For many in the North East region Johnny A may be on your radar. The Boston based guitarist seems to play regionally regularly and by the look of his videos he’s been doing it for a while. I know I have seen his name listed in Philly etc. in ads and listings but never knew a thing about him. Many of you may have seen his video in my recent blog UNDENIABLY CLASSIC SONGS – WICHITA LINEMAN which features and incredible instrumental version of that song by Johnny. I included it her again for those who missed it (if you saw it move on down for more cool originals and hip covers by Johnny A).
Once I saw this clip, I wanted to check this guy out. Finding this has inspired me to start this regular feature WHY DON’T I KNOW ABOUT THIS GUY/GIRL? So if you know of someone regional or off the beaten track, whether currently performing or someone obscure that you think I should hear about keep me posted.
JOHNNY A PLAYS WICHITA LINEMAN
A fantastic guitar instrumental version of this great Jimmy Webb tune. Wonderfully tasteful and sultry version of this great tune for jazzy trio. Sticking to the melody without a lot of harmonic variance, Johnny A’s touch and tone bring a nice, shimmering quality to Webb’s gorgeous melody. This was the first time I’ve heard this guy while working on a piece on the song Wichita Lineman.
So I look further and it seems he was signed to Steve Vai’s label for a bit and was asked to play on the G3 tour by Joe Satriani. I guess I’m not really plugged into to the shredder scene these days. He is much more a Hendrix/Page/Beck influenced modernist than a lot of the post DiMeola/Vai/Satriani trick-bag guys. More bluesy based but not really a blues player like Stevie Ray was. Now granted, there’s a bit too much Jimi and not enough jazzy in some of the live cover stuff but then again, I’ve already lived through Randy Hansen and Frank Marino, Robin Trower, Billy Gibbons and Stevie Ray so I’ve seen some decent guys approximate some of what Jimi did. I’ve always been one for more individualistic sounding players’ takes on Hendrix. Like Frisell, or Scofield or Clapton among those who have covered Jimi tune interestingly while never copping too much of the original while keeping their own distinctive stuff in tact.
But the reason I decided to do this blog on Johnny A is two-fold. First, I dug the simplicity and taste of the WICHITA LINEMAN so much and I think this guy’s touch and tone is a nice find and I’d go see him for a night of bluesy shredding. Granted, the originality of a Derek Trucks or a Jim Hall or a Richard Thompson will get me back over and over again. I have a feeling I’d like this tons but perhaps not feel compelled to return every time out. I find in my older age I’m not so drawn to technique and volume as much as either experimentation and audacious originality (a la Nels Cline) or sublime harmonic and melodic invention and emotion (a la Kurt Rosenwinkel).
Then again there are a lot of young guitar slingers out there who will never see Jimi or SRV or Garcia or Albert King or Wes Montgomery or Danny Gatton or Tommy Bolin or any of the heavy guitar slingers who are no longer around. Not everyone wants to hear post-Eddie VH pyrotechnics all the time. And truly with Jeff Beck (who I still believe remains, note-for-note the most interesting and unique sounding player out there today) touring so seldom where can you get a full night of smokin’ instrumental guitar music on a regular basis these days. Still, I’d prefer an evening of Johnny’s original music with a couple of his tasty covers thrown in. The Johnny A original tunes are way cool. These Johnny A signature model Gibson guitars are also extremely gorgeous works of art.
Before we get into the crowd-pleasing covers, check out some of his original stuff…
HIP BONE
OH YEAH
SING SINGIN’
2 WHEEL HORSE
THE COVER TUNES:
THE WIND CRIES MARY & JIMI STORY
A long but amusing story about seeing Jimi live when he was 15. Followed by a funky version of “…Mary.” From Sellersville, PA 5/17/08.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQHyMfo0ey0
YOU DON’T LOVE ME
Yes, he covers the tune made famous by the Allman Brothers Band, here done up funky and with a taste of Wes-esque octave work and slithery wah work.
AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL
Solo guitar rendition recorded right after 9/11
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aax-38C9LnY
JOHNNY A GUESTING WITH J.J. CALE ON GOIN’ DOWN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Atzp9a9PFPc
RED HOUSE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOp_lbaEr64
JIMI JAM
Lots of Jimi riffs in here but he also quotes Beatles, Stones, Zep, etc. From King of Prussia, PA. 6/17/07
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PZA5aWJf9U
INTERVIEW FOOTAGE:
Check out the JOHNNY A. OPEN FORUM links on YouTube. There are five parts. Mostly of interest for tech heads and guitarists for the most part. Here’s the link for Pt. 1.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNPdsj3imBc
Check out his website for tour dates…looks like his playing nationwide this spring so don’t miss him…
Johnny A's Website
For more on Johnny A:
Wikipedia
Johnny A on MySpace
What You'll Find Here: Music, Movies and Me
Since May 1976, I have written in journals. When I have nothing particularly resonant to say about my own inner turmoil, philosophic ramblings, sexual peccadillos or whining on about the state of the world around me...I have always fallen back on reporting the cultural time consumption that takes up in inordinate portion of my daily goings on.
In the 40+ years since my first concerts seeing Children's Symphony presentations on Sundays at the Pasadena Civic or The Hot Jazz Society's monthly Dixieland romps in an old meeting hall on the edge of the L.A. "River" across from Griffith Park, I have been sold heavily on the magic of live music. As Neil Young so aptly put it, "Live music is better bumper stickers should be issued."
Growing up a few orange groves and canyons length away from Hollywood also contributed greatly to my family's addiction to movie going. From the time I was a small there were weekly trips to the drive-in theaters that dotted the landscape, or the local Temple theater for the Saturday matinees. Once in a while we'd drive the 12 miles into Hollywood and see something in one of the magnificent old movie palaces like Grauman's Chinese, the Egyptian, The Pantages or later the Cinerama Dome. My dad loved Westerns and War movies, as if he didn't get enough shoot-'em-up as an L.A. County Sheriff in his day gig, my mom adored musicals and comedies. My brother and I loved them all.
At SDSU, I played in my first gigging band and began booking concerts on campus as part of the well-funded Cultural Arts Board, kindling for my future life in and around music.
So it's not surprising that my first jobs out of college were working in local video rental places (which were all the rage) or managing a couple of Sam Goody record stores in Mall's on the East Coast where we marveled at the new CD format and sold the first home computers and video games (yes Commodore and Pong and Atari).
So these are really just extensions of all of those journal entries talking about the great new movies I was seeing and LPs/CDs I was listening to.
Though iPODS/iPADs, apps, smart phones and downloads now make music and movies accessible in your own pocket, there is still nothing like sitting in front of a stack of speakers with a room full of people swaying to music created before your eyes. Nor is there anything that works quite so well for me to escape the real world and all of it's pressures just outside than two hours in a dark theater, absorbing the stories flickering across that wide screen as they pull you into their world.
But a really good taco runs a close third...
In the 40+ years since my first concerts seeing Children's Symphony presentations on Sundays at the Pasadena Civic or The Hot Jazz Society's monthly Dixieland romps in an old meeting hall on the edge of the L.A. "River" across from Griffith Park, I have been sold heavily on the magic of live music. As Neil Young so aptly put it, "Live music is better bumper stickers should be issued."
Growing up a few orange groves and canyons length away from Hollywood also contributed greatly to my family's addiction to movie going. From the time I was a small there were weekly trips to the drive-in theaters that dotted the landscape, or the local Temple theater for the Saturday matinees. Once in a while we'd drive the 12 miles into Hollywood and see something in one of the magnificent old movie palaces like Grauman's Chinese, the Egyptian, The Pantages or later the Cinerama Dome. My dad loved Westerns and War movies, as if he didn't get enough shoot-'em-up as an L.A. County Sheriff in his day gig, my mom adored musicals and comedies. My brother and I loved them all.
At SDSU, I played in my first gigging band and began booking concerts on campus as part of the well-funded Cultural Arts Board, kindling for my future life in and around music.
So it's not surprising that my first jobs out of college were working in local video rental places (which were all the rage) or managing a couple of Sam Goody record stores in Mall's on the East Coast where we marveled at the new CD format and sold the first home computers and video games (yes Commodore and Pong and Atari).
So these are really just extensions of all of those journal entries talking about the great new movies I was seeing and LPs/CDs I was listening to.
Though iPODS/iPADs, apps, smart phones and downloads now make music and movies accessible in your own pocket, there is still nothing like sitting in front of a stack of speakers with a room full of people swaying to music created before your eyes. Nor is there anything that works quite so well for me to escape the real world and all of it's pressures just outside than two hours in a dark theater, absorbing the stories flickering across that wide screen as they pull you into their world.
But a really good taco runs a close third...
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