Alfonzo "Lonnie" Johnson (February 8, 1894 – June 6, 1970) was a pioneering… Read Full Bio ↴Alfonzo "Lonnie" Johnson (February 8, 1894 – June 6, 1970) was a pioneering blues and jazz singer/guitarist born in New Orleans, Louisiana. There is some dispute over the year of his birth, but 1894 is what appears on his passport.
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.

She's my mary
Lonnie Johnson Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Her friends all scorn her, the talks all over town.
They tryin' to make trouble for us, the news is out all around.
But after all she's still my Mary, and will be until the deal goes down.

She was my Mary, when this whole world turned me down.
She was my father, mother, sister, and brother, she helped me to carry on.
And she will still be my Mary, when everything goes wrong.

She's so sweet to me, when everything goes wrong.
She's so consolation, she helps me to carry on.
That's why I know she'll still be my Mary, when this rotten deal goes down.

I know I can find a woman, each day that bright sun shines.
I know I can find a woman, each and every day that bright sun shines.
But after all she's still my Mary and there's nothin' else can ever change my mind.

People says that I'm such a fool, ‘cause I don't get out and chase around.

People say that I'm such a fool, ‘cause I don't get out and chase around.
I can find a consolation I can meet, and she'll still be my Mary when the deal goes down.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Lonnie Johnson's song "She" describe the singer's admiration and love for his hip-shaking lady. He claims that she suits him to a tee and gives him everything he wants and needs. Despite the fact that she can stay out all night, he still sees her as the gal for him. He wakes up every morning to find his breakfast waiting for him by the bed, demonstrating how she takes such good care of him.

The lyrics showcase the singer’s deep appreciation for his partner and the sense of contentment, comfort and trust he has with her. Lonnie Johnson uses repetition throughout the song, such as "I swear she suits me to a tee" and "Ha ha ha," which add a playful tone to the lyrics. The lyrics also have a sense of rawness and simple language that conveys the sincerity of the singer's feelings.

Line by Line Meaning

I got a hip shakin' mama
I have a woman with irresistible dance moves

I swear she suits me to a Tee
She perfectly fits my preferences and needs

Oh, I got a hip shakin' mama
I can't stop talking about the woman I have

Well, you know she can stay out all night
She can do what she wants, but I don't mind

But she, still's alright with me
I accept her actions, and I still love her

You know she give me everything I want
She fulfills all my desires

And a everything I need
She provides everything I require

She's my woman
She's my partner in life and love

I tell ya yes indeed
I can assure you of that

What I like about the girl
She has qualities that I admire

I say, I got a hip shakin' mama
I repeat that I have an amazing partner