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.
What a Difference a Day Makes
Lonnie Johnson Lyrics
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Brought the sun and the flowers, where there used to be rain.
My yesterday you were blue, blue, dear, today I'm part of you dear.
My lonely, lonely, lonely nights are through dear, since you said you were mine.
What a difference a day makes. There's a rainbow before me.
Skies above they might be stormy, since that moment of bliss, oh the thrillin kiss
It's heaven when you, when you find romance on the menu.
It's heaven heaven heaven heaven when you,
when you find romance on the menu.
What a difference a day makes. what a difference a day makes
i know in my heart the difference is you
In Lonnie Johnson's song "What a Difference a Day Makes," the lyrics speak to the transformative power of love and how it can change one's perspective on life. The phrase "What a difference a day makes, twenty-four little hours" emphasizes the idea that a significant shift can occur within a short span of time. The song suggests that the presence of love brings about positive changes, represented by the introduction of sunlight and flowers replacing rain.
The lyrics express a shift from a state of sadness and loneliness in the past to a feeling of becoming intertwined with the person the singer loves. The line "My yesterday, you were blue, blue, dear, today I'm part of you dear" conveys a sense of unity and connection. The once lonely nights are now over since the declaration of belongingness. The song highlights the joy and fulfillment that love brings, as indicated by the blissful kiss and the notion of finding romance on the menu, symbolizing the possibility of a new chapter.
Overall, "What a Difference a Day Makes" portrays love as a powerful force that can completely change one's outlook on life. It acknowledges how love can replace darkness with light, sadness with happiness, and solitude with togetherness.
Line by Line Meaning
What a difference a day makes, twenty-four little hours.
The profound change that can occur within a single day, a mere twenty-four hours.
Brought the sun and the flowers, where there used to be rain.
Replacing gloomy conditions with happiness and beauty.
My yesterday you were blue, blue, dear, today I'm part of you dear.
Previously feeling sad and distant from you, but now I feel intimately connected and inseparable from you.
My lonely, lonely, lonely nights are through dear, since you said you were mine.
My nights of loneliness and despair have come to an end, all thanks to you declaring yourself as mine.
There's a rainbow before me.
A symbol of hope and joy now appears right in front of me.
Skies above they might be stormy, since that moment of bliss, oh the thrillin' kiss.
Although there may be challenges ahead represented by stormy skies, the memory of our thrilling kiss brings a moment of pure happiness.
It's heaven when you, when you find romance on the menu.
Experiencing a blissful state of ecstasy when love and romance are an integral part of one's life.
What a difference a day makes. well i know the difference is you
Emphasizing the significant change that has occurred, acknowledging that you are the reason for this transformation.
It's heaven heaven heaven heaven when you, when you find romance on the menu.
Reiterating the immense joy one feels when romance becomes a central aspect of life.
What a difference a day makes. what a difference a day makes
Highlighting once again the monumental impact that a single day can have.
I know in my heart the difference is you
Deep within my heart, I am certain that the main factor responsible for this change is you.
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