Johnny "Guitar" Watson
"Watson's 1956 song, 'Three Hours Past Midnight' inspired me to become a guitarist."
"I used to play the guitar standing on my hands, I had a 150 foot cord and I could get on top of the auditorium - those things Jimi Hendrix was doing, I started that shit!"
“They call Elvis The King, but the sure-enough king was Johnny "Guitar" Watson."
Born Houston Texas, February 3, 1935
Died Yokohama Japan, May 17, 1996, (while performing on stage)
John Watson was taught music by his pianist father and, at the age of eleven, was given a guitar by his grandfather, a preacher who disapproved of the blues, on condition that he never used it to play the blues. The family moved to Los Angeles around 1950. Winning local talent shows led him to work as a musician (guitar and piano) and vocalist with Jump blues style bands such as Chuck Higgins and Amos Milburn.
He signed to the Federal label in 1954 and released "Space Jam" which featured innovative guitar effects using reverb and feedback. In 1954 he saw the Sterling Hayden film "Johnny Guitar" and decided to adopt the name himself.
Throughout the 1950's he continued to record and tour, working with the likes of Olympics, Don & Dewey and Little Richard. His hits included "Those Lonely, Lonely Nights" (1955), and "Gangster Of Love" (1957) (later covered by Steve Miller)
During the 1960's he recorded with Andre Lewis for the Fantasy label.
He recorded with FZ on One Size Fits All and had solo success with "Ain't That a Bitch" (1976) and "A Real Mother for Ya" (1977) albums for the DJM label.
He provided vocals on Thing-Fish, Them Or Us, Make A Jazz Noise Here and Have I Offended Someone? ; guitar and vocals Frank Zappa Meets The Mothers Of Prevention.
By the 1990's his work was being sampled by Hip-Hop artists like Snoop Doggy Dogg and Dr Dre.
His "Bow Wow" (1994) album entered the US charts.
"Three Hours Past Midnight" by Johnny "Guitar" Watson was one of the 10 records FZ selected (in 1989) for the American radio show Castaway's Choice, hosted by John McNally.
He is also mentioned in "The Real Frank Zappa Book" (1989): "Don was also an R&B fiend, so I'd bring my 45s over and we'd listen for hours on end to obscure hits by the Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson, Guitar Slim, Johnny "Guitar" Watson, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Don & Dewey, the Spaniels, the Nutmegs, the Paragons, the Orchids, the etc., etc., etc."
