Re: [ARSCLIST] Obscure Geniuses/ASCAP

[Aaron Levinson <aaron.levinson@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Malcolm-

Lonnie was the one guy whom I hesitated about putting on the list. But 
consider this: in 1959 Lonnie Johnson was a porter at the Ben Franklin 
hotel here in Philadelphia and had not performed or recorded for many 
years. It was only during the Blues Revival
of the 1960's that Lonnie Johnson was brought back into the public eye, 
albeit briefly. Frankly, if you consider he was the second
most popular male blues singer of the 1920's, recorded with both Duke 
Ellington and Louis Armstrong, crossed the color line in 1927 with Eddie 
Lang(a fellow Philadelphia resident) influenced the guitar playing of BB 
King and the singing style of Elvis Presley and was the inspiration for 
Robert Johnson adopting his surname I would say that he remains more 
than just an underrated blues guitarist. Maybe obscure is too strong a 
word but given his powerful effect on fellow artists for decades on end 
and his vanishing recognition in popular music history there remains a 
pretty drastic imbalance between his contribution versus the credit he 
has thus far received. I produced an album called /Rediscovering Lonnie 
Johnson/ that will be released on CD and vinyl in the first
quarter of 2008, it is my hope that this recording will, in some very 
modest way, help redress that situation.

AA

Malcolm Rockwell wrote:
> Shuggie Otis is pretty well known in California, even today. He has 
> had numerous bands around the San Francisco Bay Area for years. In 
> fact one of the best pick-up drummers in the area, Bob Hobbs, is an 
> old running mate of mine and has worked with Shuggie off and on for 
> the past 25 years. I will admit that Shuggie is somewhat obscure 
> elsewhere.
> I can't understand why Lonnie Johnson is on your list, though.
> Lonnie is one of the great Blues guitarists. Underrated, yes... 
> obscure, no.
> Mal Rockwell
>
> *******
>
> Aaron Levinson wrote:
> > Roger-
> >
> > That is why I said "varying degrees of obscurity". Cassino Simpson 
> > recorded one 10" via a smuggled tape machine in an insane asylum in 
> > his entire life. To suggest he is "fairly well known" is simply not 
> > accurate. You may have already know all these folks(I do doubt it)but 
> > to even ardent fans of many genres these peeps are outside the 
> > "standard points of reference". In the age of the net it is great 
> > however that interested parties can do some digging and hopefully 
> > discover those less obvious figures. I stand by the list.
> >
> > AA
> >
> > Roger and Allison Kulp wrote:
> > > Nope.These people are all fairly well known.Maybe not to people who 
> > > listen to this stuff: 
> > > http://music.yahoo.com/musicvideos/lists/top.asp ,but fairly well 
> > > known.
> > >
> > >
> > >                                            roger
> > >
> > > Aaron Levinson <aaron.levinson@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: Not to sound 
> > > pretentious but as a collector I have focused on the "oddball" as a 
> > > category and can tell you that there are many insanely talented and 
> > > intriguing people in a plethora of genres who are still languishing 
> > > in various degrees of obscurity. They include:
> > >
> > > 1. Shuggie Otis (son of Johnny Otis)
> > > 2. Hasaan (jazz pianist)
> > > 3. Bernard Peiffer
> > > 4. Hector Rivera
> > > 5. Hasil Adkins
> > > 6. Esquerita
> > > 7. James Booker
> > > 8. Cass Simpson
> > > 9. Mel Brown
> > > 10. Lonnie Johnson
> > >
> > > These are just 10 artists I can offer off the top of my head who are 
> > > easily on the level of Betty Davis and in some cases far beyond.
> > > Anyone who has even the slightest interest in finding out about 
> > > these folks I would be glad to help out. Ping me off-list.
> > >
> > > AA
> > >
> > > P.S. I was a field investigator for ASCAP for many years, I was the 
> > > guy that did the undercover investigations of clubs, bars, 
> > > restaurants, concerts, etc. And by the way, we definitely took 
> > > people to court...and won.
> > >
> > >
> > > Don Cox wrote:
> > >  
> > > > On 01/08/07, Scott Phillips wrote:
> > > >
> > > >     
> > > > > Amazing ! I grew up in this time frame. HOW did I miss her..?? I'm
> > > > > buying in as well.           
> > > > And me. Thanks to all the existing fans for the recommendation.
> > > >
> > > > I wonder how many other unknowns are hidden in the undergrowth? Three
> > > > that have, so far as I'm concerned, emerged recently are Raymond 
> > > > Scott,
> > > > Alec Wilder and The Wild Swans (a British rock band from the same 
> > > > period
> > > > as Joy Division).
> > > >
> > > > Regards
> > > >       
> > >
> > >
> > >        ---------------------------------
> > > Fussy? Opinionated? Impossible to please? Perfect.  Join Yahoo!'s 
> > > user panel and lay it on us.
> > >
> > >