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what I needed on the spot. So although it was a pre-planned concept you could say
it was a spontaneous recording, the finished tracks happened right there in the studio”.

The result was the 1976 album “Ain’t That A Bitch”, which showed that Johnny ‘Guitar’
Watson, aged 41, was bang on the soul-funk scene. Both it, and the singles ‘I Need It’
and ‘Superman Lover’ from the album, charted, giving Johnny his biggest successes

to date (despite the fact that the album title did not go down too well in some
quarters!). Off the back of that, a UK tour was arranged for later in the year - his first
since that with Larry Williams. At a press reception prior to the tour a tape was played
of some of his 50s and 60s recordings, during which he was asked which of them had

made him the most money. His reply was to grin and say, “made me money? Nope -
you haven’t played one yet”!

His follow-up album was “A Real Mother For Ya” - another risky title, but he gave it a

humorous twist by flying his Mother to London, and getting her to pose, apparently
pushing him in a ‘pram’ in Hyde Park!
It was another hit for him, as was the

single ‘Lover Jones’, taken from the
album.

“As A ‘Real Mother” hit we went gold on

“Ain’t That A Bitch”, we got Grammy
nominations, even a nomination for the
“Mother” album cover. Man, that was
one of the most wonderful periods of

my whole career”. On the DJM albums
Johnny played guitar, keyboards and
bass.

Over the next few years Johnny
released a further 5 albums on the DJM
label, and their success kept him

working solidly for the rest of his life -
including playing on four Frank Zappa albums!

So many bands and artistes who had shaped the 1960s did not survive the 70s, but

Johnny ‘Guitar’ Watson, somewhat of a relic from the 50s, managed not only to do so,
but to become more popular than ever. His funky soul DJM albums, underpinned by
humorous songs (eg. ‘You Can Stay, But The Noise Must Go’) and blues-tinged but
thoroughly modern guitar playing, reflect a man at ease with his music and unworried

by the fact that most of the opposition was much younger than him.

In the 80s and 90s he toured extensively in the USA, Europe and Japan, and it was
here that, in Yokohama, on 17 May 1996, he collapsed on stage, and died of a heart

attack at the age of 61.