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.
You Didn't Mean What You Said
Lonnie Johnson Lyrics
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Yes, you told me that you love me, when you laid down across my bed.
Yes, and I thought you loved me baby, when you never meant a word you said.
I get the strangest feelin', every time you walk out the door.
Yes, I get the strangest feelin', every time you walk out the door.
Now you let me catch you kissin' a man in a car, yes, baby, and I don't love you anymore.
Yes, you been lyin' so much, baby, seem like that's all you know.
Yes, you was lyin' when I met you, you'll be lyin' when you go.
If you don't want me please don't hurt me, put me down and let me go my way.
If you don't want me please don't hurt me, put me down and let me go my way.
‘Cause if I live long enough baby, I'll find someone to love me someday.
I had my faith in you, baby, but you laughed in my face.
I had faith in you, and you laughed in my face.
Yes, you laughed and called me a clown, someone else had my place.
But you can go baby, do anything you want to do.
Baby, you can go anywhere you please, you can do anything that you want to do.
But I'll be around baby, when it all doubles back on you.
Lonnie Johnson's song "You Didn't Mean What You Said" tells the story of a love that was not genuine. In the first verse, the singer recalls a moment when the lover professed her love while laying in bed, only to discover that the words were empty. The singer is now always suspicious when the lover goes out, and soon catches her kissing another man. The lover is revealed as a habitual liar who can't stop her ways, and the singer resigns himself to part with her. He knows that someone better will come along someday. Despite the betrayal, the singer tells the lover that she can go and do whatever she pleases - he doesn't need her vindication. He will be there to make it right when fate catches up with her.
The song's theme is one of illusion and deception, and the singer seems to be a man who has been hurt by a woman who did not love him. The love was not mutual, and he is left alone to pick up the pieces of his shattered heart. The song is a warning to others that they should not let themselves be fooled by people who have no respect for their feelings. The singer only wants to protect himself from further hurt and to find a real love.
Line by Line Meaning
Baby, you said that you love me, when you laid down across my bed.
You professed your love for me while we were in bed together.
Yes, you told me that you love me, when you laid down across my bed.
You stated your love for me when we were physically intimate.
Yes, and I thought you loved me baby, when you never meant a word you said.
I believed your words of love, but you were insincere.
I get the strangest feelin', every time you walk out the door.
I feel uneasy every time you leave my presence.
Now you let me catch you kissin' a man in a car, yes, baby, and I don't love you anymore.
I saw you kissing another man in a car, and as a result, I no longer have feelings for you.
Yes, you been lyin' so long, baby, baby that's all you know.
You have become so accustomed to lying that it has become your default behavior.
Yes, you been lyin' so much, baby, seem like that's all you know.
Lying has become such a frequent occurrence for you that it seems to be your only skill.
Yes, you was lyin' when I met you, you'll be lyin' when you go.
You were lying when we first met, and you will continue to lie in the future.
If you don't want me please don't hurt me, put me down and let me go my way.
If you do not have feelings for me, please do not lead me on and allow me to move on with my life.
‘Cause if I live long enough baby, I'll find someone to love me someday.
Even if it takes a while, I am confident that I will find love with someone else at some point in the future.
I had my faith in you, baby, but you laughed in my face.
I trusted you, but you betrayed my trust and mocked me.
Yes, you laughed and called me a clown, someone else had my place.
You ridiculed me and replaced me with someone else.
Baby, you can go anywhere you please, you can do anything that you want to do.
You have the freedom to go wherever you please and do whatever you want.
But I'll be around baby, when it all doubles back on you.
I will still be present in your life when the negative consequences of your actions catch up to you.
Writer(s): Lonnie Johnson
Contributed by Brayden F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.