{"id":855602,"date":"2025-06-14T19:12:47","date_gmt":"2025-06-15T00:12:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/14\/i-always-played-b-b-king-his-style-was-commercial-not-like-the-gutbucket-style-you-may-not-know-his-name-but-jimmy-johnson-was-a-contemporary-of-buddy-guy-and-the-ulti\/"},"modified":"2025-06-14T19:12:47","modified_gmt":"2025-06-15T00:12:47","slug":"i-always-played-b-b-king-his-style-was-commercial-not-like-the-gutbucket-style-you-may-not-know-his-name-but-jimmy-johnson-was-a-contemporary-of-buddy-guy-and-the-ulti","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/14\/i-always-played-b-b-king-his-style-was-commercial-not-like-the-gutbucket-style-you-may-not-know-his-name-but-jimmy-johnson-was-a-contemporary-of-buddy-guy-and-the-ulti\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI always played B.B. King. His style was commercial, not like the gutbucket style\u201d: You may not know his name, but Jimmy Johnson was a contemporary of Buddy Guy \u2013 and the ultimate example of a Chicago blues virtuoso who ventured well outside the bo"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n(Image credit: James Fraher\/Redferns)<\/span>
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Chicago blues<\/a> guitarist Jimmy Johnson is one of a rare species threatened with extinction.<\/em><\/p>\n

As we move torridly into the 80’s with the newer, younger voices in rock exploring the roots of their music and simplifying their presentations, Jimmy Johnson serves as a vibrant link to the past.<\/p>\n

His music is a direct extension of the basic blues tradition that godfathered rock. Johnson serves the role especially well; he is old enough to have been there when the golden age of blues was happening, and is young enough to keep it happening.<\/p>\n

Chicago is a town that oozes great blues. During the ’40s and throughout the ’50s, Muddy Waters<\/a>, John Lee Hooker, Jimmy Reed, Chuck Berry, and B.B. King<\/a> all made their names in the Midwestern capital. If one place had a pivotal position in the birth and dissemination of rock, it was Chicago.<\/p>\n

Today, the Chicago blues scene remains healthy.<\/p>\n

Dotting the city are dozens of clubs that cater to the various audiences that exist and the even greater variety of blues stylists that the city produces. In Chicago, you can find many of the elder statesmen still getting down, plus a new breed of strong players.<\/p>\n

Jimmy Johnson is curiously in between. He is 51 years of age, but as he says, \u201cI have a body like a 35-year-old.\u201d<\/p>\n

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He is one of a handful of blues artists to come along in the last decade and develop a national reputation, along with Albert Collins, Luther Allison, and Son Seals.<\/p>\n

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