ALLIGATOR
RECORDS SET TO RELEASE MEET ME IN BLUESLAND BY
THE KENTUCKY
HEADHUNTERS WITH JOHNNIE JOHNSON ON JUNE 2
Alligator Records has set a June 2 street date for
Meet Me In
Bluesland, a previously unreleased album by Grammy-winning
Southern blues-rockers
The Kentucky Headhunters with pianist Johnnie Johnson, a Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame inductee. The performances found Johnson -- the man
Rolling Stone called “the greatest sideman in rock and roll” for his
groundbreaking piano work with Chuck Berry -- playing some of the deepest and
most rocking blues piano of his legendary career. With The Kentucky Headhunters
at their down-home best, the record is a country-fried, blues-infused party from
start to finish.
On January 25, 2003, Johnson joined his hosts, The Rolling Stones, for a
rousing rendition of
Honky Tonk Women at Houston, Texas’ Reliant
Stadium. After hanging out all night with Keith Richards, Johnson got on a plane
and flew to Kentucky. There he reunited with his good friends, brothers Richard
and Fred Young, Greg Martin, Doug Phelps and Anthony Kenney, known worldwide as
The Kentucky Headhunters. The plan was to have Johnnie lay down some piano for
the band’s upcoming release,
Soul. But the vibe was too strong and the
music too good, so the tape just kept rolling. With songs and arrangements
furiously being created on the spot and everything recorded live as it happened
over the course of three days, a magical musical event was underway. Because the
whole session was spontaneous, there were no immediate plans to release an
album. After Johnnie’s death in 2005, the tapes, while never forgotten, remained
unissued.
With the release of
Meet Me In Bluesland, these
timeless and rollicking performances are available for the first time. The
record grooves from the raunchy rock of
Stumblin’ to the slide-fueled
Superman Blues to the roof-raising version of
Little Queenie
to the rocking
Party In Heaven to the salacious
She’s Got To Have
It (the last vocal Johnson ever recorded).
Click here to listen to
Stumblin', She's Got To Have It, and
Party In Heaven:
https://soundcloud.com/alligator-recs/sets/kentucky-headhunters-w-johnnie/s-KrTVX
“The minute Johnnie sat down with us, the music was a kind of ecstasy,” says
guitarist/vocalist Richard Young. “Johnnie made us play like real men,” adds
guitarist/vocalist Greg Martin. “Playing with him, the groove got bigger and
much more grown up.” Drummer Fred Young explains, “We all admired Johnnie from
the start. The first time we played with him was the first time I ever felt like
we were doing it right. The music we made on
Meet Me In
Bluesland is as good as it gets.”
The relationship between Johnson and The Kentucky Headhunters dated back to
1992. Headed to New York for a Grammy Awards party, Greg picked up the new
Johnnie Johnson CD,
Johnnie B. Bad, for the ride. The band listened to
nothing else all the way to New York. Having no idea he’d be at the party, they
were shocked to see Johnnie Johnson sitting alone at a table. After some quick
introductions, the musicians talked for hours, becoming fast friends. In 1993
they released their first collaboration,
That’ll Work, on Nonesuch.
They took the show on the road, playing gigs from the West Coast to New England,
from Chicago’s Buddy Guy’s Legends to New York City’s Lone Star Café. They
performed at The Jamboree In The Hills in Belmont County, Ohio, where Johnson,
with the Headhunters triumphantly jamming behind him, played to over 30,000
fans.
From their very first meeting, Johnson and The Kentucky Headhunters stayed
close, getting together whenever possible. In 2003, when the band asked Johnson
to record with them again, he couldn’t wait to get back to Kentucky and make
music with his friends. “Johnnie’s music was spontaneous, organic, magic
energy,” says Greg. “During the recordings, everything was off-the-cuff and
easy; a higher power just took over. This album is special, and we’re very happy
in 2015 that it’s coming to fruition.” Adds Fred, “Johnnie gave us the gift of
letting us know what it was like to do something
great.”
___________________________________________________________________
The Kentucky Headhunters, declared “the great American rock
‘n’ roll band” by
Billboard magazine, began their professional journey
in 1968 when brothers Fred and Richard Young and cousins Greg Martin and Anthony
Kenney formed the Southern blues-rock band Itchy Brother. The band morphed into
The Kentucky Headhunters in 1986. Their first album, 1989’s
Pickin’ On
Nashville, was released by Mercury Records and surprised the world,
becoming a bona fide hit, selling over two million copies. The album won a
Grammy Award, three Country Music Awards, an American Music Award and an Academy
Of Country Music Award. It spawned four consecutive Top 40 Country hits.
Currently, the band is made up of Richard Young, Fred Young, Greg Martin and
Doug Phelps.
Growing up on a 1300-acre family farm in Edmonton, Kentucky, the Young
brothers, Martin and Kenney heard plenty of raucous R&B and deep, soulful
blues courtesy of Fred and Richard’s mother, who listened to powerhouse radio
station WLAC late at night. “She was real hip,” Richard says. “She was a huge
influence on us.” Their father loved big band jazz, Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey
and Sarah Vaughan. “Music in our home was a mixture, unlike what most farm kids
heard.” Part of their musical upbringing included their friendship with three
African-American families who lived and worked on nearby farms. The boys heard
gospel and blues, both sung by their neighbors in the fields and blasting out of
their radios. They were reared on Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters (the name
Headhunters was a nickname given to Waters and Jimmy Rogers when they came into
a club ready to take on all comers). “All of these things taught us the blues,”
says Richard. They loved Chuck Berry, and were especially wowed by Berry’s piano
player, Johnnie Johnson. Befriending him and recording with him was a dream come
true for the band. According to Fred, “We were fortunate to know him. It was a
good marriage.” Richard adds, “Anyone who ever played with him became a better
player.”
Johnnie Johnson was born on July 8, 1924 in Fairmont, West
Virginia. He began playing piano at age five and never stopped. While serving in
the Marines, he joined The Barracudas, a Marines servicemen’s band. He moved to
Detroit and then Chicago, eventually playing with Muddy Waters and Little
Walter. He landed in St. Louis in 1952 where he formed The Sir John Trio,
playing jazz, blues and pop standards. Chuck Berry, an ambitious local guitarist
and songwriter, was added to the group the same year and eventually took over
leadership of the band. After Berry scored a contract with Chess Records, the
hits came fast and furious. Many, including
Maybellene,
Nadine,
Carol and
School Days, were fueled by
Johnson’s two-fisted piano. He was the high-octane gasoline in Chuck Berry’s
rock ‘n’ roll engine. When Chuck wasn’t touring, Johnson played with Albert
King, and recorded a number of singles with him for the Bobbin label. Tired of
the road, Johnson left Chuck’s band in 1973 and returned to St. Louis to become
a bus driver. With the 1987 release of the Chuck Berry documentary,
Hail!
Hail! Rock ‘n’ Roll, Johnson found himself back in the spotlight,
reintroduced to the world by his friend-to-be Keith Richards. After three solo
recordings, Johnson joined his musical cohorts The Kentucky Headhunters for
1993’s
That’ll Work. In 1996 and 1997 he toured with Ratdog, the band
fronted by The Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir. Johnson was inducted into the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame in 2001 and continued to perform and record until his death in
2005. His 2003 sessions with The Kentucky Headhunters, released now for the very
first time as
Meet Me In Bluesland, are some of the
most spirited and organic recordings of his remarkable and still influential
career.
