Johnny Fuller (April 20, 1929 – May 20, 1985) was an American West Coast and electric blues singer and guitarist.
Born in Edwards, Mississippi not far from Vicksburg, Johnny Fuller has lived there the same usual hard childhood that the other sharecroppers: no education, full work at the age of 9. He said he then started to play the guitar and sing under the influence of Country Music icons like Jimmie Rodgers, Gene Autry and later Honky Tonk singer Ernest Tubb.
After a brief stint in New Orleans, Johnny went during the war to the Bay Area, finding work on the shipyards of Vallejo. He said that it was there that he heard the real downhome blues for the first time, a deep Texas blues carried on the West Coast by the thousands of Texans who migrated in California during the war years.
It is in this very style that Johnny started to play and record, first three Gospel sides in 1948,on the Jaxyson label which credited him as Brother Johnny Fuller, the 19 year old wonder singer. He then he recorded for a number of independent record labels, with his distinctive singing and guitar playing sometimes those associated with Bob Geddins.
These included Heritage, Hollywood, Flair, Specialty, Aladdin, Imperial and Checker Records. Some of these recordings contained a batch of incredible deep blues waxed in 1954. Those marvelous sides with devastating arpeggios, vibrant electric guitar licks, dying vocals and bittersweet lyrics stand as masterpieces of the downhome West Coast blues. But at the same time, Fuller is also able to record pop ballads like You Got me whistling, rocking pieces that were almost rockabilly, like Haunted house that hits the Top 100 nationwide.
Fuller then drop his day job and leads his own band, touring the Southwestern States, recording constantly for label as prestigious as Specialty, Flair, Aladdin, Imperial or Checker numerous 45s that mix with equal ease blues (less and less frequently) with ballads, rock'n'roll numbers, doo wop, corny pop pieces. But this versatility has also his setback. During the mid-60's, Johnny Fuller is unable to gain the attention of the new mostly white and international public of the Blues Revival as well as the young African-Americans who wants Soul, a genre that Fuller tries to make a hand but with no success.
And in 1967, Johnny is forced to stop his musical career and work as an auto mechanic in the Bay Area, largely forgotten by the blues world. In 1973, thanks to Tom Mazzolini, he is rediscovered by a group of Australian fans and record a very good album for an Ossie label with Philip Walker and his band. This album certainly illustrated what Johnny was capable of achieving. Unfortunately, it didn’t do too much for Fuller who did not record anymore. However he performed sporadically on stage and appeared at the San Francisco Blues Festival in 1973 and 1977.
Fuller died of lung cancer in Oakland, California, in May 1985, at the age of 56.
(Edited from Gerard Herzhaft’s blog Blue Eye & Wikipedia)
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For “Johnny Fuller – The Many Sides Of Johnny Fuller 1948-62 (2021 Acrobat)” go here:
https://pixeldrain.com/u/GhQzfsAX
1-1 Brother Johnny Fuller – I Must Tell Jesus
1-2 Johnny Fuller – From Bad To Worse (Incomplete)
1-3 Johnny Fuller – Buddy
1-4 Johnny Fuller – Hard Times
1-5 Johnny Fuller – Back Home
1-6 Johnny Fuller – It's Your Life
1-7 Johnny Fuller – Prowlin' Blues
1-8 Johnny Fuller – Johnny's Low Down Blues
1-9 Johnny Fuller – These Young Girls
1-10 Johnny Fuller – I Walk All Night
1-11 Johnny Fuller – Fool's Paradise
1-12 Johnny Fuller – First Stage Of The Blues
1-13 Willie B. Huff & J. Fuller Orchestra – Beggar Man Blues
1-14 Willie B. Huff & J. Fuller Orchestra – I've Been Thinkin' And Thinkin'
1-15 Johnny Fuller – Train Train Blues
1-16 Johnny Fuller – Bad Luck Overtook Me (Black Cat)
1-17 Johnny Fuller – Lovin' Lovin Man
1-18 Johnny Fuller – Remember
1-19 Johnny Fuller – Mean Old World (Troubles)
1-20 Johnny Fuller – How Long
1-21 Johnny Fuller – Roughest Place In Town
1-22 Johnny Fuller – Comin' Round The Corner
1-23 Johnny Fuller – My Mama Told Me
1-24 Johnny Fuller – Too Late To Change My Mind
1-25 Johnny Fuller – Sunny Road
2-1 Johnny Fuller – I Can't Succeed
2-2 Johnny Fuller – Johnny Ace's Last Letter
2-3 Johnny Fuller – Cruel Cruel World
2-4 Johnny Fuller – My Heart Beats For You
2-5 Johnny Fuller – Garden Of Memories
2-6 Johnny Fuller – Mercy Mercy
2-7 Johnny Fuller – Sister Jenny
2-8 Johnny Fuller – My Heart Is Bleeding
2-9 Johnny Fuller – Don't Slam That Door
2-10 Johnny Fuller – Restless
2-11 Johnny Fuller – Deep In My Soul
2-12 Johnny Fuller – Whispering Wind
2-13 Johnny Fuller – Miss You
2-14 Johnny Fuller – Stop, Look And Listen
2-15 Johnny Fuller – Weeping And Mourning
2-16 Johnny Fuller – Strange Land
2-17 Johnny Fuller With Candy Man McGuirt And His Band – First Stage Of The Blues
2-18 Johnny Fuller With Candy Man McGuirt And His Band – No More, No More
2-19 Johnny Fuller – You Got Me Whistling
2-20 Johnny Fuller – All Night Long
2-21 Johnny Fuller – Haunted House
2-22 Johnny Fuller – The Mighty Hand
2-23 Johnny Fuller – Swinging At The Creek
2-24 Johnny Fuller – Many Rivers, Mighty Seas
2-25 Johnny Fuller – She's Too Much
2-26 Johnny Fuller – No More Loving
2-27 Johnny Fuller – The Power
2-28 Johnny Fuller – Wyatt Earp Shot Stagger Lee
For “Johnny Fuller & The Phillip Walker Band – Fullers Blues (1973 Bluesmaker)
https://pixeldrain.com/u/UhkD1Txc
1 Tin Pan Alley 3:26
2 Fools Paradise 3:06
3 Strange Land 4:34
4 1009 Blues 4:14
5 You Got Me Whistling 2:49
6 But Bruce 3:02
7 Bad Luck Overtook Me 3:02
8 Hard Luck Blues 3:15
9 Crying Won't Make Me Stay 3:03
10 Miss You So 2:55
11 A Good Letting Alone 4:02
12 Mercy, Mercy 3:00
Bass – Dennis Walker
Drums – Johnny Tucker
Guitar – Johnny Fuller, Phillip Walker, Tony Matthews
Harmonica – Zaven 'Big John' Jambezian
Piano – Arthur Woods
Saxophone (Baritone & Tenor) – David Li
Trumpet – Mike O'Connel
Vocals – Johnny Fuller
Tracks 4 and 9 were recorded at Frank Scotts Studio on June 22nd, 1973.
All other tracks were recorded at Eldorado Studios, Hollywood on June 13th and 21st, 1973.
Both albums borrowed from the usual streamers @ 192
Thanks for so many tunes!!
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