180g high-definition premium vinyl pressing for super fidelity, the complete original album + 4 bonus tracks. This essential vinyl edition presents Watson's underrated debut album, Johnny "Guitar" Watson, originally issued by King Records in 1962 and long unavailable on vinyl. The LP contains a collection of studio recordings taped in the early 1960s, most produced by the great Johnny Otis.
The material here consists of classic blues songs 'Those Lonely, Lonely Nights', which was mistitled on the original LP as 'Those Lonely, Lonely Feelings'; soulful R&B flavoured blues such as the hits 'Cuttin' In' and Posin'; and dance numbers with catchy horns and rolling piano played by Ernie Freeman - 'What You Do to Me', 'Sweet Lovin' Mama', and touching ballads such as 'I Just Wants Me Some Love'. Also included is the Tin Pan Alley standard 'Embraceable You'.
Some of these cuts confirm a conscious effort by the King label to cast Watson in a Ray Charles mould, particularly on 'Broke and Lonely' and the aforementioned 'I Just Wants Me Some Love'.
"Watson was not just a guitarist: the man was a master musician. He could call out charts; he could write a beautiful melody or a nasty groove at the drop of a hat; he could lay on the harmonies and he could come up with a whole sound." - Etta James
