Liquid Blues is the newest recording by Paul Johnson, best known as leader of The Belairs, PJ & the Galaxies, and The Packards, and as author of the surf classic 'Mr. Moto.' 'Andelé' and 'Coney Island Fever'.
1.Anelée 2.Califiornia dreamin' 3.Greenroom 4.Uptown strut 5.Spiro 6.Java jump 7.Desert madness (tango) 8.Coney Island fever 9.Big shot 10.Tsunami 11.Albion blues 12.The ring of truth 13.Perseverance 14.Liquid blues
Paul Johnson
Paul Johnson has a LOT of history to cover. He is widely acknowledged as second only in importance to Dick Dale as a 'founding father' of surf music in the early '60s. His seminal band, The Belairs' 1961 recording of 'Mr. Moto' (Paul's composition) is cited as the very first 'surf-instro' hit! (Note: Paul is also regarded as probably the top tunewriter of the surf genre; his tunes been covered by dozens of bands over the years, ranging from The Ventures to Agent Orange). Paul Johnson was a pioneer all over again early '8Os when the 'surf/instro revival' kicked in. His 1980's band The Packards helped to bring this music back and reinvent it for a new generation. Since about 1990 Paul has been visible as a touring member of the Surfaris ('Wipe out'). In nationwide appearances to large crowds at major venues, this band probably re-introduced more people to authentic surf-instro than any other band working today. In about '96, Paul also teamed up with Gil Orr of The Chantays ('Pipeline') to form The Duo-tones (also on Heyday Records); they have been increasingly active with their more intimate approach; just two acoustic guitars. Their mission is the same though, to bring instrumental surf music to the masses. Having played a pivotal role in the development of instrumental surf music in the early '60s with his band, the Belairs, and having presaged any notion of a surf revival with a 1980 album called Pray For Surf (a solo effort released under the group name The Packards - some fourteen years before Pulp Fiction would blast Dick Dale's 'Misirlou' onto movie screens), Paul Johnson has become somewhat of a guru to the surf revival cult centered around bands such as the Mermen, Los Straitjackets, and Laika & the Cosmonauts. He has self-released recordings of his own various groups, old and new, and written some of the genre's most interesting, evocative tunes, all the while proving he's not about to let his own accomplishments leave him in the dust. The all-instrumental Liquid Blues, in fact, finds the mid-50s guitarist at the peak of his powers. Blasting off with 'Andele', a melodic/rhythmic surf classic on a par with the aforementioned 'Moto', he ricochets effortlessly into country pickin' ('Java Jump'), hot-blooded tango ('Desert Madness'), and finger-poppin' jive ('Uptown Strut', which would sound at home in, say, a 'Top Cat' cartoon). He even steps forward for some heavy blues ('Albion Blues') that wouldn't sound out of place alongside a Vaughan or Clapton. This is eclectic guitar music of the highest order, so don't let the surf tag turn you off. One of Paul Johnson's earmarks is a majestic quality into which he infuses compositions such as 'Tsunami' and 'Ring of Truth', but while 'Wipe Out' this is clearly not, Paul Johnson, more so than any other artist, has succeeded in bringing surf music into the present without sacrificing its past. His most ambitious work here is the extnded title track, in which he stitches together a stream-of-consciousness tour de force, seguing from one genre and groove to another via a lead line, a bridge, an interlude, without ever giving the listener whiplash or setting off one's 'gratuitous' alarm. Ironically, the CD's only non-originals are two of its highlights: a terrific instro adaptation of John Phillips' 'California Dreamin' and Don Nuzzo's eery, category-defying 'Greenroom'.
Liquid Blues is the newest recording by Paul Johnson, best known as leader of The Belairs, PJ & the Galaxies, and The Packards, and as author of the surf classic 'Mr. Moto.' 'Andelé' and 'Coney Island Fever'.