June 4, 1977 review: Johnny Guitar Watson at Shea's



The folks at locally-based Amherst Records were distributing this funky Texas guitar wizard’s records for the DJM (Dick James Music) label out of England in the mid 1970s and promoting the hell out of him. For this date, they gave him the royal treatment.

June 4, 1977

Fans Love Watson’s Sassy Style 

          Johnny Guitar Watson brought his gangster jive to town Friday and the fans loved it.

          They oohed and aahed over his gold Rolls Royce (police escort, of course).

          They just adored his monogrammed glasses and his color-coordinated three-piece suits with the matching shoes and hats.

          And they cheered like crazy as he came out to get the first two gold records of his 22-year career in nearly-full Shea’s Buffalo before his evening concert.

          “Now Buffalo has become my hometown,” he said, grinning as he held the plaques. “I’ll be right back. I’m just gonna put these up.”

          An announcer heralded his return in the old “It’s show time” fashion and Watson bounded back, not in his green suit, but in maroon and white.

          Watson’s eight-man funk band – the Watsonian Institute, he calls it – kept the powerhouse pulse of the music tight behind him as he surged about the stage, sassy as Sly Stone, hard-playing as the bluesmen in his native Texas.

          He did a Dragnet-style “Gangster of Love,” which he said Steve Miller borrowed from him “and got into the big paper.” To close, he paired the title tunes of the two albums. “Superman Lover,” which came earlier, got the biggest applause.

          It was after midnight when he finished. His show was a bit loose around the edges – shorter raps, shorter tunes and more selections from the two gold albums would have intensified his impact – but at least he didn’t suffer the sound problems that sank the two Soul Train Records disco acts that opened for him.

* * * * *

IN THE PHOTO: Cover of one of Johnny Guitar Watson’s gold records. That’s really his mom.

* * * * *

FOOTNOTE: In those days, The News would not let me get away with mentioning the titles of those title tunes from Watson’s two gold albums – “Ain’t That a Bitch” and “A Real Mother for Ya” (the refrain of which still goes through my head).

          Watson had been a blues musician when he started recording in 1952 and was always a flashy figure. He certainly did write “Gangster of Love” and released it as a single in 1957. He adopted the gangster persona full-time in the late 1960s and was enjoying the greatest success of his career at this point. After a few rough years in the ‘80s, he finally got a Grammy in 1994. He was on stage in Japan when he suffered a fatal heart attack in 1996.

          Although Watson was not a household name to pop audiences, among guitarists he was. His disciples included Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Zappa said Watson’s 1956 song “Three Hours Past Midnight” “inspired me to become a guitarist.” Watson appeared on three Zappa albums and was on stage with Zappa at a Memorial Auditorium date in 1980.

          Those unfortunate opening acts were Carrie Lucas and the Whispers. 

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