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.
Make Love To Me Baby
Lonnie Johnson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Yes, come on and make love to me baby, if it takes you all night long.
I wanna make up for the time, and the months, and the days that I've been gone.
You used to love me when the sun is shinin', and when the lights are low.
Yes, you used to love me when the sun is shinin', and when the lights are low.
Yes, you had a certain way of stoppin', that made me cry for more.
Yes, the way you kiss me baby, it upsets my very soul.
And when I look at that fine brown body of yours, oh Lord, it knocks me cold.
I was so nuts about you, baby I was almost insane.
Yes, I was so nuts about you, I was always in a trance.
Can you remember the day baby I left home for work, and I forgot my pants?
The lyrics to "Make Love To Me Baby" by Lonnie Johnson depict a man yearning for the affections of a lover who he has been away from for months. He urges his partner to "make love" to him all night long in order to make up for lost time and passion. The lyrics also suggest a deep longing for physical touch and intimacy as the man describes the way his partner's love and kisses upset his soul.
Throughout the song, there is a sense of nostalgia for past affection and intimacy. The man describes how his partner used to love him and the way in which she used to touch him. There is an emphasis on the physical sensations that are felt when they are together, suggesting a deep sexual attraction between the two.
The final stanza of the song introduces a humorous anecdote, where the man describes forgetting his pants when leaving for work one day. This lighthearted addition to the song lightens the mood and suggests a sense of playfulness and familiarity in the relationship.
Overall, "Make Love To Me Baby" is a song about the desire for physical intimacy and deep longing for a past lover. The lyrics describe the intensity of the man's emotions towards his partner and the deep connection that he feels with her.
Line by Line Meaning
Yes, come on and make love to me baby, if it takes you all night long.
The singer wants the listener to engage in a long lovemaking session without worrying about the time.
I wanna make up for the time, and the months, and the days that I've been gone.
The singer wants to compensate for the time he has spent away from the listener by making love to them.
Yes, you used to love me when the sun is shinin', and when the lights are low.
The listener used to love the singer under different lighting conditions.
Yes, you had a certain way of stoppin', that made me cry for more.
The listener had a specific way of ending their lovemaking that left the singer wanting more.
Yes, the way you love me baby, it upsets my very soul.
The listener's way of loving the singer is intense and emotional.
And when I look at that fine brown body of yours, oh Lord, it knocks me cold.
The sight of the listener's beautiful body overwhelms the singer emotionally.
Yes, I was so nuts about you, I was always in a trance.
The singer was so in love with the listener that he was always lost in thought about them.
Can you remember the day baby I left home for work, and I forgot my pants?
The singer is recalling a humorous incident to lighten the mood and reminisce about their past.
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@lawrenceel5321
I recall hearing this tune years ago and working out a decent version for me, playing it at this nice little yuppie bar where I was hired. Up until this tune folks were most receptive. But these lyrics left people stunned : "Is he really talking about killing someone ? With a razor ? I mean, this sounds so premeditated..." When I was finished, they made not a sound, so I went on to the next tune. I never forgot that moment, and I suppose I should be glad that I had that intense an effect on a group of people with just a song, It is a rather intense blues song after all :) Thank you, Lonnie Johnson.
@shirleyyoung3631
I need my uncle lonnie
@shirleyyoung3631
Lawrence El I would like to speak with you
@ShamanartsFlorida
I heard this on the WMNF "Blues Show" years ago....I didn't know the name...but knew it was Lonnie Johnson.....thanks for letting me discover it again here..the real deal for sure
@TheMcschizzle
This is boss
@kingbushwickthe33rd
This goes out to Sarah Palin;Michelle Bachmann;Ann Coulter and Laura Ingraham!!
@krisegerstrom4377
I wish I had access to blues in San Diego this city has no soul
@jazzmongrel
That's not true. Check out Nathan James from Carlsbad. He just released an album with this song! http://nathandjames.com/home/blog/two-new-cd-s-to-be-released-october-28th
@jazzmongrel
http://nathandjames.com/music Check out this song here!!!
@xydex99
I sorta like King Solomon Hill's better. lol idk its just better.