I met Johnny Dyer long enough ago I cant remember when or where it was but Im guessing it was around the time of this LP that originally came out on Murray Brothers that Rod Piazza produced. This album shows Johnnys harp playing & singing at its height. His cover of LWs Aw Baby lets you know Johnny did his homework getting Walters sound down! This album also features Bob Newham playing some great Fred Below inspired drums! Dyer was one of those guys you couldnt help but dig , with a constant smile on his face & an encouraging word for anybody. We became friends immeadiatly. when he started a band with Rick Holmstrom i booked thier first West Coast/Canadian tour. i remember going to a gig in Hollywood to hear them play( me, Rusty Zinn, Jr Watson & Ronnie James went together on a night off) and us flipping out over how good Dyer & Holmstrom sounded!! I started hiring Dyer on the third Harp Blowout in 1993 & did countless gigs with him after that. In 2002 we did the East Meets West Meltdown on Mountaintop Records that Johnny recorded 4 tunes on & we recorded a cool version of Muddys Blow Wind Blow. After that Johnny insisted we do a Muddy Tribute CD ( called Rollin Fork Revisted, after Muddy & Dyers mutual birthplace), so i talked Charles Putris( MountainTop) into recording it. We got Francis Clay( Muddy, Cotton drummer) to play, Paul Oscher( Muddys first white musician, though he sure dont sound it)on guitar & harp, my band w/Charles Wheal, Marty Dodson, Steve Wolf plus Rusty Zinn & Bob Robert Welsh. Paul almost retired Clay for good after insisting on take after take but everybody played killer on this outing & we had Johnny happy as Ive seen him. After that cd came out id get calls every week with Johnny playing me the tracks over the phone, telling me what a great record we made. We were all stoked!! Off and on Johnny began having problems with his sinuses which sidelined some of his gigs after he joined the Mannish Boys but he did get to travel the world more often. Unfortunaly ,due to a career as a truck driver, Johnny suffered a real bad back with fused spinal cord problems, which caused undue suffering- making touring harder & harder. Johnny always kept a smile on his face thru it all. Last time I talked to Dyer this year, he was excited about a project he did w/Jr. Watson, Barath & Fred Kaplan & played me some of it on the phone. Im really gonna miss this guy. I loved the man & played some of the funest gigs of my life with him- King Biscuit in 2002( where Johnny got to the Memphis airport & couldnt find the driver to the gig & got there on the last note- we played a nighttime set afterwards in the tent that was off the hook) my Muddy Tribute in 2010, Brussels Blues Fest w/the Electric Kings in 1996 & many more! Well all miss you.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Nov 2014 17:33:43 +0000
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