Johnny Littlejohn
Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf and Johnny Littlejohn
You are the visitor since Dec. 7, 1999.
Updated August 28, 2013
NEW! "John Littlejohn's Blues Party", previously unreleased music from a 1989 session featuring special guests
Willie Kent, Taildragger, John Primer and Billy Branch. WLF 120859, available online here.
John Funchess, aka Johnny Littlejohn, 1931-1994
Born in "Lake", Scott County Mississippi April 16, 1931 near Jackson.
Sadly remains underappreciated. A brilliant singer, songwriter and
soloist, both on slide guitar in open E tuning `a la Elmore James and in
regular `a la B.B. King - and Muddy Waters. An extremely talented singer with a high tenor
like Elmore with occasional 'raspiness' in the high register for
emphasis. Favoured Gibson SGs and ES 335s for both modes.
John worked at plantations when he was young, earning 40 cents a day.
After his daddy won a guitar, Johnny learned quickly, with Henry Martin as his initial mentor. Henry was an influential Jackson Mississippi bluesman who was also a friend of John's father.
Johnny played with Elmore James, Jimmy Reed, Eddie Taylor, Jimmy Rogers,
Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters and others before going solo. A great friend
and "co-conspirator" of John "Big Moose" Walker (piano, vocals) who was like a brother to him. The two were lifelong friends and played together on and off for nearly fifty years.
In lean times John worked at a gas station, later as an auto mechanic
before he was 'rediscovered' in the mid to late 1970s by Europeans. By
the 1980s he was again in full swing and peaked at a triumphal 1989
performance at New York City's famous Bottom Line club where he was the recipient of terrific accolades and called one of the kings of the blues.
Johnny recorded for the Arhoolie, Bluesway, Black and Blue (distributed
by WEA), M.C.M. and Rooster Blues labels in his lifetime. I consider his
excellent "Can't Nobody Hurt You (But Your So-Called Friends)" to be
his finest recording. It features a red hot band with Lafayette Leake on
acoustic piano and an eight-piece horn section. See links below for
purchasing Johnny's recordings on line.
"If he was not one of the kings of the blues, he surely was a prince." -Tony McLean
Johnny Littlejohn at ubl.com
Another Johnny Littlejohn page.
Yet another Johnny Littlejohn page.
Buy Johnny Littlejohn CD's online
Discography, pics, stories, sounds, Big Moose Walker obituary and more coming soon.
Updated 9.11.2012
Take me home, John!
