Lonnie Johnson's early recordings are the first guitar recordings that display a single-note soloing style with use of string bending and vibrato. While it cannot be proven that this contains the influence of earlier players who did not record, it is the origin of Blues and Rock solo guitar. Johnson's influence is obvious in Django Reinhardt, T-Bone Walker and virtually all electric blues guitar players.
[citation needed] Raised in a family of musicians, Johnson studied violin and guitar as a child, but concentrated on the latter throughout his professional career. A 1917 tour to England with a revue may have saved his life, for he returned to New Orleans in 1919 to find that most of his family had died in the 1918 influenza epidemic.
In the early 1920s, Johnson worked with the orchestras of Charlie Creath and Fate Marable on riverboats, but he made St. Louis his home in 1925. There he entered and won an Okeh Records blues contest that resulted in his making a series of memorable recordings for the label between 1925 and 1932, including guitar duets with Eddie Lang and vocal duets with Victoria Spivey. In the 1920s, Johnson also made guest appearances on records by Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five, the Duke Ellington orchestra, and The Chocolate Dandies, playing 12-string guitar solos in an extraordinary, pioneering single-string style that greatly influenced such future jazz guitarists as Charlie Christian and Django Reinhardt, and gave the instrument new meaning as a jazz voice.
Lonnie Johnson's career was a rollercoaster ride that sometimes took him away from music. In between great musical accomplishments, he found it necessary to take menial jobs that ranged from working in a steel foundry to mopping floors as a janitor. He was working at Philadelphia's Benjamin Franklin Hotel in 1959 when WHAT-FM disc jockey Chris Albertson happened upon him. Albertson succeeded in securing for Johnson a Chicago engagement at the Playboy Club, which launched yet another comeback. Johnson subsequently performed with Duke Ellington and his orchestra and with an all-star folk concert, both at Town Hall, New York City.
He also toured Europe and recorded several albums for the Prestige Bluesville label, some with Elmer Snowden, and one with his Okeh vocal partner, Victoria Spivey. To his great regret, Johnson was always tagged as a blues artist, and he found it difficult to be regarded as anything else. "I had done some singing by then," he explained when asked why he entered the Okeh contest, "but I still didn't take it as seriously as my guitar playing, and I guess I would have done anything to get recorded--it just happened to be a blues contest, so I sang the blues."
Johnson died in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, June 16, 1970 of complications resulting from a 1969 auto accident. He was posthumously inducted into the Louisiana Blues Hall of Fame in 1997.
One of Elvis Presley's earliest recordings was Johnson's blues ballad, "Tomorrow Night", which was also recorded by LaVern Baker
Bob Dylan wrote about the performing method he learned from Johnson in Chronicles, Vol. 1. Dylan thinks Robert Johnson had learned a lot from Lonnie.
Fine Booze And Heavy Dues
Lonnie Johnson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It's where I long to be
I've got the blues for San Francisco
It's where I long to be
There's a club they call Sugar Hill
And that's where I long to be
Everybody starts to jumpin'
Yes, the house starts rockin'
When the clock is strikin' nine
There's so many fine chicks walk in the door
Make a single man lose his mind
The name is Sugar Hill Club
It's the home of the natural blues
Name is the Sugar Hill Club
The home of the natural blues
You get nothing but big legged women and the fine booze
Oh, Jack and it's heavy dues
She said "Daddy, buy me a drink"
She's so fine you can't refuse
Yes, she said "Daddy, buy me a drink"
She's so fine you can't refuse
'Cause it is the home of the blues
Fine women and heavy dues
The lyrics to Lonnie Johnson's song "Fine Booze and Heavy Dues" paint a vivid picture of longing for San Francisco and the club that he desires to be in. He sings about the Sugar Hill Club, which is known as the "home of the natural blues," and the excitement that comes with it. Johnson expresses his desire to be there while painting a picture of what one can expect upon entering this club. He talks about how the house starts rocking when the clock strikes nine and how one can expect to see many fine chicks walking through the door. He emphasizes the club's name, the Sugar Hill Club and how it represents the blues' natural home. Johnson also mentions how the club's drinks are of the finest quality, and the women are all big-legs.
Moreover, when Johnson sings about the heavy dues, he is talking about the cost of success in the music world. With a life of performing and everything he has gone through thus far, he understands that success comes at a great cost, both in time and strain. The cost of making it big takes a lot of effort, time, and resources, leaving one with heavy burdens—both financially and physically. The club's name itself symbolizes the high life that can come with performing and the heavy dues that come with it.
In conclusion, the "Fine Booze and Heavy Dues" lyrics by Lonnie Johnson capture the reality of the challenges and opportunities that come from music performance. In San Francisco's Sugar Hill Club, one can find both fine women and fine booze, but the cost of performing is heavy dues. This song highlights the gritty reality of the music world.
Line by Line Meaning
I've got the blues for San Francisco
I am feeling nostalgic and longing for San Fransisco
It's where I long to be
San Francisco is where I want to go and be at this moment
There's a club they call Sugar Hill
There exists a club named Sugar Hill
And that's where I long to be
The club is where I want to go and have fun
Everybody starts to jumpin'
As the clock strikes nine, there's a lot of energy and excitement
When the clock is strikin' nine
The fun and jumping starts when the clock strikes nine
Yes, the house starts rockin'
The club becomes lively and everyone has fun
There's so many fine chicks walk in the door
There are many attractive ladies who enter the club
Make a single man lose his mind
Their beauty is mesmerizing and can be overwhelming to a single guy
The name is Sugar Hill Club
The name of the club is Sugar Hill Club
It's the home of the natural blues
It's where blues music comes to life in its natural form
You get nothing but big legged women and the fine booze
The club has many attractive and well-endowed ladies and serves quality alcohol
Oh, Jack and it's heavy dues
But to enjoy the club life, it can be quite expensive
She said "Daddy, buy me a drink"
"Can you buy me a drink?" she asked
She's so fine you can't refuse
She's incredibly attractive that it's impossible to say no
'Cause it is the home of the blues
Because the club is the place where blues music is played
Fine women and heavy dues
The club has great-looking ladies but it's also quite expensive to enjoy it.
Contributed by Logan J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.