{{Short description|American R&B, funk and soul guitarist (1935–1996)}} {{Redirect|Johnny Watson}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2015}} {{Infobox musical artist | background = solo_singer | birth_name = John Watson Jr. | name = Johnny "Guitar" Watson | image = Johnny_Guitar_Watson.jpg | caption = Watson in 1976 | birth_date = {{birth date|1935|2|3|mf=y}} | birth_place = Houston, Texas, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1996|5|17|1935|2|3|mf=y}} | death_place = Yokohama, Japan | alias = Young John Watson<br/>Johnny Watson | genre = {{Flatlist| * Rhythm and blues<ref name=AP>{{cite web |url= https://apnews.com/article/9c607302a63a6537a2f84cd3c6fd87ae |title=Rhythm and Blues Musician Johnny 'Guitar' Watson Dies In Japan |date=May 17, 1996|publisher=Associated Press |access-date=August 30, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220715011012/https://apnews.com/article/9c607302a63a6537a2f84cd3c6fd87ae|archive-date=July 15, 2022}}</ref><ref name=VanGelder>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/05/19/nyregion/johnny-guitar-watson-musical-pioneer-dies-at-61.html |title=Johnny (Guitar) Watson, Musical Pioneer, Dies at 61 |last=Van Gelder |first=Lawrence|author-link=Lawrence Van Gelder |date=May 19, 1996 |work=The New York Times |access-date=August 30, 2021}}</ref> * funk * soul }} | instrument = {{Flatlist| *Guitar *vocals }} | label = {{Flatlist| *Federal *RPM *Keen *Class *Kent *Arvee *Goth *Escort *King *Highland *Jowat *Okeh *Fantasy *DJM *A&M *Valley Vue *Wilma }} | years_active = 1952–1996 }}
'''John Watson Jr.''' (February 3, 1935 – May 17, 1996),<ref name="Larkin">{{cite book|title=The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music|editor-last=Larkin|editor-first=Colin|editor-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|publisher=Virgin Books|date=1997|edition=Concise|isbn=1-85227-745-9|page=1236/7}}</ref> often known professionally as '''Johnny "Guitar" Watson''', was an American musician. A flamboyant showman and electric guitarist in the style of T-Bone Walker, his recording career spanned 40 years, and encompassed rhythm and blues, funk and soul music.
Watson recorded throughout the 1950s and 1960s with some success. His 1954 instrumental single "Space Guitar" was the first of his recordings to showcase his electric guitar playing. His creative self-reinvention in the 1970s, with funk overtones, saw Watson have hits with "Ain't That a Bitch" and "Superman Lover". His highest-charting single was 1977's "A Real Mother for Ya".
==Early life== Watson was born in Houston, Texas. His father John Sr. was a pianist, and taught his son the instrument.<ref name="Larkin"/> But young Watson was immediately attracted to the sound of the guitar, in particular the electric guitar as played by T-Bone Walker and Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown.<ref name="Larkin"/>
His grandfather, a preacher, was also musical. "My grandfather used to sing while he'd play guitar in church, man," Watson reflected many years later. When Johnny was 11, his grandfather offered to give him a guitar if, and only if, the boy did not play any of the "devil's music".<ref name="Larkin"/> His parents separated in 1950, when he was 15. His mother moved to Los Angeles, and took Watson with her.<ref name="gill">{{Cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/the-life-and-death-of-a-guitarslinger-1349414.html |last=Gill |first=Andy |title=The life and death of a guitar-slinger |date=May 26, 1996|website=The Independent |access-date=April 26, 2024}}</ref>
==Early career== In his new city, Watson won several local talent shows. This led to his employment, while still a teenager, with jump blues-style bands such as Chuck Higgins's Mellotones and Amos Milburn.<ref name="Larkin"/> He worked as a vocalist, pianist, and guitarist.<ref name="Larkin"/> He quickly made a name for himself in the African-American juke joints of the West Coast, where he first recorded for Federal Records in 1952.<ref name="whitburnr&b"/> He was billed as '''Young John Watson''' until 1954.<ref name="Larkin"/> That year, he saw the Joan Crawford film ''Johnny Guitar'', and a new stage name was born.
On June 7, 1953, Shorty Rogers included Watson as part of his Orchestra to perform at the ninth Cavalcade of Jazz concert, held at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles, California, which was produced by Leon Hefflin, Sr. Also featured that day were Roy Brown and his Orchestra, Don Tosti and His Mexican Jazzmen, Earl Bostic, Nat King Cole, and Louis Armstrong and his All Stars with Velma Middleton.<ref>"More Big Names in Cavalcade" Article, ''Los Angeles Sentinel'', May 21, 1953</ref><ref>"Jazz Cavalcade will be greatest Sunday, June 7th", ''California Eagle'', May 21, 1953</ref>
Watson affected a swaggering, yet humorous personality, indulging a taste for flashy clothes and wild showmanship on stage.<ref name="Larkin"/> His "attacking" style of playing, without a pick, resulted in him often needing to change the strings on his guitar once or twice a show, because he "stressified on them" so much, as he put it.<ref name=VanGelder/> Watson's 1954 instrumental single "Space Guitar" was his first recording to show his "sheer off-the-wall madness" on electric guitar, although it did not chart.<ref> {{Cite book | last = Forte | first = Dan | chapter = The Gnarly Guitar Hall of Fame | editor-last1 = Aldrich | editor-first1 = Margret | editor-last2 = Dregni | editor-first2 = Michael | year = 2003 | title = This Old Guitar | location = Stillwater, Minnesota | publisher = Voyageur Press | isbn = 0-89658-631-6 | page = 98 }}</ref> According to music historian Larry Birnbaum, for "Space Guitar" he "came into his own as a guitarist".<ref>{{Cite book | last = Birnbaum | first = Larry | title = Before Elvis: The Prehistory of Rock 'n' Roll | year = 2013 | location = Lanham, Maryland | publisher = Scarecrow Press | isbn = 978-0-8108-8629-2 |page=277}}</ref> Watson would later influence a subsequent generation of guitarists. His song "Gangster of Love" was first released on Keen Records in 1957. It did not appear in the charts at the time, but was later re-recorded and became a hit in 1978, becoming Watson's "most famous song".<ref name="best"> {{Cite AV media notes | last = Ritz | first = David | author-link = David Ritz | year = 1999 | title = The Very Best of Johnny "Guitar" Watson | type = Compilation booklet | others = Johnny "Guitar" Watson | location = Los Angeles | publisher = Rhino Entertainment | id = R2 75702 | page = 5 }}</ref>
He toured and recorded with his friend Larry Williams, as well as Little Richard, Don and Dewey, the Olympics, Johnny Otis and, in the mid-1970s with David Axelrod.<ref name="Larkin"/> In 1975 he was a guest performer on two tracks (flambe vocals on the out-choruses of "San Ber'dino" and "Andy") on the Frank Zappa album, ''One Size Fits All''. He also played with Herb Alpert and George Duke. But as the popularity of blues declined and the era of soul music dawned in the 1960s, Watson transformed himself from southern blues singer with pompadour into urban soul singer in a pimp hat. His new style was emphatic – wearing gold teeth, broad-brimmed hats, flashy suits, fashionable outsized sunglasses and ostentatious jewelry.
He modified his music accordingly. His albums ''Ain't That a Bitch''<ref name="Larkin"/> (included funk blues singles "Superman Lover" and "I Need It") and ''A Real Mother For Ya'' (1977) fused funk and blues. Reviewing ''A Real Mother for Ya'', Robert Christgau wrote in ''Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies'' (1981): "Watson has been perfecting his own brand of easy-listening funk for years, and this time he's finally gone into the studio with his guitar Freddie and his drummer Emry and a bunch of electric keyboards and come up with a whole album of good stuff. The riff-based tracks go on too long but go down easy and the lyrics have an edge. Granted, Watson can't match George Benson's chops, but this is dance music, chops would just get in the way. And I prefer his Lou-Rawls-without-pipes to Benson's Stevie-Wonder-ditto".<ref name="CG">{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|year=1981|title=Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies|publisher=Ticknor & Fields|isbn=089919026X|chapter=Consumer Guide '70s: W|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=W&bk=70|access-date=March 22, 2019}}</ref> The title track, "A Real Mother for Ya", released in 1977, was Watson's highest-charting single.<ref name="Music">{{cite book | first=Paul | last=Du Noyer | year=2003 | title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music | edition=1st | publisher=Flame Tree Publishing | location=Fulham, London | isbn=1-904041-96-5 | page=164}}</ref>
==Later career== thumb|right|240px|Watson in 1977 Watson's album ''Love Jones'' was released in 1980.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/love-jones-mw0000124321|title=Love Jones - Johnny "Guitar" Watson | Album |website=AllMusic|access-date=September 3, 2024}}</ref> The death of his friend Larry Williams by gunshot in 1980 and other personal setbacks, led to Watson briefly withdrawing from the spotlight in the 1980s. "I got caught up with the wrong people doing the wrong things", he was quoted as saying by ''The New York Times''.<ref name=VanGelder/>
The release of his album ''Bow Wow'' in 1994<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/bow-wow-mw0000123569|title=Bow Wow - Johnny "Guitar" Watson | Album |website=AllMusic|access-date=September 3, 2024}}</ref> brought Watson more visibility and chart success than he had ever known. The album received a Grammy Award nomination.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.grammy.com/artists/johnny-guitar-watson/14257|title=Johnny "Guitar" Watson|website=Grammy.com|access-date=September 3, 2024}}</ref> In a 1994 interview with David Ritz for liner notes to ''The Funk Anthology'', Watson was asked if his 1980 song "Telephone Bill" anticipated rap music. "Anticipated?" Watson replied. "I damn well invented it!{{nbsp}}... And I wasn't the only one. Talking rhyming lyrics to a groove is something you'd hear in the clubs everywhere from Macon to Memphis. Man, talking has always been the name of the game. When I sing, I'm talking in melody. When I play, I'm talking with my guitar. I may be talking trash, baby, but I'm talking".<ref>''The Funk Anthology'', liner notes</ref>
In 1995, he was given a Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in a presentation and performance ceremony at the Hollywood Palladium. In February 1995, Watson was interviewed by Tomcat Mahoney for his Brooklyn, New York-based blues radio show ''The Other Half''. Watson discussed at length his influences and those he had influenced, referencing Guitar Slim, Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa and Stevie Ray Vaughan. He made a special guest appearance on Bo Diddley's 1996 and final studio album, ''A Man Amongst Men'', playing vocoder on the track "I Can't Stand It" and singing on the track "Bo Diddley Is Crazy".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/a-man-amongst-men-mw0000185619|title=A Man Amongst Men - Bo Diddley | Album |website=AllMusic}}</ref>
"Johnny was always aware of what was going on around him", recalled Susan Maier Watson (later to become his wife) in an interview printed in the liner notes to the album ''The Very Best of Johnny 'Guitar' Watson'' (1999). "He was proud that he could change with the times and not get stuck in the past".<ref name="best"/>
==Death== Watson died of a heart attack while on tour on May 17, 1996, collapsing on stage at the Ocean Boulevard Blues Cafe in Yokohama, Japan.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1996/05/20/johnny-guitar-watson-dies-at-61/6b199eeb-4921-45a5-a444-257c9a872c17/|title=JOHNNY GUITAR' WATSON DIES AT 61|newspaper=Washington Post|date=May 19, 1996 |url-access=subscription |access-date=February 16, 2025}}</ref> At around 7:40, when performing the first verse of "Superman Lover", his first song of the night, he made a gesture as if pushing the microphone stand towards the audience, with his hand on his chest and fell down on his back. He was pronounced dead, at a nearby hospital, less than two hours later. Two days afterward one of Watson's bandmates told the audience, "Johnny once said that if he were to die, he wanted to die on stage". He was 61.<ref name="Gill">{{cite news|first=Andy |last=Gill |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/the-life-and-death-of-a-guitarslinger-1349414.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220614/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/the-life-and-death-of-a-guitarslinger-1349414.html |archive-date=June 14, 2022 |url-status=live |title=The life and death of a guitar-slinger |newspaper=The Independent |access-date=October 10, 2015}}</ref> Watson left behind two children.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-05-21-me-6616-story.html|title=Johnny Watson, Pioneering R&B Guitarist, Dies|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=May 21, 1996}}</ref> His remains were brought home for interment at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.americanbluesscene.com/2017/02/10-things-didnt-know-johnny-guitar-watson/ | title=10 Things You Didn't Know About Johnny "Guitar" Watson|website=Americanbluesscene.com | date=February 2, 2017 }}</ref> and buried in the Great Mausoleum, Sanctuary of Enduring Honor, Holly Terrace entrance.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rockandrollroadmap.com/places/burial-sites/los-angeles-area-burial-sites/forest-lawn-glendale-buried-here-michael-jackson-sam-cooke/|title=Buried Here - Michael Jackson, Sam Cooke And Terry Kath|date=December 19, 2015|website=Rockandrollroadmap.com|access-date=September 3, 2024}}</ref> Since 2022 his son De Jon has been employed with the American professional baseball team the Washington Nationals.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mlb.com/news/de-jon-watson-son-of-blues-legend-johnny-watson|title=Nats' player dev. director son of blues legend|website=MLB|date=January 28, 2022}}</ref>
==Influence== Watson stated: "I used to play the guitar standing on my hands, I had a 150 foot cord and I could get on top of the auditorium - those things Jimi Hendrix was doing, I ''started'' that shit"!<ref name="Larkin"/> [[File:Johnny Guitar Watson 1987.jpg|thumb|left|Watson at Bielefeld, Germany, 1987]] Frank Zappa stated that "Watson's 1956 song 'Three Hours Past Midnight' inspired me to become a guitarist".<ref name="johnny"/> Watson contributed to Zappa's albums ''One Size Fits All'' (1975),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/one-size-fits-all-mw0000202351|title=One Size Fits All - Frank Zappa, The Mothers of Invention|website=AllMusic}}</ref> ''Them or Us'' (1984),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/them-or-us-mw0000196441|title=Them or Us - Frank Zappa|website=AllMusic}}</ref> ''Thing-Fish'' (1984)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/thing-fish-mw0000192447|title=Thing-Fish - Frank Zappa |website=AllMusic}}</ref> and ''Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention'' (1985).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/frank-zappa-meets-the-mothers-of-prevention-mw0000651016|title=Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention - Frank Zappa|website=AllMusic}}</ref> In an August 1979 issue of ''Musician'' magazine Zappa said, "To me, it seems incomprehensible that a person could listen to 'Three Hours Past Midnight' by Johnny Guitar Watson and not be moved to get violent... I mean, that's really saying something. Same with the guitar solo on ‘Story Of My Life’ by Guitar Slim. I mean, that stuff used to make me violent. I'd just want to get an icepick and go out and work over the neighborhood!"<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vintageguitar.com/9838/frank-zappa/|title=Frank Zappa |website=Vintageguitar.com|first=Dan|last=Forte|date=July 20, 2012}}</ref>
Steve Miller recorded Watson's "Gangster of Love" on his 1968 album ''Sailor''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/sailor-mw0000689837|title=Sailor - Steve Miller Band | Album|website=AllMusic|access-date=May 9, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.umusicpub.com/nashville/Digital-Music-Library/song/251142/steve-miller-band-gangster-of-love-johnny-guitar-watson-cover|title=Gangster Of Love (Johnny Guitar Watson Cover) By Steve Miller Band|website=Umusicpub.com|access-date=May 9, 2024}}</ref> Miller then made a reference to his song title in his 1969 song "Space Cowboy" ("Don't you know that I'm a gangster of love?") from his 1969 album, ''Brave New World''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/brave-new-world-mw0000198787|title=Brave New World - Steve Miller, Steve Miller B...|website=AllMusic|access-date=May 9, 2024}}</ref> Miller's 1973 hit song "The Joker" included the lyric "Some call me the gangster of love".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://americansongwriter.com/the-meaning-behind-space-cowboy-the-steve-miller-band-classic-miller-doesnt-much-care-for/|title=The Meaning Behind "Space Cowboy," the Steve Miller Band Classic Steve Miller Doesn't Much Care For|first=Jim|last=Beviglia|date=October 31, 2023|website=American Songwriter}}</ref> Miller had also borrowed the sobriquet for his own "The Gangster Is Back", on his 1971 album ''Rock Love''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/rock-love-mw0000841550|title=Rock Love - Steve Miller Band | Album|website=AllMusic|access-date=May 9, 2024}}</ref>
Jimmie Vaughan, brother of Stevie Ray Vaughan, is quoted as saying: "When my brother Stevie and I were growing up in Dallas, we idolized very few guitarists. We were highly selective and highly critical. Johnny 'Guitar' Watson was at the top of the list, along with Freddie, Albert and B. B. King”. Watson influenced Jimi Hendrix, Sly Stone, Etta James, and Stevie Ray Vaughan.<ref name="johnny"/>
Bobby Womack said: "Music-wise, he (Watson) was the most dangerous gunslinger out there, even when others made a lot of noise in the charts{{snd}}I'm thinking of Sly Stone or George Clinton".<ref name="johnny"/>
Etta James stated, in an interview at the 2006 Rochester International Jazz Festival: "Johnny 'Guitar' Watson{{nbsp}}... Just one of my favorite singers of all time. I first met him when we were both on the road with Johnny Otis in the '50s, when I was a teenager. We traveled the country in a car together so I would hear him sing every night. His singing style was the one I took on when I was 17 – people used to call me the female Johnny 'Guitar' Watson and him the male Etta James{{nbsp}}... He knew what the blues was all about".<ref name="johnny">{{Cite web|url=https://johnnyguitarwatson.com/about-johnny|title=About Johnny|website=Johnnyguitarwatson}}</ref> James is also quoted as saying: "I got everything from Johnny{{nbsp}}... He was my main model{{nbsp}}... My whole ballad style comes from my imitating Johnny's style... He was the baddest and the best{{nbsp}}... Johnny Guitar Watson was not just a guitarist: the man was a master musician. He could call out charts; he could write a beautiful melody or a nasty groove at the drop of a hat; he could lay on the harmonies and he could come up with a whole sound".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/10/3/1889374/-A-True-American-Original-Johnny-Guitar-Watson|title=A True American Original, Johnny 'Guitar' Watson|author=Little Bozo|date=October 4, 2019|website=Daily Kos}}</ref>
Interviewed after his death, blues producer Mike Vernon said of Watson, a friend and colleague: "In the blues world, there are very, very few innovative talents of the size of a Johnny 'Guitar' Watson... John has constantly experimented, he's tried to stay with the times, and created a lot of fantastic music which the anoraks of the blues world tend to pooh-pooh. A talent like John's is very hard to keep in check".<ref name="gill"/>
==Partial discography== ===Albums=== Albums rated by ''All Music Guide to the Blues'' (excluding bootlegs):<ref> {{Cite encyclopedia | last = Dahl | first = Bill | year = 1996 | title = Johnny "Guitar" Watson | editor-last = Erlewine | editor-first = Michael | editor-link = Michael Erlewine | editor-last2 = Bogdanov | editor-first2 = Vladimir | editor-link2 = Vladimir Bogdanov (editor) | editor-last3 = Woodstra | editor-first3 = Chris | editor-last4 = Koda | editor-first4 = Cub | editor-link4 = Cub Koda | encyclopedia = All Music Guide to the Blues | location = San Francisco | publisher = Miller Freeman Books | isbn = 0-87930-424-3 | pages = 277–278 }}</ref> {{div col}} * 1963 ''Johnny Guitar Watson'' (King 857) * 1965 ''The Blues Soul of Johnny Guitar Watson'' (Chess 1490) * 1967 ''Bad'' (OKeh 14118) * 1973 ''Listen'' (Fantasy 9437) * 1975 ''I Don't Want to Be Alone, Stranger'' (Fantasy 9484) * 1976 ''Ain't That a Bitch'' (DJM 3) * 1977 ''A Real Mother for Ya'' (DJM 7) * 1977 ''Funk Beyond the Call of Duty'' (DJM 714) * 1978 ''Giant'' (DJM 19) * 1980 ''Love Jones'' (DJM 31) * 1981 ''And the Family Clone'' (DJM 23) * 1981 ''That's What Time It Is'' (A&M 4880) * 1981 ''The Very Best of Johnny "Guitar" Watson'' (DJM 45) * 1984 ''Strike on Computers'' (Valley Vue) * 1986 ''3 Hours Past Midnight'' (Flair, UPC: 07777 86233 28) (compilation) * 1992 ''Gonna Hit That Highway: The Complete RPM Recordings'' (P-Vine 3026/7) * 1994 ''Bow Wow'' (Wilma) * 1999 ''Blues Masters: The Very Best of Johnny "Guitar" Watson'' (Rhino R2-75702) * 2002 ''The Essential Johnny "Guitar" Watson'' (Fuel 2000, UPC: 03020 61230 29) * 2004 ''Space Guitar'' (Varèse Sarabande, UPC: 03020 66611 25) {{div col end}}
===Charting singles=== <ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">{{cite book | first=David | last=Roberts | year=2006 | title=British Hit Singles & Albums | edition=19th | publisher=Guinness World Records Limited | location=London | isbn=1-904994-10-5 | page=593}}</ref> {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" |- ! rowspan="2"| Year ! rowspan="2"| Single ! rowspan="2"| US label<br>& no. ! colspan="3"| Chart Positions |- style="font-size:small;" ! style="width:40px;"| US Pop<ref>{{cite book|first=Joel|last=Whitburn|year=2003|title=Top Pop Singles 1955–2002|edition=1st|publisher=Record Research|location=Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin|isbn=0-89820-155-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstop00whitbur/page/756 756]|url=https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstop00whitbur/page/756}}</ref> ! style="width:40px;"| US<br>R&B<ref name="whitburnr&b">{{cite book |title=Top R&B Singles: 1942–1995 |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=1996 |publisher=Record Research Inc. |location=Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin |isbn=0-89820-115-2 |page=[https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstopr00whit/page/472 472] |url=https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstopr00whit/page/472 }}</ref> ! style="width:40px;"| UK<ref name="betts">{{cite book| first= Graham| last= Betts| year=2004| title= Complete UK Hit Singles 1952–2004| edition= 1st|publisher= Collins| location= London| isbn= 0-00-717931-6| page=835}}</ref> |- || 1955 | style="text-align:left;"| "Those Lonely, Lonely Nights" | style="text-align:left;"| RPM 436 | – | 10 | – |- || 1962 | style="text-align:left;"| "Cuttin' In"<ref>{{YouTube|AbCh0sN18BI|"Cuttin' In"}}</ref> | style="text-align:left;"| King 5579 | – | 6 | – |- || 1967 | style="text-align:left;"| "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy"<br><small>Larry Williams & Johnny Watson</small> | style="text-align:left;"| Okeh 7274 | 96 | 23 | – |- || 1968 | style="text-align:left;"| "Nobody"<br><small>Larry Williams & Johnny Watson with The Kaleidoscope</small> | style="text-align:left;"| Okeh 7300 | – | 40 | – |- || 1974 | style="text-align:left;"| "Like I'm Not Your Man" | style="text-align:left;"| Fantasy 721 | – | 67 | – |- | rowspan="2"| 1975 | style="text-align:left;"| "I Don't Want to Be a Lone Ranger" | style="text-align:left;"| Fantasy 739 | 99 | 28 | – |- | style="text-align:left;"| "It's Too Late" | style="text-align:left;"| Fantasy 752 | – | 76 | – |- | rowspan="2"| 1976 | style="text-align:left;"| "I Need It"<ref>{{YouTube|D3_RcehSS08|"I Need It"}}</ref> | style="text-align:left;"| DJM 1013 | 101 | 40 | 35 |- | style="text-align:left;"| "Superman Lover" | style="text-align:left;"| DJM 1019 | 101 | 19 | – |- | rowspan="2"| 1977 | style="text-align:left;"| "A Real Mother for Ya" | style="text-align:left;"| DJM 1024 | 41 | 5 | 44 |- | style="text-align:left;"| "Lover Jones" | style="text-align:left;"| DJM 1029 | – | 34 | – |- | rowspan="2"| 1978 | style="text-align:left;"| "Love That Will Not Die" | style="text-align:left;"| DJM 1034 | – | 59 | – |- | style="text-align:left;"| "Gangster of Love" | style="text-align:left;"| DJM 1101 | – | 32 | – |- || 1979 | style="text-align:left;"| "What the Hell Is This?" | style="text-align:left;"| DJM 1106 | – | 83 | – |- | rowspan="2"| 1980 | style="text-align:left;"| "Love Jones" | style="text-align:left;"| DJM 1304 | – | 28 | – |- | style="text-align:left;"| "Telephone Bill" | style="text-align:left;"| DJM 1305 | – | 45 | – |- || 1982 | style="text-align:left;"| "The Planet Funk" | style="text-align:left;"| A&M 2383 | – | 62 | – |- || 1984 | style="text-align:left;"| "Strike on Computers" | style="text-align:left;"| Valley Vue 769 | – | 77 | – |- || 1994 | style="text-align:left;"| "Bow Wow" | style="text-align:left;"| Wilma 72515 | – | 89 | – |- || 1995 | style="text-align:left;"| "Hook Me Up" | style="text-align:left;"| Wilma 72533 | – | 48 | – |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== * {{Cite AV media notes |last=Ritz |first=David |author-link=David Ritz |year=1999 |title=The Very Best of Johnny "Guitar" Watson |type=Compilation booklet |others=Johnny "Guitar" Watson |location=Los Angeles |publisher=Rhino Entertainment |id=R2 75702}}
==External links== {{commons category|Johnny "Guitar" Watson}} * [http://www.soulfulkindamusic.net/jgwatson.htm Discography] at Soulful Kinda Music. * {{Find a Grave|4380}} * [https://archive.org/details/TheFantasticJohnnyGuitarWatson27-x-1993 Johnny Guitar Watson Audio Interview] at the Internet Archive. * [https://www.45cat.com/artist/johnny-guitar-watson-277954 Johnny "Guitar" Watson] at 45cat.com * {{Discogs artist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Johnny Guitar}} Category:1935 births Category:1996 deaths Category:20th-century American guitarists Category:20th-century American pianists Category:American blues guitarists Category:American blues pianists Category:American blues singers Category:American funk guitarists Category:American male guitarists Category:20th-century American male pianists Category:Bell Records artists Category:Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) Category:Class Records artists Category:Combo Records artists Category:DJM Records artists Category:Federal Records artists Category:American fingerstyle guitarists Category:Guitarists from Texas Category:Keen Records artists Category:Kent Records artists Category:King Records artists Category:Musicians from Houston Category:Musicians who died on stage Category:Northern soul musicians Category:Okeh Records artists Category:RPM Records (United States) artists Category:Texas blues musicians Category:West Coast blues musicians Category:African-American pianists Category:African-American guitarists Category:20th-century African-American male singers Category:20th-century American male singers Category:20th-century American singers