LAZY LESTER
''BLUES STOP KNOCKIN'''
AUGUST 21 2001
49:29
1/Blues Stop Knockin'
Jay Miller/4:28
2/I Love You Baby
Ewart Abner / Brownie McGhee / Jimmy Reed / Sonny Terry/4:08
3/I'm Your Breadmaker, Baby/4:00
4/Go Ahead
Leslie Johnson / J. West/4:19
5/Gonna Stick to You Baby
Cornelius Green / Jerry West/3:12
6/I'm Gonna Miss You (Like the Devil)/3:50
7/Ya Ya
Lee Dorsey / Morris Levy / Clarence Lewis / Morgan Robinson/3:41
8/They Call Me Lazy
J. West/4:01
9/Ponderosa Shuffle/3:38
10/No Special Rider Blues
Eurreal Montgomery/4:04
11/I Told My Little Woman
Leslie Johnson / J. West/5:18
12/Sad City Blues
J.D. Miller/4:50
Sarah Brown /Bass
Mike Buck /Drums
Sue Foley /Guitar
Lazy Lester /Foot Percussion, Guitar, Harmonica, Maracas, Percussion, Vocals
Derek O'Brien Guitar
Riley Osbourne Piano
Speedy Sparks Bass
Gene Taylor Piano
Jimmie Vaughan Guest Artist, Guitar
REVIEW
by Hal Horowitz
Not the most nimble harp player on the blues block, Lazy Lester nonetheless connects when he's backed by a sympathetic band, as he is on this recording, his first in three years. Aided immensely by guitarists Jimmie Vaughen and Derek O'Brien (who also produces) on all but one track, the 70-year-old Lester returns to his swampy Excello label past on this sturdy release. Although it was recorded in Texas, Lester effortlessly evokes his Louisiana roots in a set predominantly consisting of covers that feature his moody harmonica and deep, bluesy sound. With muscular songs and a band who knows their way around a muddy groove, Lester is in fine, low-key form throughout. Far from energetic, as his moniker implies, he sounds remarkably inspired throughout. When he hits his mark on the slow blues of "Sad City Blues" (featuring guests Sue Foley, Sarah Brown, and Gene Taylor) or connects on the Jimmy Reed-ish "Miss You Like the Devi," his quivering voice and unamplified harp evoke the sound of those great '60s songs he turned into models of the genre. He even resembles Muddy Waters on "Go Ahead," gradually unwinding on a slow shuffle. Re-recording some of his old favorites, like the self-referential "They Call Me Lazy," is a questionable move for many elder musicians hoping to regain a lost spark, but these versions maintain the slow, laconic, if not quite lazy atmospheric vibe that made his classic stuff so influential. Not a great blues album, but a surprisingly good one and better than most would have expected from one of the blues' fringe figures in his waning years.
BIOGRAPHY
by Bill Dahl
Contrary to his colorful sobriquet, (supplied by prolific south Louisiana producer J.D. Miller), harpist Lazy Lester swears he never was all that lethargic. But he seldom was in much of a hurry either, although the relentless pace of his Excello Records swamp blues classics "I'm a Lover Not a Fighter" and "I Hear You Knockin'" might contradict that statement, too.
While growing up outside of Baton Rouge, Leslie Johnson was influenced by Jimmy Reed and Little Walter. But his entree into playing professionally arrived quite by accident: while riding on a bus sometime in the mid-'50s, he met guitarist Lightnin' Slim, who was searching fruitlessly for an AWOL harpist. The two's styles meshed seamlessly, and Lester became Slim's harpist of choice.
In 1956, Lester stepped out front at Miller's Crowley, Louisiana studios for the first time. During an extended stint at Excello that stretched into 1965, he waxed such gems as "Sugar Coated Love," "If You Think I've Lost You," and "The Same Thing Could Happen to You." Lester proved invaluable as an imaginative sideman for Miller, utilizing everything from cardboard boxes and claves to whacking on newspapers in order to locate the correct percussive sound for the producer's output.
Lester gave up playing for almost two decades (and didn't particularly miss it, either), settling in Pontiac MI in 1975. But Fred Reif (Lester's manager, booking agent, and rub board player) convinced the harpist that a return to action was in order, inaugurating a comeback that included a nice 1988 album for Alligator, Harp & Soul. His swamp blues sound remained as atmospheric (and, dare one say, energetic) as ever on subsequent releases including 1998's All Over You and 2001's Blues Stop Knockin', featuring Jimmie Vaughan.
''BLUES STOP KNOCKIN'''
AUGUST 21 2001
49:29
1/Blues Stop Knockin'
Jay Miller/4:28
2/I Love You Baby
Ewart Abner / Brownie McGhee / Jimmy Reed / Sonny Terry/4:08
3/I'm Your Breadmaker, Baby/4:00
4/Go Ahead
Leslie Johnson / J. West/4:19
5/Gonna Stick to You Baby
Cornelius Green / Jerry West/3:12
6/I'm Gonna Miss You (Like the Devil)/3:50
7/Ya Ya
Lee Dorsey / Morris Levy / Clarence Lewis / Morgan Robinson/3:41
8/They Call Me Lazy
J. West/4:01
9/Ponderosa Shuffle/3:38
10/No Special Rider Blues
Eurreal Montgomery/4:04
11/I Told My Little Woman
Leslie Johnson / J. West/5:18
12/Sad City Blues
J.D. Miller/4:50
Sarah Brown /Bass
Mike Buck /Drums
Sue Foley /Guitar
Lazy Lester /Foot Percussion, Guitar, Harmonica, Maracas, Percussion, Vocals
Derek O'Brien Guitar
Riley Osbourne Piano
Speedy Sparks Bass
Gene Taylor Piano
Jimmie Vaughan Guest Artist, Guitar
REVIEW
by Hal Horowitz
Not the most nimble harp player on the blues block, Lazy Lester nonetheless connects when he's backed by a sympathetic band, as he is on this recording, his first in three years. Aided immensely by guitarists Jimmie Vaughen and Derek O'Brien (who also produces) on all but one track, the 70-year-old Lester returns to his swampy Excello label past on this sturdy release. Although it was recorded in Texas, Lester effortlessly evokes his Louisiana roots in a set predominantly consisting of covers that feature his moody harmonica and deep, bluesy sound. With muscular songs and a band who knows their way around a muddy groove, Lester is in fine, low-key form throughout. Far from energetic, as his moniker implies, he sounds remarkably inspired throughout. When he hits his mark on the slow blues of "Sad City Blues" (featuring guests Sue Foley, Sarah Brown, and Gene Taylor) or connects on the Jimmy Reed-ish "Miss You Like the Devi," his quivering voice and unamplified harp evoke the sound of those great '60s songs he turned into models of the genre. He even resembles Muddy Waters on "Go Ahead," gradually unwinding on a slow shuffle. Re-recording some of his old favorites, like the self-referential "They Call Me Lazy," is a questionable move for many elder musicians hoping to regain a lost spark, but these versions maintain the slow, laconic, if not quite lazy atmospheric vibe that made his classic stuff so influential. Not a great blues album, but a surprisingly good one and better than most would have expected from one of the blues' fringe figures in his waning years.
BIOGRAPHY
by Bill Dahl
Contrary to his colorful sobriquet, (supplied by prolific south Louisiana producer J.D. Miller), harpist Lazy Lester swears he never was all that lethargic. But he seldom was in much of a hurry either, although the relentless pace of his Excello Records swamp blues classics "I'm a Lover Not a Fighter" and "I Hear You Knockin'" might contradict that statement, too.
While growing up outside of Baton Rouge, Leslie Johnson was influenced by Jimmy Reed and Little Walter. But his entree into playing professionally arrived quite by accident: while riding on a bus sometime in the mid-'50s, he met guitarist Lightnin' Slim, who was searching fruitlessly for an AWOL harpist. The two's styles meshed seamlessly, and Lester became Slim's harpist of choice.
In 1956, Lester stepped out front at Miller's Crowley, Louisiana studios for the first time. During an extended stint at Excello that stretched into 1965, he waxed such gems as "Sugar Coated Love," "If You Think I've Lost You," and "The Same Thing Could Happen to You." Lester proved invaluable as an imaginative sideman for Miller, utilizing everything from cardboard boxes and claves to whacking on newspapers in order to locate the correct percussive sound for the producer's output.
Lester gave up playing for almost two decades (and didn't particularly miss it, either), settling in Pontiac MI in 1975. But Fred Reif (Lester's manager, booking agent, and rub board player) convinced the harpist that a return to action was in order, inaugurating a comeback that included a nice 1988 album for Alligator, Harp & Soul. His swamp blues sound remained as atmospheric (and, dare one say, energetic) as ever on subsequent releases including 1998's All Over You and 2001's Blues Stop Knockin', featuring Jimmie Vaughan.
