Page 20 - BiTS_03_MARCH_2025_Neat

During his time with Modern he wrote a song called ‘Love Bandit’, which he gave to
The Cadets to record. Later on he would re-work the song, which would produce his

biggest hit, and signature recording.

In 1955, with the addition of the new overdub technique on double tracked tape,
Johnny was able to play both piano and guitar, and one of these earliest recordings

is a fine blues ballad, ‘Someone Cares For Me’, which emphasises the influence of Ray
Charles on his singing style. Indeed, this is something he himself confirmed. Probably
his best blues recording for Modern was ‘Three Hours Past Midnight’, but by this time
the label was having rock & roll hits, so were not promoting their other acts as hard.

As a consequence Johnny left, and then moved around the record label market for
around 4 years, usually making a couple of singles before moving on. At one point
he signed to Keen Records, the same label as his friend Sam Cooke, and here first

recorded the re-worked ‘Love Bandit’ as ‘Gangster of Love’, although it did not chart.
He then recorded for Class, Arvee, Eldo and Escort
Records, none of which I’d ever heard of until I

started writing this!

One of his Escort recordings from 1961, ‘Lookin’
Back’ b/w ‘The Eagle is Back’, whilst not even

achieving any success locally eventually found its
way to the UK, where it was picked up
enthusiastically by the British R&B bands of the

period - most notably as the single debut of Peter
Green, with the Bluesbreakers, in 1966.

Between mid-1961 and 1963 Johnny was signed

to King Records, for whom he not only recorded
as a solo artiste, but also as a studio member of the ‘Johnny Otis Orchestra’. This
renewed a professional acquaintance from earlier in their careers, and Otis had also

produced a session on the Eldo label for Watson, which remained unreleased until
Ace issued it in 1996, on the album “Hot Just Like That”.

Indeed, it was Otis who convinced King boss Syd Nathan to sign Watson, and it is

assumed that not only did Otis produce most of the Watson King sessions, but his
‘Orchestra’ provided the backing.

On his July 21st 1961 King session, Johnny used the great jazz guitarist Howard
Roberts, and a five piece string section from the Los Angeles Philharmonic, in what
was a novel concept for R&B at that time. The strings certainly enhanced the songs,

which included ‘The Nearness of You’, ‘Embraceable You’, and the classic ‘Cuttin’ In’.
However, to date his King releases had not troubled the charts.

In addition to his own recordings, and those with Johnny Otis, Watson played guitar

for a number of other King artiste sessions, usually produced by Otis.