On the passing of Luther Guitar Junior Johnson

 On the passing of Luther Guitar Junior Johnson Christmas Day 2023 at 83 - I post here some excerpts from liner notes I wrote for his 1984 Rooster Record: “Doing the Sugar Too.”  He was a hard-working and riveting performer with a great sense of Time, Dynamics, Emotion, and Blues.  And a thoughtful individual I recall, as a read a bit of the liner notes.  Cringing too, as it's pretty clear I must have asked him some pretty dumb questions.

But he fielded them manfully, and they tell a story. He came up from Mississippi to West Side Chicago, and played extensively with Magic Sam, but most notably with Muddy Waters, playing a role as something of a bandmaster for most of the 1980s, counting off numbers in one of Muddy Waters’ greatest ensembles. Here are some portions of the notes:

Luther pursues a sound that represents his feelings. “I take my guitar and go into a sound,” he says. “I pick up an acoustic and think about different arrangements of music.” He sometimes composes after waking in the morning. “I could have an ordinary dream. I'll be sleeping and something will come to me in music, different arrangements, and I get up and grab my guitar and try to relate to what I dreamed.” In answer to the inevitable question ‘what are your influences?’ Luther replies, “My influence is my audience. I watch their reactions.” 

The album is dedicated to Magic Sam and Muddy Waters. Says Luther, “I used Sam's music, his sound, but the song is mine. I got to give credit to Sam because he gave me my start. As far as Muddy goes, I got deep into his music. He taught me a lot for seven-years-and-a-half standing by his stage-side, looking at him saying and listening to him playing his guitar. I don't know what it was, but when we were off, I just counted the days until we worked again, because I wanted to hear that sound that was in my ear.”

Said Luther of the record: “My feeling is in there, my feeling is out. It’s my style. That’s me.”

His first solo LP, is a strong outing. He had re-located to Lynn, Mass., and a trove of Boston/New England players (including Roomful of Blues Horns) joined him here. Boston Blues Friend Ron Levy played keyboards and Cambridge Blues Friend David Herwaldt did the photo art. Particularly favorite to me are the songs Magic Sam’s “Hard Times (Have Surely Come)”, Z.Z. Hill’s “You Were Wrong,” Eddie Taylor’s “Bad Boy”, and Otis Spann’s “I Need Some Air.” He’d often sit in for a set when Sunnyland Slim was in town. Heck, he would vault to the stage and do some numbers with anyone and everyone that came through here. His blues would get you dancing! - Jack Vaughan

Complete Liner Notes - Doin' The Sugar Too - Luther Guitar Junior Johnson and the Magic Rockers -PDF