John Long
Born1950 (age 72–73)
St. Louis, Missouri, United States
GenresCountry blues[1]
Occupation(s)Singer, guitarist, harmonicist, songwriter
Instrument(s)Guitar, harmonica, vocals
Years active1970s–present
LabelsDelta Groove Productions
WebsiteOfficial website

John Long (born 1950), is an American country blues singer, fingerstyle guitarist, harmonica player and songwriter. He performs in a pre-war acoustic blues style, although his material is contemporary and mainly composed by Long and his elder brother. His mentor and inspiration was Homesick James.[1] In the mid-1970s, Muddy Waters stated that Long was "the best young country blues artist playing today."[2]

In 2017, Long was a nominee for a Blues Music Award in the 'Acoustic Album' category for his collection, Stand Your Ground.[3][4] He had won the same award for his 2006 album, Lost & Found.[5]

Life and career

He was born in St. Louis, Missouri, United States,[4] and was raised listening to his mother's collection of jazz and R&B record collection.[1] In his teenage years, Long spent time trying to master playing country blues on guitar.[1] He was particularly impressed by the recorded music of Jimmy Reed, Buster Brown, Muddy Waters, Lightnin' Hopkins, and Junior Parker.[4] In the early 1960s, he formed the Mystics with his brother Claude, and they played rock and roll and R&B, before realising that it was the early blues that most interested them.[1]

In the early 1970s, Long relocated to Chicago, Illinois, where he met Homesick James.[1] James became 'adoptive father', mentor and inspiration to Long.[5] In the middle part of that decade, Long was heard performing by Muddy Waters.[1] He stated that Long was "the best young country blues artist playing today."[2] Long continued to perform as time allowed, but did not record any material until 1999, when Long on Blues was issued on cassette by Bottleneck Records.[1] Eventually a demo tape of Long's work was sent to Delta Groove Productions, where he was later signed to the record label. Lost & Found was released by Delta Groove in 2006.[1] AllMusic commented on the record that Long "re-created the sound of a pre-war country blues player, right down to the little Tommy Johnson-like upward vocal swoops he takes at the end of phrases."[6] Long was effectively a 'newcomer' at the age of 59, with one commentator noting "his singing is eerie and haunting, sounding as close to a 1930s recording as any country blues player... While he sounds like the old masters, he performs exciting and original material."[7] Lost & Found won a Blues Music Award in the 'Acoustic Album' category.[5]

By this time Long was living in Springfield, Missouri.[5] Despite the acclaim of his work, Long did not record another album for a decade. In May 2016, Stand Your Ground was released by Delta Groove.[1] For instrumentation, Long added to his normal wooden resonator guitar, by also using a Washburn Montgomery archtop guitar, which he styled as "amplified acoustic."[5] Long wrote eight of the thirteen tracks on Stand Your Ground, and it was recorded in two days at Audiogrand in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.[8] The cover numbers included Homesick James's "Baby Please Set a Date," and Blind Willie McTell's "Climbing High Mountains."[5] In addition he recorded a version of Blind Willie Johnson's, "I Know His Blood Can Make Me Whole, " plus a slow tempo rendition of Thomas A. Dorsey's "Precious Lord, Take My Hand."[8] In 2017, Long was again a nominee for a Blues Music Award in the 'Acoustic Album' category.[3][4]

Discography

YearTitleRecord label
1999Long on BluesBottleneck Records
2006Lost & FoundDelta Groove Productions
2016Stand Your GroundDelta Groove Productions

[9]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Steve Leggett. "John Long | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 2017-04-28.
  2. 1 2 "Durango, Colorado". Durango Blues Train. Retrieved 2017-04-28.
  3. 1 2 "The Blues Foundation announces its 2017 Blues Music Awards nominees". Blues.org. 9 January 2017. Retrieved 2017-04-28.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "John Long, Delta Blues - Official Website". Johnlongblues.com. Retrieved 2017-04-28.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Cataliotti, Robert H. (2016-07-11). "John Long Stands Up For The Blues". No Depression. Retrieved 2017-04-28.
  6. ↑ Steve Leggett (2006-02-21). "Lost & Found - John Long | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2017-04-28.
  7. ↑ "John Long « The Country Blues". Thecountryblues.com. Retrieved 2017-04-28.
  8. 1 2 Bartholomew, Rex (2016-11-11). "John Long – Stand Your Ground | Album Review". Bluesblastmagazine.com. Retrieved 2017-04-28.
  9. ↑ "John Long | Album Discography". AllMusic. 2006-02-21. Retrieved 2017-04-28.
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