Baltimore Blues Society

Playing regularly at Terra Blues in New York City, Larry Johnson is
recognized as a singer and musician who is well versed in the delicacies and
honesty of traditional blues. One need only listen to this 1970 reissue to
understand why. He is a man who has the talent, the know-how and the
experience to easily back his tales of hardship and worry. His reflective
vocal choruses together with a compatible full-bodied rhythmic guitar shows
a broad understanding of his craft and musical heritage.

His song selections (many his own) also illustrate his true feeling for the
history of black music, for a time when stories told were the only history
of his people. People who came before and opened doors and forced those who
didn't know, to know, to understand, to appreciate.

It is important to note that his knowledge of the musical sound is as
important as his words. His use of blues imagery utilizing traditional forms
is well illustrated on this recording. Forms that have been drawn together
through the years to form his own personal statement.

For example, "Four Women Blues" has lonely sounds that are one melodic step
above a field holler. "Up North Blues" has the distant image of an old steam
whistle implying escape or movement. Talking blues such as "The Beat From
Rampart Street" and "Cookbook" is an extremely old form in which both singer
and guitar speak to one another just as understanding equal partners should.

Larry Johnson faces his cultural history squarely in "Pick Poor Robin
Clean," a tale of deceit. When Johnson identifies himself in the song as a
'hustling coon" he is to be given credit for recognizing past indignities
and placing them in their proper context.

Johnson also obviously understands what it means to be "Ragged & Dirty" and
conveys a vocal image of country, poverty, desolation and hopelessness while
his guitar offers hope in a call & response voice with precision and
finger-picking clarity.

The gem of this album, in my opinion, is "Lordy, Good Lord", one of the
singers' own great songs. His presentation has a fascinating guitar riff
blending perfectly with a sad and deeply felt vocal that clearly illustrates
three important aspects of this talented artist: His voice, his fingering
and his heart.

Larry Johnson's respect for the past is a tribute to the present. This is
beautiful music to be cherished.

Sheldon Harris (1996)

author of Blues Who's Who