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.
I've Got To Get Rid Of You
Lonnie Johnson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Yes, there's some changes made, I've got to get rid of you.
‘Cause the double life you leading, is goin' to break my heart in two.
Baby, you can't have me, and chase every man in town.
Baby, you can't have me, and chase every man in town.
You will either get me in trouble, or you will end up in six feet of ground.
Yes, I hate to let you go, baby, there's nothin' I can do.
You have to find yourself another man, to let you do all the things you want to do.
‘Cause I want a woman to love, I can tell the whole round world she ‘s mine.
I want a woman I can love, and tell the whole round world she ‘s mine.
But when I'm with you baby, you just with me on borrowed time.
The lyrics to Lonnie Johnson's song "I've Got to Get Rid of You" express an ultimatum that the singer is giving to their lover. They explain that they have to end the relationship because the double life that their lover is leading is going to break their heart in two. The singer expresses a belief that they can't have a meaningful and fulfilling relationship if their lover is chasing other men in town.
The singer also explains that they want a woman to love and be with publicly, but when they are with their lover, it feels like they are only together on borrowed time. The lyrics are poignant and honest, as the singer acknowledges their hurt and desire for something more substantial. The song's slow bluesy melody adds to its mournful tone, making the lyrics even more powerful.
Overall, this song is a classic representation of the blues. It expresses raw emotions and complicated romantic relationships in simple but meaningful language. Lonnie Johnson was a master of the blues, and "I've Got to Get Rid of You" is a perfect example of his skill as a songwriter.
Line by Line Meaning
Baby, there's some changes made, I've got to get rid of you.
I need to end our relationship because you are living a double life that is hurting me.
Baby, you can't have me, and chase every man in town.
You can't be with me and still pursue other men, it will only lead to trouble or even death.
Baby, I hate to let you go, but there's nothing that I can do.
As much as I don't want to end things, I have no other choice.
‘Cause I want a woman to love, I can tell the whole round world she 's mine.
I want a woman to love and proudly show off to everyone that she is mine.
But when I'm with you baby, you just with me on borrowed time.
Being with you feels temporary and uncertain because of your other pursuits.
Writer(s): Lonnie Johnson
Contributed by Jasmine K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.