Johnny Heartsman

about

Born: February 09, 1937, San Fernando, CA Died: December 27, 1996, Sacramento, CA Active: '50s, '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s, 2000s Genres: Blues Instrument: Vocals, Keyboards, Guitar, Flute Representative Albums: "The Touch," "Made in Germany," "Still Shinin'" Biography Shaven-headed Johnny Heartsman did so many musical things so well that he's impossible to pigeonhole. His low-moaning lead guitar work greatly distinguished a myriad of Bay Area blues recordings during the '50s and '60s, and still played his axe with delicious dexterity and dynamics into the '90s. But Heartsman was just as likely to cut loose on organ or blow a titillating solo on flute (perhaps the unlikeliest blues instrument imaginable). He possessed a mellow, richly burnished voice to boot. Through one of his principal influences, guitarist Lafayette "Thing" Thomas, a teenaged Heartsman hooked up with Bay Area producer Bob Geddins. Heartsman played bass on Jimmy Wilson's 1953 rendition of "Tin Pan Alley," handling guitar or piano at other Geddins-supervised dates. He cut his own two-part instrumental, the "Honky Tonk"-inspired "Johnny's House Party," for Ray Dobard's Music City imprint and watched it become a national R&B hit in 1957. The early '60s brought a lot more session work -- Heartsman played on Tiny Powell's "My Time After Awhile" (soon covered by Buddy Guy) and Al King's remake of Lowell Fulson's "Reconsider Baby." By then, Heartsman's imaginative twiddling of the volume knob with his finger

top songs

albums

The Touch

The Music City Story

Made in Germany

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Alligator Records 25th Anniversary Collection (Disc 2)

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Blues Rock Nuggets

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Essential Smooth Blues

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The Alligator Records 25th Anniversary Collection

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Slow Blues Texas And West Coast

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Alligator Records 25th Anniversary Collection [Disc 2]

Sacramento

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The Alligator Records 25th Anniversary Collection Disc 2

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Blues Bar-B-Que (ED CD 7030)

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