Larry Williams & Johnny Watson

Larry Williams May 10 1935 – January 7 1980 Was An American Rhythm And Blues And Rock And Roll Singer Songwriter And Pianist From New Orleans Louisiana. Williams Is Best Known For Writing And Recording Some Rock And Roll Classics From 1957 To 1959 For Specialty Records Including "Bony Moronie" "Short Fat Fannie" "High School Dance" 1957 "Slow Down" "Dizzy Miss Lizzie" 1958 "Bad Boy" And "She Said Yeah " 1959 Which Were Later Covered By British Invasion Groups And Other Artists. John Lennon In Particular Was A Fan Of Williams Recording Several Of His Songs Over The Course Of His Career. "Bony Moronie" Is Listed As One Of The Top 500 Songs That Shaped Rock And Roll.
Williams Lived A Life Mixed With Tremendous Success And Violence-Fueled Drug Addiction. He Was A Long-Time Friend Of Little Richard. Career
As A Child In New Orleans Williams Learned How To Play Piano. When He Was A Teenager He And His Family Moved To Oakland California Where He Joined A Local R&B Group Called The Lemon Drops. In 1954 When He Was 19 Years Old Williams Went Back To New Orleans For A Visit. He Began Work As Lloyd Price's Valet 1 And Developed A Friendship With Little Richard Penniman Who Was Recording At The Time In New Orleans. Price And Penniman Were Both Recording For Specialty Records At The Time. Williams Was Introduced To Specialty's House Producer Robert Blackwell And Was Signed To Record.
In 1957 Little Richard Was Specialty's Biggest Star But Bolted From Rock And Roll To Pursue The Ministry. Williams Was Quickly Groomed By Blackwell To Try To Replicate His Success. Using The Same Raw Shouting Vocals And Piano-Driven Intensity Williams Scored With A Number Of Hit Singles.
Williams' Three Biggest Successes Were "Short Fat Fannie" Which Was His First Hit Reaching #5 In Billboard's Pop Chart "High School Dance" Which Also Made #5 And "Bony Moronie" Which Peaked At #14. Both "Short Fat Fanny" And "Bony Moronie" Sold Over One Million Copies Gaining Gold Discs.
Several Of His Songs Achieved Later Success As Revivals By The Beatles "Bad Boy" "Slow Down" And "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" The Rolling Stones "She Said Yeah" And John Lennon's Versions Of "Bony Moronie" And "Dizzy Miss Lizzy".
Williams Had Been Involved With Underworld Activity Since His Early Teens And Had Reputedly Been A Pimp Before He Ever Recorded Music. After 1957 Williams Did Not Have Much Success Selling Records. He Recorded A Number Of Songs In 1958 And 1959 Including "Heebie Jeebies" With Band Members Such As Plas Johnson On Tenor Sax And Alvin "Red" Tyler On Baritone Barney Kessel On Guitar Gerald Wilson On Trumpet Ernie Freeman Or Williams Himself On Piano And Earl Palmer On Drums. He Was Convicted Of Dealing Narcotics In 1960 And Served A Jail Term Setting Back His Career Considerably.
Williams Made A Comeback In The Mid-1960s With A Funky Soul Band That Included Johnny "Guitar" Watson Which Paired Him Musically With Little Richard Who Had Been Lured Back Into Secular Music. He Produced Two Little Richard Albums For Okeh Records In 1966 And 1967 Which Returned Little Richard To The Billboard Album Chart For The First Time In Ten Years And Spawned The Hit Single Poor Dog. He Also Acted As The Music Director For The Little Richard's Live Performances At The Okeh Club. Bookings For Little Richard During This Period Skyrocketed. Williams Also Recorded And Released Material Of His Own And With Watson With Some Moderate Chart Success. This Period May Have Garnered Few Hits But Produced Some Of His Best And Most Original Work.
Williams Also Began Acting In The 1960s Appearing On Film In Just For The Hell Of It 1968 The Klansman 1974 And Drum 1976 .
In The 1970s There Was Also A Brief Dalliance With Disco But Williams' Wild Lifestyle Continued. By The Middle Of The Decade The Drug Abuse And Violence Was Taking Its Toll. In 1977 Williams Pulled A Gun On And Threatened To Kill His Long-Time Friend Little Richard Over A Drug Debt. They Were Both Living In Los Angeles And Addicted To Cocaine. Little Richard Bought Drugs From Him Arranged To Pay Him Later But Did Not Show Up Because He Was High. Williams Was Furious. He Hunted Him Down But Ended Up Showing Compassion On His Long-Time Friend After Little Richard Repaid The Debt. This Along With Other Factors Led To Little Richard's Return To Born Again Christianity And The Ministry But Williams Would Not Escape LA's Seedy Underworld. Death
On January 7 1980 Williams Was Found Dead From A Gunshot Wound To His Head In His Los Angeles California Home. He Was 44 Years Old. The Death Was Deemed Suicide Though There Was Much Speculation Otherwise. No Suspects Were Ever Arrested Or Charged. Martin Albritton As Larry Williams
A Southern Illinois Drummer And Blues Singer By The Name Of Martin Albritton Claims To Be Larry Williams Alive And Well. This Claim Originated At About The Time Larry Williams Was Found Dead. He Did Record And Perform As A Drummer For Blues Legend Bobby 'Blue' Bland In The 1960s. Albritton Has Toured The Country Performing Under The Moniker Of "Big" Larry Williams And Has Gone So Far As To Claim That He Recorded The Hits "Bony Moronie" And "Dizzy Miss Lizzy". He Did Record An Album In 1991 Called "Street Party" With The Mellow Fellows Band Previously Headed By Big Twist. While Touring With The Mellow Fellows In New York Albritton Was Confronted By Etta James Who Knew Larry Williams.
Williams' Family Members Have Asked Him To Cease Any Future Reference To "Larry Williams". Albritton Has So Far Refused And Presently Continues To Use The Name. Johnny "Guitar" Watson February 3 1935 - May 17 1996 Was An American Blues And Funk Guitarist And Singer. Early Life
John Watson Jr. Was Born In Houston Texas. His Father John Sr. Was A Pianist And Taught His Son The Instrument. But Young Watson Was Immediately Attracted To The Sound Of The Guitar In Particular The Electric Guitar As Practiced By The "axe Men" Of Texas T-Bone Walker And Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown.
His Grandfather A Preacher Was Also Musical. "My Grandfather Used To Sing While He'd Play Guitar In Church Man " Watson Reflected Many Years Later. When Johnny Was 11 His Grandfather Offered To Give Him A Guitar If And Only If The Boy Didn't Play Any Of The "devil's Music"—blues. Watson Agreed But "that Was The First Thing I Did." A Musical Prodigy Watson Played With Texas Bluesmen Albert Collins And Johnny Copeland.
His Parents Separated In 1950 When He Was 15. His Mother Moved To Los Angeles And Took Johnny With Her. In His New City Watson Won Several Local Talent Shows. This Led To His Employment While Still A Teenager With Jump Blues Style Bands Such As Chuck Higgins's Mellotones And Amos Milburn. He Worked As A Vocalist Pianist And Guitarist.
He Quickly Made A Name For Himself In The African-American Juke Joints Of The West Coast Where He Was Billed As "Young John Watson" Until 1954. That Year He Saw The Joan Crawford Film "Johnny Guitar " And A New Stage Name Was Born.
He Affected A Swaggering Yet Humorous Personality Indulging A Taste For Flashy Clothes And Wild Showmanship On Stage. His "attacking" Style Of Playing Without A Plectrum Resulted In Him Often Needing To Change The Strings On His Guitar Once Or Twice A Show Because He "stressified On Them" So Much As He Put It. Early Career
Watson's Ferocious "Space Guitar" Of 1954 Pioneered Guitar Feedback And Reverb. Watson Would Later Influence A Subsequent Generation Of Guitarists. Frank Zappa For Example Would Cite Watson As One Of His All-Time Favorite Guitarists. His Album Gangster Of Love Was First Released On Keen Records In 1957. It Was Not Especially Heralded At The Time Despite The Witty Brilliance Of Its Title Song.
He Toured And Recorded With His Friend Larry Williams As Well As Little Richard Don & Dewey The Olympics Johnny Otis And In The Mid 1970's With David Axelrod. He Also Played With Sam Cooke Herb Alpert And George Duke. But As The Popularity Of Blues Declined And The Era Of Soul Music Ascended In The 1960s Watson In His Inimitable Style Transformed Himself From The Southern Blues Singer With Pompadour Into The Urban Soul Singer With Pimp Hat. He Went All Out - The Gold Teeth Broad-Brimmed Hats Fly Suits Designer Sunglasses And Ostentatious Jewellery Made Him One Of The Most Colorful Figures In The West Coast Funk Circle.
He Modified His Music Accordingly. His LPs Ain't That A Bitch From Which The Successful Singles Superman Lover And I Need It Were Taken And Real Mother For Ya Were Landmark Recordings Of '70s Funk. "Telephone Bill" On Love Jones 1980 Featured Complex Rapid-Fire Lyrics That Foreshadowed Rap Music. His Subsequent LPs Employed And Popularized The Modern "computer Sound"
In 1978 Johnny "Guitar" Watson's Backup Band Decided To Record A Project As The Watsonian Institute. Master Funk Is The Only LP That Was Released Under That Name And For All Intents And Purposes This Is Very Much A Johnny "Guitar" Watson Album. In Addition To Doing All Of The Producing And Arranging The Late Singer/guitarist Wrote Most Of The Material And Contributed His Share Of Lead Vocals. So Not Surprisingly His Stamp Is All Over Master Funk. The Main Difference Between This Record And The Hit Albums That Watson Had Been Recording Under His Own Name In The 1970s Is The Fact That This Release Has A Stronger Jazz Influence. While 1976's Ain't That A Bitch 1977's A Real Mother For Ya And 1977's Funk Beyond The Call Of Duty Are Funk/soul Albums First And Foremost Master Funk Is An Album In Which Funk Soul And Soul-Jazz Live Under The Same Roof. Instrumentals Like "Dr. John's Delight" And "Coming Around" Are In The Soul-Jazz Vein And The Jazz Influence Is Also Present On Some Of The Tunes That Watson Sings On. Master Funk Is Generally Decent But It's Uneven And It's An Album That Simmers Without Really Catching Fire. This Vinyl LP Wasn't Among Watson's Big Sellers Of The 1970s And Is Far From Essential Although It's A Fairly Interesting Listen If You're Among His Truly Hardcore Fans. ~ Alex Henderson All Music Guide
In His Exhaustively Researched Book Dream Boogie The Triumph Of Sam Cooke 2005 Peter Guralnick Claims That Watson Was An Actual Pimp As Well As A Performer. Watson Himself However Reportedly Felt "ambivalent" About Prostituting Women Even Though It "paid Better" Than Music. Later Career
The Shooting Death Of His Friend Larry Williams In 1980 And Other Personal Setbacks Led To Watson Briefly Withdrawing From The Spotlight In The 1980s. "I Got Caught Up With The Wrong People Doing The Wrong Things" He Was Quoted As Saying By The New York Times. Nevertheless A Series Of Summer Appearances In France Resulted In His Becoming Known There As The "Godfather Of Funk".
The Release Of His Album Bow Wow In 1994 Brought Watson More Visibility And Chart Success Than He Had Ever Known. The Album Received A Grammy Nomination And Retrospective Releases Of His Work Showered Him With Critical Acclaim.
In A 1994 Interview With David Ritz For Liner Notes To The Funk Anthology Watson Was Asked If His 1980 Song "Telephone Bill" Anticipated Rap Music. "Anticipated?" Watson Replied. "I Damn Well Invented It!... And I Wasn't The Only One. Talking Rhyming Lyrics To A Groove Is Something You'd Hear In The Clubs Everywhere From Macon To Memphis. Man Talking Has Always Been The Name Of The Game. When I Sing I'm Talking In Melody. When I Play I'm Talking With My Guitar. I May Be Talking Trash Baby But I'm Talking".
In 1995 He Was Given A Pioneer Award From The Rhythm & Blues Foundation In A Presentation And Performance Ceremony At The Hollywood Palladium.
In February 1995 Watson Was Interviewed By Tomcat Mahoney On His Brooklyn New York-Based Blues Radio Show The Other Half On WNYE-FM. Watson Discussed His Influences And Those He Influenced At Length Referencing Guitar Slim Jimi Hendrix Frank Zappa And Stevie Ray Vaughan.
He Made A Special Guest Appearance On Bo Diddley's 1996 Album A Man Amongst Men Playing Vocoder On The Track "I Can't Stand It" And On Vocals On The Track "Bo Diddley Is Crazy".
His International Bookings Soared. Back Home His Music Was Sampled By Redman He Based His Sooperman Luva Saga On Johnny "Guitar" Watson's Superman Lover Song Ice Cube Eazy-E Snoop Dogg Dr. Dre Jay-Z And Mary J. Blige. He Sometimes Would Enter The Studio With Rappers At Their Request. Snoop Dogg And Dr. Dre Borrowed P-Funk's Adaptation Of Watson's Catchphrase "Bow Wow Wow Yippi-Yo Yippi-Yay" For Snoop's Hit "What's My Name".
"Johnny Was Always Aware Of What Was Going On Around Him" Recalled Susan Maier Watson Later To Become The Musician's Wife In An Interview Printed In The Liner Notes To The Album The Very Best Of Johnny 'Guitar' Watson. "He Was Proud That He Could Change With The Times And Not Get Stuck In The Past". Death
Watson Died On Stage May 17 1996 While On Tour In Yokohama Japan. According To Eyewitness Reports He Collapsed Mid Guitar Solo. His Last Words Were "ain't That A Bitch" Probably In Reference To The Song "Ain't That A Bitch". His Remains Were Brought Home For Interment At Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery In Glendale California. Tracks
# 1967 Johnny Watson And Larry Williams - Mercy Mercy Mercy / A Quitter Never Wins Okeh#7274 # 1967 Johnny Watson And Larry Williams - Too Late / Two For The Price Of One Okeh#7281 # 1967 Johnny Watson And Larry Williams - Find Yourself Someone To Love / Nobody Okeh#7300 read less