I’M JUST JOHNNIE Johnnie Johnson (Missouri Morning Records) *****+
“I done what I like, I done what I should/ I’m just Johnnie and Johnnie be good”. When you talk about blues piano players, Johnnie Johnson’s name belongs at the top of the list. I’m Just Johnnie, released 20 years after his death, is a master class in blues piano that includes several special guests and a second disc of interviews, including one of Johnnie’s last. More than just a sweet blues record, I’m Just Johnnie is a treasure.
Lots of famous guests took part in this record including Bruce Hornsby, Bonnie Raitt, Johnny Rivers and John Sebastian, along with a list of other accomplished musicians too long to mention here. Producer Gene Ackman was a good friend of Johnnie’s, in fact they were fishing buddies. “One day we were fishing and it was nice and quiet and the birds were singing, the sun was shining and Johnnie said ‘that’s almost as good as playing blues in the key of G’” Ackman notes, which led to a song with that title on I’m Just Johnnie. “On the drive home that day he said “I want to do a new cd but don’t know how to go about it or have the money to do it. Would you help me?” the producer remembers. “I told him I’d help him write some songs for it and we began the project in 2003.” This music was all recorded in St. Louis when Johnnie was 80 years old, just two years before his death and the last stuff he recorded.
All the musicians involved in I’m Just Johnnie brought their A game, from the man himself on down the line. Each track was produced by Ackman and the grooves are fat and juicy with a tasty amount of funk. These dozen tracks are mostly original but there are some pretty excellent covers of tunes like Stagger Lee and Every Day I Have The Blues. While Johnnie’s piano playing and vocals are the main attraction Bonnie Raitt’s slide work on Let the Good Times Roll is exceptional as is the guitar work from the other players involved..
I’m Just Johnnie is more than just a revered artist’s final record, it’s classic blues that deserves to be celebrated. 4 tracks will be featured in the first hour of this coming weekend’s edition of my blues shows Hellhounds On My Trail and Sunday night Blues playing on internet radio stations in Ontario and the UK.
HOT TRACKS: I’m Just Johnnie, Blues In G, Let the Good Times Roll
BIRD BEFORE LIGHT Greta Gaines (Big Air Records) ****
An intriguing sound; country but not quite, mellow groovin’ pop music and yet… maybe ‘Americana’ sums it up best. In a time when music can be easily pigeon-holed, Bird Before Light is a confident declaration from Greta Gaines about saying what’s on her mind and telling it how she sees fit… its already growing on me.
In addition to music Greta was also the world’s first Woman’s World Extreme Snowboard Champion, so taking risks is already in her blood. This is an emotionally complex record as she reveals that “it explores certain themes that I find myself wrestling with in midlife- empty nesting, newfound anxiety, resistance to change, grief and betrayal- while also pursuing faith, finding the simple joy that comes with sharing time with old friends and immersing myself in the beauty of nature and the natural world.” That’s a lot to unpack in 10 songs as Bird Before Light has the emotional weight of a latter day Springsteen album.
In writing about her previous record Pale Star other reviewers accurately described Gaines as an artist by saying that her music “reverberates with the ache of loss with a voice that reflects the most soulful side of modern life, she can mix genres in a way that hasn’t been done before” which is true… just as soon as you think you have her pinned down, she takes off in another direction.
Bird Before Light, produced by Jim Reilly, mixed by Eric Fritsch and Mill Logan, was recorded in East Nashville and includes a talented bunch that give the songs the emotional weight they need. Gaines is a fine singer, a cross between Michelle Malone and Lucinda Williams, leaving no doubt that she means every word she sings. These are some serious grooves with some very dark corners, which will appeal to those that like to dig down past the surface.
Bird Before Light is a good record, and who knows. .. by the time it finishes settling in I may even be calling it a great one.
HOT TRACKS: All Yours, Homegrown, Harm’s Way
MEMPHIS SUN Jon Hines (independent) ****
This is a debut band recording for The Jon Hines Trio. Memphis Sun is a swampy, gritty blues jewel in the rough, great storytelling set to an irresistible soundtrack.
Jon Hines is a Cape Breton-based bluesman whose music has received international airplay. He’s a two-time winner of the East Coast, “Maritime To Memphis” blues challenge, where he represented Atlantic Canada at the International Blues Challenge, placing as a semi-finalist in the 2025 band category… so people are listening and paying attention. Memphis Sun is 7 cuts of wonderfully crafted blues/ roots numbers that make friends with you pretty much right away; from the blustery opening title cut the easy mid-tempo pace of Holy Ground. Not matter what you expect as you listen to this disc, there’s something new and fresh around every corner.
Songs like the aforementioned Holy Ground and Pitter Patter which follows it directly can justifiably be labeled ‘mellow jazz’ with basslines that suck you right in and some tasty guitar work from Jon that feels like a soul massage. The rhythm section has a relaxed yet firm grip on the backbeat while Hines’s haunting vocals and swampy guitar work that I know John Fogerty would love equal some rather compelling storytelling. The production is not high tech or hi-fi but it isn’t lo-fi either as it seems to be exactly what these songs need. Memphis Sun is drenched in southern soul and Tennessee blues and it begs repeated spins- a very good sign.
HOT TRACKS: Memphis Sun, Holy Ground, Riverside Rambler
GOOD COMPANY Piper & The Hard Times (Hard Times Records) ****+
Good Company, the sophomore release for this Nashville-based band, is intoxicating and soulful rock drenched in the blues with headstrong funk elements that make for a compelling listen.
The core of the band is guitarist Steve Eagon, singer Al “Piper” Green and drummer Dave Colella who have played together for over 20 years and, as with their debut Revelation they stuck with producer Tres Sasser and engineer Joe Costa at Nashville’s Oceanway Studio A, obviously a winning location and team. “The Sheer joy we have playing together is captured on this album and truly represents who we are musically” Steve says. “To say we’re proud of Good Company is an understatement.”
Colella’s drums provide a powerful pulse you could hang your laundry on while Eagon’s guitar and Green’s powerful vocals duke it out and push each other higher. I like what Jim Hynes of Rock And Blues Muse has to say about Piper & The Hard Times; “There is so much power in Green’s take-no-prisoners vocals and the band’s rave-ups, some would be advised to take this potent medicine in small doses. Those who savor (it) will down it like a shot of their favorite whiskey.” Jeff Napier of NUVO comments that this “blends southern music from The Allmans to Stax into a butt-shaking blues orgasm that would make Muddy blush.” There’s certainly nothing laid back about what’s happening here.
Good Company is a wide-ranging and expressive piece of work, a soulful blues vibe with rock & roll cojones that, at times, comes on like a cross between Lynyrd Skynyrd and ZZ Top. Musically I love this disc but Al “Piper” Green’s vocals are particularly compelling. Aside from the core group Amy Frederick supplies ample keyboard magic and Parker “Funkstick Porkchop” Hawkins’ bass locks in with Dave Colella’s drums that feel like a 70’s muscle car with Thrush mufflers. Good Company is the blues with rock & roll magic. Yeah- that’s it.
HOT TRACKS: Good Company, Tear It Down, Cheatin’s Gotta End
