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Jay Johnson Buffalo Joe's McKinney,Texas 7/14/01 |
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I arrived at the venue at 7:30, usually in plenty of time to see the beginning of the featured artist's show. As I walked in, there was Johnson with his sidekick Chris Whitney, strumming along. I was greeted by Michael "Rockzilla" Johnson, who was already in attendance, and was we traded our salutations, Jay Johnson hollered from the stage, "Is this Scott Snidow?" Somewhat taken aback (artists don't usually greet me anywhere, least of all in midperformance,) I assured him that I was in fact one and the same, and shook his hand. Johnson made some comments about my writing, and resumed with the show. I should have known at this point that this was going to be no ordinary evening. The crowd was sparse at Buffalo Joe's at this juncture of the evening, at least in the bar area where the artist performs. In fact, I could count all in attendance on one hand. However, for those few in attendance, the first hour or so of the show featured little to be surprised at. Johnson and Whitney took turns on vocals, doing songs that both of them had written and even a few cover tunes. If you have ever seen Johnson before then you should know that this, following the old formula that songsters over the years have used, was the making of an excellent show. Johnson's talent as a songwriter is only overshadowed by his capacity as a vocalist and musician. Sure, you say. That is what is required of a performer. Let me see if I can put this in way that you will be able to understand. If you have yet to see Johnson perform, then the best way I can sum it up is that it is amazing that he has yet to be discovered by some "big time" hot shot record producer and hauled away from the local music scene. Johnson is gifted with a voice that outshines many of today's so called stars of music. Add to this that his compositions are in many ways superior to those being cranked out by the record mills of America, replete with depth and humor, and I find it amazing that he is still little more than a "local" talent. The first time that I saw Johnson was about a year ago in Whitesboro. There were many acts on the bill that day, but in the 40 minutes that Johnson was on the stage, he stole the show. Some things never change, fortunately, and it seems that he is still doing exactly that. I wondered, as I sat there quietly nursing a beer, what had taken me so long to get to another Johnson show. There were no answers. I was quite impressed by the performance that I had thus far witnessed, and this was before the fireworks began.
Furthermore, Johnson seems to feed on this. Looking across the room, Johnson noticed a teenage girl who was sitting with her parents. He made a comment about how she was probably sitting there fussing at them for making her stay and listen. Promising to sing something that she would like, he broke into the opening verse of "Mandy" by Barry Manilow. Amidst hoots and hollers from the patrons of the bar, Johnson continued undaunted, singing the tune to the teenager, who by this time was having trouble secreting her own amusement. And then, as if this weren't spooky enough, Johnson actually succeeded in convincing all in attendance to join him in the chorus. Then Johnson broke into a stump the audience session where he played many fragments of many tunes by a myriad of performers. It began to seem apparent that there is little of recorded music over the last 40 years that Johnson doesn't seem to know. He seems equally at home playing one of his tunes or a Prine tune or Pink Floyd or Black Sabbath or Charlie Daniels. He even culled out a Bob Welch tune that night. To watch him switch from song to song with seamlessly fluidity it truly something to behold. Following this demonstration, Johnson gave a little schooling on performance technique, demonstrating that by learning one or two simple riffs on the guitar you can virtually learn a catalog of music. This little segment had the bar in stitches. I don't believe that there was a single person there who wasn't in awe of the performance they had thus far witnessed. And this was only the first set. Of course, it had lasted nearly three hours. Three hours of solid entertainment by Johnson and Whitney! Rarely do you see that by any act, let alone as a first set. After the break, Johnson and Whitney were joined by Chris Pierce of the Wendel Brothers on bass for several numbers. If you have never seen the Wendel Brothers, then nothing in your previous existence could prepare you for the sight of Pierce at once assaulting and playing the upright bass. Often he would deliberately block the passage of patrons from upstairs as they attempted to leave, and at other times he would ogle a gal as she walked passed. During this he managed to keep playing right along without missing a beat, all the while dancing around the floor like a spastic monkey on speed. Of course, Johnson was not only enjoying this, but he was continually instigating Pierce wherever he could. For the next set, Johnson yielded the stage to the Wendel Brothers Band for them to do a quick set of their own music. For those not aware of who the Wendel Brothers are, they are a local area bluegrass band, allegedly. Theirs is an in your face performance that is somewhat akin to throwing a match in a 55 gallon drum of gasoline, then after the explosion occurs trying to put the fire out with kerosene. Johnson came over to me at the beginning of their performance, and with a grin the size of the metroplex itself, said, "If you have never seen these guys, you are in for a treat. This is like 1976 all over man, and they are the Sex Pistols." That observance was not far from the truth, as the Wendel's served up their own brand of punked out bluegrass to the amusement of all in attendance. Just when it seemed that there could be no more turns on this particular roller coaster, Johnson again took to the stage to deliver a thirty-five minute set of what can best be described as folk psychedelia. Starting out with a Pink Floyd number, he held the bar entranced as he applied digital effects to his voice, guitar, and to the drum that Whitney was playing. Once again, the unexpected had profound effect upon the patrons of the bar. This was entertainment, Jay Johnson style. Damn fine entertainment. Uncompromised, unadulterated, with class and personality. The evening closed with Johnson and Whitney taking the stage with the Wendel Brothers Band for a raucous session that even brought the chef and waitstaff of Buffalo Joe's out to join in the merriment. Finally, at 1:30 am, the ride that had begun over six hours earlier ground to halt. Rarely will you ever be able to witness a show with this type of magnitude and duration. Never will you be able to witness another show like one that Jay Johnson is capable of giving. Don't believe me? Then see for yourself. Get out and take in a Jay Johnson show soon. The performance is guaranteed to leave you awestruck and "feemin'" for another fix. On that you can rely. A partial list of gigs by Jay and/or Planet Johnson is listed below. For up to date details on where he will be appearing, keep your eye on the Rockzillaworld Concert Calendar, or go to Planet Johnson, Jay's web site, where not only can you schedule your upcoming weekends, but you can also learn more about this truly one of a kind talent and even purchase his CD "Images." July 27 Love and War in Texas Plano. (Planet Johnson)
You can contact Scott Snidow at: scott-at-rockzilla.net |
Where does one begin
describing, or for that matter, reviewing the roller coaster
ride that is a Jay Johnson show? Usually, when one encounters
an artist performing "unplugged" at a small venue such
as Buffalo Joe's, what they expect is a laid back evening of
rather predictable singing and story telling. This is certainly
not the case with Johnson! Instead of sticking with the old predictable,
time tested format, Johnson sets out not only to break the mold
but also to shatter any preconceived notions that the audience
may have had.
Johnson has this
habit of looking out at the audience periodically and inquiring,
"so, what do you want to hear?" Frequently he gets
a request for one of his songs, or a cover that he regularly
does, but this time someone shot back, "John Prine."
Johnson, without hesitation or reservation launched into a medley
of Prine tunes that had the entire bar singing along with him.
(By this point in the evening the crowd had grown remarkably,
to the point that the venue was about filled.) Something that
I have never before witnessed before at Buffalo Joe's began to
occur. Diners from the restaurant upstairs began to filter into
the bar downstairs to join in the merriment. Folks on their way
out the door stopped and said a word of thanks to Johnson. This,
to me, serves as testament to Johnson's talents and magnetism
as a performer. One listen to a Johnson performance, and the
unenlightened are at once enlightened, and are soon caught up
in the revelry.
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