monday, October 15, 1979
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Daily Nebraskan Photo
Jimmy Johnson and his Chicago Blues Band appeared at the Zoo Bar last
Thursday , Friday and Saturday nights.
Blues-playing guitar main
started career on piano
By Mary Kay Wayman
"Blues Is not goin' to school. If you
don't feel it you can't play it," the singer
said as he smoked another small cigar.
Jimmy Johnson and his Chicago Blues
Band was tuning up this weekend for the
first of three days at the Zoo Bar.
"Sometimes you feel bad, sometimes
you feel good. Everybody plays the blues a
different way," Johnson said.
Johnson's brand of blues includes fal
setto vocal work and fluid guitar playing.
Twenty years of musical experience are
the dues Johnson paid to play the blues.
He discovered his musical talent as a young
boy, but didn't have a guitar.
"I always wanted a guitar, but couldn't
afford it,' he said .j Instead, Johnson
learned his first music on his high school
piano.
After high school, Johnson went to
Chicago to become professionally involved
in music. In Chicago, he bought his first
guitar and enrolled in music school.
"They taught me how to count, how to
read (music). But they was teaching me to
play "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," he
said, shaking his head. "After I learned the
fundamentals of guitar I went on my
own."
For most of his career Johnson was not
completely on his own, but part of other
groups. His first job was with the Jimmy
Dawkins band.
Johnson said he hasn't always played
the blues. His early style was soul music.
"I played some blues, but very little,"
he said. His transition to blues came in
1975. He has been the "front man," the
headliner of his own band, for about three
years.
The change has had advantages for
Johnson, he said.
"If you want to play music you always
love it. But if you're the front man you get
a chance to do exactly what you want to
do," he said.
To do what he wants, Johnson is on the
road all but one day a month or one week
a year, he said. If working on the road is
difficult, Johnson said it's because he
pushes himself.
"You burn up a lot of energy," he said.
"The reason is you got to push. You don't
want to stay here. You want to do this,
right?" He gestured, raising his hand as he
spoke.
"I'm determined not to fall. I got to go
up," he said.
But Johnson said his incentive is some
thing less tangible than money. "I'm not
worried about getting rich. My worries are
staying healthy and peace of mind," he
said.
"I've already got peace of mind. What
would I have now that I wouldn't have if I
was rich? "he asked.
Johnson said he doesn't want to be
famous either. "Instead, I play to make
people happy. It gasses me to make people
happy," he said. "If I play for people and
don't make them happy, then it's a drag
for me."
The band finished tuning up and John
son excused himself to play for a crowd
that he said expects "100 percent blues."
1 love playing here," he said. "TTiis is
for real."
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