The Original Guitar Hero and the Power of Music: The Legendary Lonnie Johnson, Music, and Civil Rights (North Texas Lives of Musician Series)
Though recognized by B. B. King and others for his strong influence, blues- and jazz-guitar pioneer and singer Lonnie Johnson is an underappreciated giant of the music, a precursor not only of King, but also of jazz great Charlie Christian and rockers such as Eric Clapton. In often-minute detail, Alger recounts Johnson’s long—if interrupted—career, from his early solos and duets (with his brother and with guitarist Eddie Lang and blues singer Victoria Spivey) to his accompanying Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington on classic recordings, and into the blues revival of the 1960s. Alger insistently seeks to correct the relative lack of recognition of Johnson by the music-loving public. Although some of Alger’s claims are strained, Johnson’s seminal role is abundantly substantiated, not merely by the author’s claims (and King’s) but by the music itself, a CD of which is to be issued separately. By bringing the music back along with this commentary, Alger makes a substantial contribution to the history of early jazz, of the guitar’s preeminence in twentieth-century music, and of Johnson’s major, but regrettably forgotten, role. --Mark Levine