Johnny "Guitar" Watson (1935-1996) was an influential U.S. blues, soul, and funk musician from the 1950s to the 1990s. Probably his biggest hit, "A Real Mother for Ya", was a million-seller, with which Steve Miller later made a lot of money. This concert revives the great music of Watson and remembers the gems that this musician gave us. This project is a Groove Now exclusive that can only be seen at the Groove Now Blues Weeks Basel 2025.
After Watson left the classic blues behind and devoted himself increasingly to funk, he became a global star and can justifiably be called the father of funk. Despite this change of direction, most great blues musicians hold Watson in the highest esteem. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame and has lost none of his significance for music to this day.
As a teenager, Watson performed in Texas with up-and-coming blues musicians; he released several albums and landed a hit in Europe in 1967 with the Joe Zawinul composition “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy.” In the early 1970s, Watson radically changed his style and image and, inspired by the self-confident appearance of black soul stars such as Marvon Gaye and Curtis Mayfield, turned to a much more soul-heavy rhythm & blues. He added rock'n'roll, Motown soul, and funk to the blues and distilled an independent West Coast R&B from it over the years. Watson's trademarks were now bass-heavy hooks, driving snare drums, and the indispensable and highly recognizable blues guitar solos, and, above all, his broad vocal style, in which he was sometimes able to present socially critical lyrics in a humorous and self-ironic way. Despite stylistic concessions, Watson always remained firmly rooted in the blues. Watson had a considerable influence on other greats of rock and pop music. His anticipation of playing the guitar by mouth, which Jimi Hendrix perfected a decade later to become his trademark, is legendary.
Watson died of heart failure on stage during a tour of Japan in May 1996 at age 61. Since then, his music has lived on and has lost none of its relevance and significance even after more than 25 years. At this concert, his music will be presented by blues greats Curtis Salgado, Alabama Mike, and the Greaseland All-Stars around Kid Andersen, as well as rising star Sean "Mack" McDonald.
Tickets are CHF 75.

Website
groovenow.ch/de/programm?id=FU6M95Q4

Where
Antikenmuseum Basel
St. Alban-Graben 5
4010 Basel

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