Singer-songwriter-musician Alonzo “Lonnie” Johnson was born on February 8, 1899 in New Orleans. Johnson was a musical pioneer for, among other reasons, his work with the electric guitar and the electric violin.
Besides the fact he created some great music, he has been credited with creating the note-by-note guitar solo style that became common in many kinds of music. His career spanned decades, starting with his jazz and blues work in the 1920s and 1930s. And after World War II, he had some success as an R&B performer, although he eventually ended up taking other labor jobs to support himself.
Below, Lonnie Johnson performs “Another Night to Cry.”
Johnson died on June 16, 1970 in Toronto. He had been in poor health following getting hit by a car in March 1969. Because he had no money when he died, in 2014 the Killer Blues Headstone Project paid for the headstone on his grave.
What is your favorite recording by Lonnie Johnson? Leave your two cents in the comments.
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