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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.
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