johnson started playing in cafes in New Orleans and in 1917 traveled to Europe with Will Marion Cook's Syncopated Orchestra. When he returned in 1918 he discovered that his entire family with the exception of one brother, had been wiped out by a flu epidemic. He then, along with his surviving brother, James "Steady Roll" Johnson, moved to St. Louis in 1920.

This lavishly produced Box Set includes all his recordings from 1928 to 1952 along with a comprehensive liner notes and a full discography.

The key to preserving this and all blues music is to keep the founding fathers music alive for the next generation. This is one box set that should be passed on as an example of the beginning of the music we all listen to today.

(©) 2007, Tim Richards
BluesSource.com