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For his second King session Watson appeared to be cast in a Ray Charles mode, as
is evidenced by ‘I Just Wants Me Some Love’ and ‘Broke And Lonely’, the latter of
which was released as his second King single, backed with ‘Cuttin’ In’, from his first
session. However, the flip side was obviously more popular, and it eventually

remained on the R&B charts for 13 weeks, peaking at number 6. It was his biggest
hit to date.

Two more singles were issued from the session, but good as they were, they received

little attention, and 6 months were to pass before he got the chance to record in his
own name again. In the meantime he
recorded with the Johnny Otis Orchestra

again, this time backing King artistes: The
Interludes and James T. “Hannibal” Shaw.

For his next solo session he produced a
rollicking version of Hank William’s ‘Cold
Cold Heart’, coupled with another Ray
Charles inspired blues ballad (‘That’s The

Chance You’ve Got To Take’), but once again
it flopped. The next King tactic was to re-
record ‘Those Lonely Lonely Nights’ and

‘Gangster of Love’ for an LP shared with an
act called The Snapshots, about whom
nothing more is known! However, the re-
recordings were, if anything, better than the

originals, and ‘Gangster’ was put out as a single, once again failing to cause a stir.
However, its day came in 2006, when it was used as the soundtrack for a Lynx
Don Robey
deodorant TV ad!

By 1963 blues singles were being overlooked in favour of soul, the new sound on
the block, and many blues-based artistes suffered as a result. Thus, Johnny’s King

releases failed to make any impression, and his contract was not renewed when it
expired in 1964.

However, in Johnny’s own words, “a quitter never wins”, and thus he sought to

revitalise his career by teaming up with another R&B artiste who had fallen out of
favour - Larry Williams, whose hits such as ‘Bony Moronie’ and ‘Short Fat Fanny’
were well behind him. Their future recordings ensured that they would no longer
be thought of as ‘yesterday’s men’, but prior to that Johnny self funded an LP of jazz

standards, which he sold to Chess, and released a handful of singles on independent
labels such as Magnum and Highland. Although they made little impression at the
time, the music confirmed that Johnny could keep up with the times - indeed, the

Magnum single ‘Big Bad Wolf’ eventually became a favourite on the UK Northern
Soul scene.