The Best of the Funk Years [Remaster]

Performer: Johnny "Guitar" Watson
Producer: Jeff Palo; Virginia Watson (Compilation); Virginia "Ginny G" Watson (Compilation); Shawn Amos (Compilation)
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Audio Remasterer: Keith Blake. Liner Note Author: Virginia "Ginny G" Watson. Authors: David Ritz; Johnny "Guitar" Watson. This best of collects a variety of vintage mid-1970s wide-lapel funk from the remarkably enduring career of Johnny "Guitar Watson," who first appeared on the R&B charts in the early '50s and was performing right up to his death in 1996. The jazzy hit "That Thing," with its Crusaders-type arrangement, and his classic "A Real Mother For Ya" are the obvious highlights, but the slow-burning "Funk Beyond the Call of Duty" and the humorous monologue of "Telephone Bill" are also minor gems--and you've got to love a guy who can call a slick, sophisticated slice of silk-sheet R&B "I Want to Ta-Ta You Baby."

An influence on everyone from Frank Zappa (who helped revive his career) to Jimi Hendrix, Johnny "Guitar" Watson was one of the most distinctive West Coast blues guitarists. He marked himself as a unique stylist early on with his reverb-laced 1953 single "Space Guitar," and is widely known for his hit "Gangster of Love." In the '70s, Watson reinvented himself as an R&B/funk artist, shockingly scoring more hits than he had in the previous decades as a bluesman. Later on, Watson's songs were a sample source for West Coast gangsta rappers. The relentlessly active performer died in 1996 while on tour in Japan.

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