Johnny "Guitar" Watson (vocals, guitar, keyboards, programming)
Charles Green (saxophone)
Joe Campbell (trumpet)
Steve Baxter (trombone)
Oji Pierce (programming)
Maxayne Lewis, Rudy Copeland (background vocals).
House Of Music, Hollywood, CA; Paramount Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA.
Review Bow Wow (1994) Performing artist, guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter, early 1950s-1996; moved with family to Los Angeles, ca. 1950; played in West Coast jazz and blues bands, 1950-53; signed to Federal label, 1953; released experimental instrumental single “Space Jam,” 1953; released single “Gangster of Love,” later covered by Steve Miller, 1957; toured with Little Richard, late 1950s; toured Britain with vocalist Larry Williams, mid-1960s; signed with Fantasy label, 1972; recorded with Frank Zappa on Zappa’s One Size Fits All LP, 1975; signed with DJM label, 1976; series of successful blues-funk albums, 1976-80; signed with Bellmark label, 1994. Two other aspects of Watson’s style seemed to point the way to the incipient rap movement: lengthy spoken interludes in such recordings as the 1978 “Gangster of Love” remake, and a group of songs that dealt frankly with poverty. Watson’s music was indeed sampled in the 1990s by such stars as Ice Cube and Snoop Doggy Dogg. But Watson’s activities were curtailed in the 1980s, although a series of summer appearances in France led to his becoming known there as the “Godfather of Funk.” “I got caught up with the wrong people doing the wrong things,” he was quoted as saying by the New York Times. The 1990s brought a creative resurgence for Watson with the release of the album Bow Wow in 1994, which was nominated for a Grammy in 1995. In March of 1996 he was honored with a Pioneer Award from the Rhythm & Blues Foundation, and his performing career appeared fully reinvigorated. However, he was stricken with a heart attack while performing at a blues club near Tokyo. He died in Yokohama, Japan on May 17, 1996. (www.rockabillyhall.com)
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