Johnny Guitar Watson - Space Guitar Master (The 1952-1960 Recordings) (2021)

Mario Cesarano
"I got everything from Johnny.My whole ballad style comes from imitating his ballad style.He was the baddest and the best.They call Elvis the King, but the sure-enough king was Johnny "Guitar" Watson" - Etta James...maybe Etta exaggerated a bit, she was probably infatuated with him - seriously Johnny had a great influence on Etta as singer - but the sure thing is this: space guitar genius Johnny "Guitar" Watson was a great singer, a fine composer, a good pianist - and to think he started out as a saxophonist! - but most of all one of the greatest and most innovative guitarists ever, a legend who was an influence on guitar axes such as Jimi Hendrix ("I used to play the guitar standing on my hands, I had a 150 foot cord and I could get on top of the auditorium - those things Jimi Hendrix was doing, I started that s**t" - Johnny "Guitar" Watson), Johnny Winter, Stevie Ray Vaughan or Frank Zappa (listening to "Someone Cares For Me" led Frank Zappa to take up the guitar); it is enough to listen to few tracks - for example the aforementioned "Someone Cares For Me" or "Oh Baby" - to understand how a great, yet underrated guitarist he was.This CD collects all the singles Watson recorded between 1952-1960 - probably his best time - for various labels: "Motor Head Baby" is the first song recorded by Johnny, in early 1952 with Chuck Higgins and His Mellotones; in "Space Guitar" (1954) he looks like an alien swooped down on Earth with an electric guitar; "Gangster Of Love" will be his workhorse (he would record it again in the 1960s and in the 1970s); "Those Lonely, Lonely Nights" was his first hit (1955), but all the songs are practically excellent, from those with the singer Cordella De Milo (the beautiful "Ain't Gonna Hush" and the fantastic "Lonely Girl") to the sides with Maxwell Davis (among which I mention the fiery "Hot Little Mama" and "Too Tired").Sound quality is good.

Tracklist:
1.01 - Johnny Guitar Watson - Deana Baby (2:13)
1.02 - Johnny Guitar Watson - Ruben (2:25)
1.03 - Johnny Guitar Watson - Gangster of Love (2:43)
1.04 - Johnny Guitar Watson - Untouchable (2:36)
1.05 - Johnny Guitar Watson - I Got Eyes (2:28)
1.06 - Johnny Guitar Watson - Space Guitar (2:40)
1.07 - Johnny Guitar Watson - Love Me Baby (2:54)
1.08 - Johnny Guitar Watson - Hot Little Mama (2:43)
1.09 - Johnny Guitar Watson - Too Tired (2:43)
1.10 - Johnny Guitar Watson - I Love to Love You (2:40)
1.11 - Johnny Guitar Watson - Johnny Guitar (2:27)
1.12 - Johnny Guitar Watson - Honey (2:25)
1.13 - Johnny Guitar Watson - Ain'T Gonna Hush (2:34)
1.14 - Johnny Guitar Watson - Looking Back (1:58)
1.15 - Johnny Guitar Watson - One More Kiss (2:20)
1.16 - Johnny Guitar Watson - Just Won'T Treat Me Rite (2:31)
1.17 - Johnny Guitar Watson - Motor Head Baby (2:16)
1.18 - Johnny Guitar Watson - Oh Baby (2:40)
1.19 - Johnny Guitar Watson - Someone Cares For Me (3:00)
1.20 - Johnny Guitar Watson - Thinking (2:32)
1.21 - Johnny Guitar Watson - Those Lonely, Lonely Nights (2:54)
1.22 - Johnny Guitar Watson - No I Can'T (2:26)
1.23 - Johnny Guitar Watson - Gettin' Drunk (2:43)
1.24 - Johnny Guitar Watson - She Moves Me (2:53)
1.25 - Johnny Guitar Watson - Lonely Girl (2:33)
1.26 - Johnny Guitar Watson - Give a Little (3:04)
1.27 - Johnny Guitar Watson - Half Pint of Whiskey (3:16)
1.28 - Johnny Guitar Watson - What'S Going On (2:28)