Johnny "Guitar" Watson & Ensemble live at Onkel Pö´s Carnegie Hall, Hamburg 1976

Johnny "Guitar" Watson, guitar, vocals
Peter Martin, trumpet
Paul Dunmall, tenor saxophone
Gil Noble, piano
Bobby Howard, bass
Emory Thomas, drums

recorded live at Onkel Pö's Carnegie Hall, December 12, 1976

1. Stormy Monday (Aaron Thibeaux Walker)
2. Superman Lover (Johnny "Guitar" Watson)
3. Gangster of Love (excerpt)

A working bluesman since his teenage years in the early 1950s, Johnny “Guitar” Watson scored numerous chart successes in the 1970s with a unique guitar-based sound that mixed the feel and instrumental technique of the blues with the bass-heavy sound of funk. Watson also excelled as a vocalist. His singing was by turns sexy, humorous, and political; his guitar playing exploited the full range of the instrument's powers. He was also a prolific songwriter. When Watson died in 1996 at the age of 61, he was receiving the most modern form of musical homage: rappers and hip-hop musicians quoting or “sampling” his recordings." 

Much like its white counterparts, black pop music is often dominated by young people, and Watson's emergence into the spotlight at the age of 41 was remarkable. His first two albums for DJM, “Ain't That a Bitch” (1976) and “A Real Mother for Ya” (1977) both were certified as gold records for sales of over 500,000 copies each. The title track of the latter album was a major hit and provides an excellent illustration of Watson's style on the DJM recordings. Handling vocals, guitar, and bass, he topped off his blues-funk fusion with a tense, sardonic rendition of lyrics that described a set of difficult circumstances.