I'm Rodney Dezmund Part III

I'm Rodney Dezmund.  Johnny "Guitar" Watson was a preacher, pimp, drug abuser, and above all a pioneering Texas blues, jazz, and funk guitarist who was a major influence on Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart, Jimi Hendrix, and Steve Miller among others.  He was the original "Gangster Of Love".  As a matter of fact, I've heard that Johnny's classic "Three Hours Past Midnight" was the biggest influence on Zappa to pick up a guitar and start playing.  In addition to his blues/rock/r&b cuts of the 50's and 60's, Mr. Watson released a series of funk albums in the 1970's and had some pretty big hits with songs such as "A Real Mutha For Ya" and "Superman Lover".  Some of these albums were dismissed by the blues community as hokey pop records, and he even dipped his toes into a little disco for a minute towards the end of the decade.  Personally, I think some of the cuts from the funk albums are just as classic as his earlier material and have stood the test of time.  I'm not too big on the disco stuff, but funk cuts like "Superman Lover" make me wanna fly and smooth jams such as "I Wanna Ta Ta You Baby" make me want to squeeze on some titties. 
Anyways, I'm here to talk to you about his 1981 album, Johnny Guitar Watson And The Family Clone.  I always avoided picking up any of the late 70's and early 80's albums because I had just assumed that they were filled with disco and post-disco 80's synth nonsense and although there is a bit of that from this period, man, was I wrong about this one.  This is one of the most unique sounding R&B records from the 1980's I have ever heard.  These are completely spaced out down and dirty weirdo funk jams.  And Mr. Watson plays all of the instruments himself (there is a credit on the album given to an additional drummer, but I read an interview with that drummer and he denies involvement here).  There are a lot of places here that remind me of Shuggie Otis and Sly Stone (whom which the album's title is an obvious nod to).  There's even a spot or two with a little Stevie vibe.  Blues purists will want to steer clear of this one and  I'm not saying that Family Clone is a masterpiece or anything, but if you like your funk on the adventurous side, I highly reccomend this release.  Mr. Watson is not playing it safe here.

Johnny "Guitar" Watson died on stage in the middle of a performance in Japan on May 16th, 1996.  I heard that the song he was performing was "Superman Lover", but that could just be rumour.  I hope it was though.