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Jack Johnson


bammerwiki

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Posted

That's Big Jack.

I can personally recommend these albums as I have them:

Oil Man

All The Way Back

Also check out the "Jelly Roll Kings" albums. Real good blues.

The Jack Johnson mentioned by Eddie is someone else.

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Posted

Virgman,

Notice the link to wikipedia was a "stub" and they are asking for input. If you know any of his biography you could go ahead and enter it.

Tom

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Posted

Ok. I put this there.

http://hudsonriverpark.org/Calendar/art2006/blues/BigJackJohnson.pdf


BIG JACK JOHNSON BIO

A true master of contemporary Delta blues, Big Jack Johnson is one of the best Blues guitarists ever to come out of
Clarksdale, Mississippi and that is a long list. Born in 1940 in Lambert, MS, Johnson has spend the past 40 years living and
playing the blues. His musicianship has been so renowned, that he has performed by invitation with Sonny Boy Williamson,
Jimmy Reed, Robert Nighthawk and Carl Perkins, to name a few. He first recorded at the famous Sun Studios in Memphis
in 1964. Unlike many Bluesmen today, Big Jack has stayed in the Delta and continues to make his home in the same place
he started out in. Not that he hasn't traveled. Tours have taken him to Japan, Germany, Holland, and many other European
countries. He's also in regular demand at the festivals that have sprung up all over the U.S. In 1962 Big Jack first gained
prominence when he teamed up with Frank Frost and Sam Carr and formed what most blues fans think of as the perfect
Blues trio. Originally called Frank Frost and the Nighthawks, then Little Sam Carr and The Blues Kings, they finally settled
on the Jelly Roll Kings when they recorded for Earwig Records in 1978. Big Jack has been named "Best Live Performer" in
The Living Blues Magazine Critic's Poll and won the 1997 W.C. Handy Award for his MC Records release, "We Got To
Stop This Killin'." An incredibly gifted and intense guitarist and vocalist, Johnson plays electric slide with the dirty, greasy
feel of Elmore James and shouts verses that sound as old as the Delta soil he was born on. This is raw, powerful, electric
Delta blues at its very best.
Encouraged by his musician-father, Big Jack became a proficient guitarist at an early age. Lacking nothing in terms of
pure talent, his vocal and instrumental skills have become world-class -- he is the blues as much as any artist that has ever
played. In fact, "Big Jack" has garnered some prestigious awards, recorded with diverse groups and for various labels, and
rocked the stages of clubs and festivals the world over.
So why the constant struggle for recognition?
"Nobody seems to want to put me at the right place at the right time," the artist told me. "They just leave me hangin'. So you
know I have to try to bang around and do my own stuff and try to get out here so people can hear me, 'cause really I haven't
been where people could see what I had for them." And so does Mr. Johnson proceed from gig-to-gig along his blues path,
certain of his talents and abilities, yet humble to a fault. Through it all the artist emerges as both gentleman and musician's
musician -- a deeply religious and respectful man. "Ain't no sense in runnin' . . . you can't run from Him," Jack remarks, ". . .
and you can't hide."
Blues was not his only musical influence, however. "I listened to country and western and blues, and I like to mix it up now,
cause that's what I heard," recalls the bluesman. I listened to the Grand Ole Opry with DeFord Bailey, Grandpa Jones, Red
Foley -- all those guys . . . and Hank Williams, who I heard live in Memphis when I was really young."
"But B.B. King was my idol," Jack says, "and Albert too." I would see him at the Masonic Hall in Clarksdale -- Robert
Nighthawk, Sonny Boy Williamson -- I played with all those guys. Robert with all that slide stuff and Sonny Boy would just
eat that harp up, man."
Anyone familiar with Jack's shows knows that no one quite equals him in live performance. He steps in front of the mike,
and a hush envelopes the crowd. Here is a real blues man . . . the real deal with all of the legendary power, command and
excitement. Not since Earl Hooker has a guitarist with such virtuosity, emotion, and eclectic makeup come before the
public. If you ever have the chance to see Big Jack Johnson in person, don

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Posted

Originally posted by bammerwiki

Virgman,


Great article. I'm not sure why it hasn't showed up in wikipedia yet. Did you get any kind of notice from them?


Tom

 

 

Not yet but my spam filters may have stopped them.

 

Since anybody can put info in there a lot must be BS.

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