Blues Come Home to Roost
As a youth sprouting in Mississippi cotton country, James Louis Johnson wanted to know what the chickens in his yard were saying. Once he had learned to play music, he made his guitar cackle like one. Known thereafter as Super Chikan, Johnson began playing bass in jook joints with his uncleBig Jack Johnson, then on guitar backed up Frank Frost, Sam Carr, and Ernest Roy Jr. and Sr. When he started driving trucks, Super Chikan's songwriting skills flowered as his rigs rolled down the highway. He soon recorded 30 songs forJohnny Rawlsand L.C. Luckett in a Clarksdale studio, several of which grace this exceptionally entertaining collection. Starting with the smooth, sardonic boogie "Down in the Delta," Chikan takes us on a backwoods tour of his funny, fertile mind, visiting the likes of "Captain Love Juice" and a lover named "Camel Toe" while serving up tasty vocals and guitarmanship.--Alan Greenberg