Lazy Lester
(born Leslie Johnson
, June 20, 1933, Torras, Louisiana [1]) is a swamp blues harmonica player, whose career spans the 1950s to the 2000s.
Best known for regional hits recorded with Ernie Young's Nashville, Tennessee based Excello label, Lester also contributed as a sideman to songs recorded by Excello label-mates including Slim Harpo, Lightnin' Slim, and Katie Webster. His songs have been covered by (among others) The Kinks, Freddy Fender, Dwight Yoakam, Dave Edmunds, Raful Neal, Anson Funderburgh, and The Fabulous Thunderbirds. In the "comeback" stage of his career (since the late 1980s) he has recorded new albums backed by Mike Buck, Sue Foley, Gene Taylor, Kenny Neal, Lucky Peterson, and Jimmie Vaughan.
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LAZY LESTER TICKETS
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Excello Records career
In the mid 1950s, Lester was on the margins of the
Louisiana blues scene. According to
Rolling Stone
(February 23, 2006),
Buddy Guy, before moving to
Chicago, had played in
Louisiana "with some of the old masters:
Lightnin' Hopkins,
Lazy Lester,
Slim Harpo." When Guy did leave for Chicago, in 1957, Lester replaced him, on
guitar, in a local band — even though Lester, at the time, did not own such a
musical instrument.
Lester's career took off when he found a seat next to
Lightnin' Slim on a
bus transporting Slim to an Excello
recording session. At the
studio, the scheduled
harmonica player did not appear. Slim and Lester spent the afternoon unsuccessfully trying to find him, when Lester volunteered that he could play the harmonica. Lester's work on that first Lightnin' Slim session led the
record producer,
Jay Miller to record Lester
solo — and also to use Lester as a multi-
instrumentalist on
percussion,
guitar,
bass, and harmonica on sessions headlined by other Miller produced
artists, including, notably, Slim Harpo.
Percussion
on these sessions went beyond the traditional
drum kit, and including a rolled-up
newspaper on a
cardboard box.
[2]
Miller dubbed Lester "Lazy" because of his laconic, laid-back style.
More than his
vocal delivery, Lester is best remembered for songs that were later covered by a wide range of
rock,
county,
blues, and even
Tex-Mex stars, chiefly: "
I'm a Lover Not a Fighter", "
I Hear You Knockin' and "
Sugar Coated Love".
Lester stated he
wrote these songs; but almost all are officially credited to Miller, or Lester and Miller. Lester also stated he received few
royalties, which embittered him and made him sceptical of the
music industry. By the late 1960s Lester had given up on the music industry, working
manual labor and pursuing his favorite
hobby —
fishing. Lester moved to
Pontiac,
Michigan, living with the
sister of Slim Harpo.
Comeback (late 1980s)
In 1971, Fred Reif set up a Lightnin' Slim
concert at the University of Chicago Folk Festival, and Lester accompanied Slim. Years later found Reif and Lester both in
Michigan, from where Reif orchestrated a comeback. Lester recorded and played around the
United States and abroad, backed by blues bands including, frequently, Loaded Dice.
Lester's recordings in this period are on blues
record labels suc h as
Allgator and
Telarc, alongside releases in
Europe.
If disenchanted, Lester retained not only his harmonica, guitar, and vocal talents (the songwriting that had been muse to
The Kinks and
Dwight Yoakum having dried up long before). In September 2002, a Lifetime Achievement Award was awarded by the Boston Blues Society.
In 2003
Martin Scorsese included Lester in his blues tribute concert at
Radio City Music Hall, a record of which was released as the
film and
album Lightning in a Bottle
. The group
photograph inside the
album depicts Lester grinning, dead-center among peers and musical progeny including
B. B. King,
Solomon Burke,
Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown,
Buddy Guy,
Levon Helm,
Chuck D,
The Neville Brothers,
Dr. John,
John Fogerty, and
Aerosmith.
Lester currently lives in
Paradise,
California with his partner.
[3]
Discography
- True Blues
, circa 1966, Excello LP 8006 SO-1
- Rides Again
, 1987, King Snake KS007 (recorded in the UK, May 25-28, 1987)
- Harp & Soul
, 1988, Alligator 4768 (feat. Lucky Peterson and Kenny Neal)
- Lazy Lester
, 1989, Flyright (France) 007 (previously unreleased 1960s Excello session takes)
- I'm a Lover Not a Fighter
1994, Excello/Ace 518
- I Hear You Knockin
, 1994, Excello/Avi 3003
- All Over You
, 1998, Antones ANT 10042 (recorded 1997, feat. Derek O'Brien, Sue Foley, Sarah Brown)
- Lazy Lester
(audiophile EP), APO 003 (recorded October 12-13, 2000 feat. Henry Gray)
- Superharps II
, 2001, Telarc 83514 (co-billed with Carey Bell, Raful Neal, Snooky Pryor)
- Blues Stop Knockin
, 2001, Antones TMG-ANT 0051 (feat. Jimmie Vaughan)
- Blues on my Radio
,2004 ,SWMAF 01 ( Louisiana Red a.o.)
- Family Meeting
,2008 ,Ruf 2CD +DVD by Wentus Blues Band (with Mick Taylor, Kim Wilson a. o.)
See also
- The Southern Legends Entertainment & Performing Arts Hall of Fame
- San Francisco Blues Festival
- List of Swamp blues musicians
- List of Harmonica blues musicians
- List of harmonicists
- Music of Louisiana
- Blues harp
References
- About.com biography - accessed January 2008
- Allmusic biography
- Lazy Lester biography at lazylester.net