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.
Why Did You Go
Lonnie Johnson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Yes, since you been gone baby, nothing else seems the same.
Only just some more teardrops, heartaches, and pain.
If you know you was gonna leave me, why didn't you let me know?
If you know you was gonna leave me baby, why didn't you let me know?
'cause if my love couldn't please you, I would be willin' to let you go.
You didn't have to kiss me this morning, and know that you were leaving home.
I could see it baby, but I haven't did you nothing wrong.
I give you my love, my money, and I give you all my time.
Give you my love, my money, and I give you all my time.
And how could you leave me, with me on your mind?
Yes, I love you so much baby, I couldn't close my eyes.
Yes, I love you so much baby, I couldn't close my eyes.
My poor heart was aching so, could feel myself slowly die.
As good as I been to you, how could you do this to me?
As good as I been to you, how could you do this to me?
If you was tired baby, why didn't you tell me, then you coulda had your "used to be."
But go on baby, go on and have your fun.
Go on baby, go on and have your fun.
Because it's later than you think, this time cryin' ain't gonna help you none.
I look at the pictures on the wall, they begin to fade away.
Yes, the pictures on the wall, begin to fade away.
And my love for you baby, is dyin' day by day.
Lonnie Johnson's song "Why did You Go" speaks of the pain and heartache that the singer feels after his lover has left him. The lyrics make it clear that he is struggling to understand why she left and wishes that she had given him a reason. He laments how everything seems different now that she is gone, and all that is left are tears, heartache, and pain.
The singer is troubled that his lover kissed him goodbye, knowing that she was leaving, without telling him that they were parting ways. He believed that he had given her everything, his love, money, and time, and so he wonders how she could simply walk away without a reason. He confesses that he loved her so much he could not close his eyes, yet she still left him feeling empty and broken.
As the song draws to a close, the singer is resigned to the fact that his lover is gone and that she is having fun without him. He tells her to enjoy herself and that crying about it won't help her. He sees the pictures on the wall that are beginning to fade away, a symbol of his love for her that is slowly dying day by day.
Overall, this song is a powerful expression of heartbreak, loss, and the pain of unrequited love. It speaks to the universal experience of being left behind and struggling to understand the reasons why.
Line by Line Meaning
Since you been gone baby, nothing else seems the same.
My life has been empty since you left, and everything I do feels meaningless without you.
If you know you was gonna leave me, why didn't you let me know?
If you knew you were going to leave me, why didn't you tell me beforehand? If my love wasn't enough for you, I would have let you go without any fuss.
You didn't have to kiss me this morning, knowing that you were leaving home.
You didn't have to deceive me with a goodbye kiss while already knowing that you weren't coming back. I was faithful and never wronged you.
I give you my love, my money, and I give you all my time.
I have given you all the love I had, spent all my money, and devoted all my time to you. You were always on my mind.
Yes, I love you so much baby, I couldn't close my eyes.
I loved you with all my heart and couldn't even sleep at night because the pain of losing you was agonizing.
As good as I been to you, how could you do this to me?
I treated you so well and loved you with all my heart. How could you hurt me like this?
But go on baby, go on and have your fun.
You can go on and enjoy your life, but remember that time is running out, and crying won't help you now.
I look at the pictures on the wall, they begin to fade away.
As I look at the old photographs on the wall, I realize that even the memories of our love are starting to fade away. My feelings for you are diminishing day by day.
Contributed by Mia W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@MsWittyReadz
My 5 year old son Jacob was given Lonnie Johnson as his Black History Month Hero to do a poster board about. When I tell you how inspiring Mr. Johnson is to my son, it makes me proud. I even bought him his first Super Soaker. 🤣💜 Thank you Mr. Johnson for all you contribute!!!!
@JesseLewisACTOR
Thank you for all your valuable additions to our society Mr.. Larry Johnson 🎖🏅🏆
@gvrpresentsbearwilliams
Wonderful! I’m very glad I had the pleasure to meet Mr. Johnson over the Juneteenth weekend!!