Johnny "Guitar" Watson › Similar Artists

Ohio Players - 24% match to Johnny "Guitar" Watson

Formed in Dayton, Ohio, USA, this multi-talented unit originated from four members of the Ohio Untouchables, saxophonists Ralph ‘Pee Wee’ Middlebrooks and Clarence ‘Satch’ Satchell, bass player Marshall Jones and guitarist Leroy ‘Sugarfoot’ Bonner. The Ohio Untouchables forged a reputation as a powerful instrumental group by providing the backing t Read more

Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown - 22% match to Johnny "Guitar" Watson

18 April 1924, Vinton, Louisiana, USA, some sources give Orange, Texas, where he was raised from the age of three weeks, d. 10 September 2005, Orange, Texas, USA. Brown’s father was a musician who taught him to play guitar and fiddle, and during his youth he heard the music of Tampa Red, Bob Wills, Count Basie, and others. He toured the south as a drummer with a travell Read more

Albert Collins - 20% match to Johnny "Guitar" Watson

3 October 1932, Leona, Texas, USA, d. 24 November 1993, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Collins was the embodiment of the Texas blues guitar style, using non-standard tuning, and slashing out blocked chords and sharp flurries of treble notes (played without a plectrum) to produce an ‘ice-cold’ sound from his Fender Telecaster. As a youth he developed his style by listening Read more

Guitar Slim - 19% match to Johnny "Guitar" Watson

Earl Hooker - 17% match to Johnny "Guitar" Watson

Earl Zebedee Hooker, 15 January 1930, Clarksdale, Mississippi, USA, d. 21 April 1970. Hooker’s interest in music was kindled at an early age. A self-taught guitarist, he began his itinerant career as a teenager, and having toured America’s southern states in the company of Robert Nighthawk, Ike Turner and many others, Earl made his first, rudimentary recordings in Read more

Lee Dorsey - 17% match to Johnny "Guitar" Watson

Irving Lee Dorsey, 24 December 1926, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, d. 1 December 1986, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. An ex-boxer (nicknamed ‘Kid Chocolate’) turned singer, Dorsey first recorded for Joe Banashak’s Instant label. One song, ‘Lottie Mo’, became a regional hit and led to a contract with Fury. The infectious ‘Ya Ya’ (1961) was a nu Read more

The Bar-Kays - 17% match to Johnny "Guitar" Watson

Formed in Memphis, Tennessee, USA by Jimmy King (1949, d. 10 December 1967; guitar), Ronnie Caldwell (b. 1948, d. 10 December 1967; organ), Phalon Jones (b. 1949, d. 10 December 1967; saxophone), Ben Cauley (trumpet), James Alexander (bass) and Carl Cunningham (b. 1949, d. 10 December 1967; drums) were originally known as the River Arrows. Signed to Stax Records, the Bar-Kay Read more

Lonnie Liston Smith - 16% match to Johnny "Guitar" Watson

28 December 1940, Richmond, Virginia, USA. Not to be confused with the soul/jazz organist Lonnie Smith. Born into a very musical family, Smith seemed destined from a very early age to make music his career. His father and two brothers were all vocalists, but it was the keyboard that attracted Smith. After studying at Morgan State University, he moved to New York and immersed Read more

Lowell Fulson - 16% match to Johnny "Guitar" Watson

31 March 1921, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA, d. 6 March 1999, Los Angeles, California, USA. Blues guitarist Lowell Fulson (whose surname was often mistakenly misspelled Fulsom) recorded steadily from 1946 onwards, and performed regularly on the US and European club circuits into the 90s. One of the founding fathers of West Coast blues, Fulson blended the rural blues of his home stat Read more

Magic Sam - 16% match to Johnny "Guitar" Watson

Samuel Gene Maghett, 14 February 1937, Grenada County, Mississippi, USA, d. 1 December 1969, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Although Maghett’s immediate family were not musical, he received encouragement from his uncle, Shakey Jake, a popular blues singer on Chicago’s west side. Maghett arrived in the city in 1950 and by the age of 20 had secured a recording contract with Read more

Bobby "Blue" Bland - 15% match to Johnny "Guitar" Watson

Robert Calvin Bland, 27 January 1930, Rosemark, Tennessee, USA. Having moved to Memphis with his mother, Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland started singing with local gospel groups, including the Miniatures. Eager to expand his interests, he began frequenting the city’s infamous Beale Street, where he became associated with an ad hoc circle of aspiring musicians, named, not u Read more

Bootsy Collins - 13% match to Johnny "Guitar" Watson

William Collins, 26 October 1951, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. This exceptional showman was an integral part of the JBs, the backing group fashioned by James Brown to replace the Famous Flames. Between 1969 and 1971, the distinctive Collins bass playing propelled some of the era’s definitive funk anthems. Collins was later part of the large-scale defection in which several of Read more

Cameo - 13% match to Johnny "Guitar" Watson

This US soul/funk act, originally called the New York City Players, was formed in 1974 by Larry ‘Mr. B’ Blackmon (New York City, New York, USA; drums, vocals) and vocalists Tomi Jenkins and Nathan Leftenant. Building up a strong following by undergoing rigorous touring schedules, with their backing group at times numbering almost a dozen members, they signed with t Read more

George Duke - 13% match to Johnny "Guitar" Watson

12 January 1946, San Rafael, California, USA. Duke studied the piano at school (where he ran a Les McCann -inspired Latin band) and emerged from the San Francisco Conservatory as a Bachelor of Music in 1967. From 1965-67 he was resident pianist at the Half Note, accompanying musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie and Kenny Dorham. This grounding served as a musical education for Read more

Graham Central Station - 13% match to Johnny "Guitar" Watson

Formed in San Francisco in late 1972 by Larry Graham (14 August 1946, Beaumont, Texas, USA), erstwhile bass player in Sly And The Family Stone. The core of the group - David Vega (lead guitar), Hershall Kennedy (keyboards), Willie Sparks and Patrice Banks (both drums) - comprised former members of Hot Chocolate (USA), a local band Graham was producing, while a second keyboa Read more