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.
Losing Game
Lonnie Johnson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I've proved that I love you, in everything ‘at a good man could do.
You just laughed in my face, is that all I mean to you?
Darlin', I know you don't love me, there's nothing I can do.
Yes, darlin', I know you don't love me, there's nothing I can do.
My love is just wasted, is that all I mean to you?
Yes, I took a chance and fell in love with you, there's no one but myself to blame.
I'm just another fool that fell in love with you, and playin' a losing game.
The lyrics of Lonnie Johnson's song "Losing Game" delve into the theme of unrequited love and the feeling of being disregarded and undervalued in a relationship. The singer laments that despite his efforts to prove his love and devotion to his partner, he is met with laughter and indifference. He is disillusioned by the fact that his love seems insignificant to his partner, and it leaves him feeling helpless and heartbroken.
The first stanza emphasizes the singer's attempts to demonstrate his love through his actions, suggesting that he has done everything within his power to express his feelings. However, his partner's response of laughter suggests a lack of appreciation or acknowledgment for his efforts. The repetition of the question, "is that all I mean to you?" further emphasizes the singer's feelings of insignificance and disappointment.
In the second stanza, the singer acknowledges that his partner does not love him in return, leaving him feeling helpless in the face of unrequited love. He accepts that there is nothing he can do to change this reality and experiences the pain of his love being wasted. The line "My love is just wasted, is that all I mean to you?" expresses the singer's hurt and longing for a love that will never be reciprocated.
Overall, "Losing Game" explores the emotions of unrequited love and the profound impact it can have on an individual's self-worth and sense of value in a relationship. Lonnie Johnson's soulful delivery of these lyrics captures the raw vulnerability and pain experienced in such situations.
Line by Line Meaning
I've proved that I love you, in everything ‘at a good man could do.
I have demonstrated my love for you, going above and beyond what a decent man could do.
You just laughed in my face, is that all I mean to you?
But all you did was mock me, is that the extent of my importance to you?
Darlin', I know you don't love me, there's nothing I can do.
My dear, I am aware that you do not love me, and there is no action I can take to change that.
My love is just wasted, is that all I mean to you?
So my love is simply being squandered, is that the only value I hold for you?
Yes, I took a chance and fell in love with you, there's no one but myself to blame.
Indeed, I took a risk and allowed myself to fall in love with you, and I am solely responsible for the outcome.
I'm just another fool that fell in love with you, and playin' a losing game.
I am merely one more fool who succumbed to love for you, and now I am engaged in a futile and self-defeating endeavor.
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Kenneth Davis
Hello Henk. Thank you for putting this one out there. It is hard to find. This is my top blues album. The originator from the 1930 blues/jazz creation of a style. Acoustic. A comeback release. Recorded 12/28/1960. Just him. The greatest 'Summertime" ever. There are so many songs on this album...that are so heartfelt...so honest...such true expressions of humanity. One man. One voice. One comment about life. Simple and honest.
Des thefrenchrapper
Lonnie is so soothing to listen to.
Henk Voorwinde
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New Orleans Blues 2:24
My Little Kitten Susie 2:38
Evil Woman 2:30
What A Difference A Day Makes 2:29
Moaning Blues 3:59
Summertime 3:27
Lines In My Face 2:50
Losing Game 1:52
New Years Blues 2:17
Slow And Easy 4:18
Four Walls And Me 3:45
You Won't Let Me Go 3:04