The Michigan Daily-Wednesday, May 27, 1981-Page 7 JIMMY JOHNSON A TRICK'S The blues guitarist extraordinaire By FRED SCHILL "If you don't enjoy yourself, you are going to fall victim to the Reagan regime. He loves for you to spend money and not enjoy yourself," opined drummer Ike Davis just before Jimmy Johnson took the stage at Rick's American CafeSaturday night. "You already paid your two-fifty. You are not going to get one dime back, so you might as well enjoy yourself,"' Davis pleaded. That's what it amounted to, a plea, because much of the Rick's crowd seemed unaware that there was any difference between the Jimmy Johnson Blues Band and any other Saturday night bar band. THEY WEREN'T listening. As a blues guitarist, Jimmy Johnson is bet- ter than Son Seals, better than Bob Margolin, better even than Luther Allison. His agile, fluid solos pack more expressionistic wallop into three- second chops than most guitarists can deliver in entire sets. Johnson specializes in a lean style of blues more reminiscent of Muddy. Waters Mississippi blues than high- powered Chicago blues, even though Johnson is from Chicago. His back-up band consists of three musicians - keyboardist Carl Snider, bassist Larry Exum, and Davis - who lay down a sparse blues foundation upon which Johnson constructs his modern won- ders. Using a halting, thin style that Chuck Berry later lost control of and turned into rock and roll, Johnson epitomized excellence in blues musicianship. Spare, potentially average tunes like "Cold Cold Feeling" became vehicles for flickering, screaming guitar solos characterized by smooth, perceptive changes of pace and volume. BLUES SONGS depend on such musicianship to keep them alive. Given the constraints of the genre and the repetitive nature of the lyrics, master- ful musical arrangements and passionate vocals are a necessity. This structural narrowness is both the genre's strength and its weakness - it demands ingenuity and talent in order to survive, let alone succeed. Johnson knows this intuitively. He even fills breaks between lyrical phrases with lithe, dexterous bursts from his -guitar, produced at an ab- solutely stunning speed. It's difficult to get bored. Playing with the volume knob, John- son plucked delicate, hushed solos that suddenly wailed with mincing vigor. Crossing his fingers on the frets to wring out unheard-of riffs, waving his guitar in front of the speakers and then subjugating the feedback, following curving and twisting notes with his hips, Johnson was an inexhaustible stockpile of priceless musical power. HIS CRAFTINESS as a singer was perhaps the most satisfying discovery, as instrumental skill and vocal vir- tuosity are a rare combination; vocal shortcomings noticeably hampered the performances of Luther Allison and Bob Margolin when they were at Rick's. Johnson sings in a strong, flexible tenor that recalled Smokey Robinson in his bemused rendition of "Messin' With the Kid." Yet he is also capable of instilling just enough grit and rawness to enforce the standard "Losing my baby" lament of "Every Day I Got the Blues" with impassioned credulity. But his finest moment was an agonized rendition of the Temptations' classic "I Wish It Would Rain." Every note was perfectly inflected, every word impeccably accented, as Johnson alone matched the aching soulfulness of the Temptations note for note. That one even brought the audience alive, and Johnson gradually won his. struggle for their attention. The couple - behind me never stopped playing backgammon, but at least they looked interested a couple of times. Apparen- tly, the spare arrangements and shif- ting paces confused hell out of the dan- cers and left non-blues partisans a bit underwhelmed. That's too bad, because they're not likely ever to hear a finer blues guitarist. is preserved on The Michigan Daily 420 Maynard Street AND Graduate Library Doily Photo by DAVID HARRIS Blues guitarist Jimmy Johnson performing last weekend at Rick's American Cafe. Join the Arts staff MICHIGAN REPERTORY 'ci WER CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS Misalliance Member of the JUNE 3, 4, 5, 6 By George Bernard Shaw Directed By James Martin JUNE 10, 11, 12, 13 By Carson McCullers Loose Ends Directed By Jon Hallquist JUNE 17, 18, 19, 20 By Michael weller Directed By Terr yl Wright Hallquist THREE DOLLAR REVUE A late evening vaudeville following Rep performances June 12, 13 and 17-20. LIGHT UP YOUR SUMMER! TICKET OFFICE OPEN PTP Ticket Office, MI League M-F, Noon-4:30 p.m. 764-0450 5EA5ONW u3STIONSSTAVASLAKI Allperformnces at 8,00 p.giq Power Center Ann Arbor Civic Theatre Presents OPENING Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre 8:00 pm May 27-30, 1981 Box Office Hours: by Mon.-Tues., 12-4; Alan Wed.,Thurs.,Fri., 12-8; NIGHT. yBox Office 763-1085l '. .#. . 4 . .# . . . . . .# .* .* . *, '.