Lazy Lester
"Blues Stop Knockin'"
Antone's Records TMG-ANT 0051

One of Chicago's most renowned blues harmonica players suggested to me several years ago that "Lazy Lester(Leslie Johnson)" earned his moniker by being too lazy to learn how to set up his amplifier. By Chicago's highly electric, distortion-intensive standards, Lazy Lester's tone is unacceptable. He commits the unpardonable sin of sounding like he's playing &Mac183; harmonica, and in Chicago blues, this simply won't do.

There is, however, a world of blues outside of Chicago. Lazy Lester hails from a part of that blues world called "Louisiana," as do I, and in that part of the blues world, Lazy Lester is a king.

He is the surviving heir to a throne once occupied by Jimmy Reed and Slim Harpo and, like them, he plays strong rhythm guitar as well as harmonica. This may account for the similarity in these three players' harp styles.

On to Blues Stop Knockin', Lester's latest on the resurrected Antone's label. It is as strong, as catchy, as infectiously danceable and as much fun as anything this great bluesman, or Jimmy Reed or Slim Harpo ever released. I have played these twelve songs for eight longtime blues musicians and fans at my house, and all have had to start moving along with the music.

That's what this record is about.

Arthur "LoveWhip" Shuey