Johnny Copeland (1937-1997) was a Texan with heart & soul, even though he was born in Louisiana and lived in New York later on. He didn't hide his love for the Lone Star State and lucky for him, he didn't live long enough to see the mess, created by another Texan in the White House. But that's different story, let's stick to the facts. His nick "Texas Twister" said it all: Johnny was a hurricane on stage, giving joyous and high energy performances with his incredible strong voice and melodic, in-the-groove guitar playing. He began recording in 1958, but his career only started to move in 1981 when he signed with Rounder Records.

Johnny worked with jazz musicians but he also went looking for his roots in Africa's Ivory Coast and recorded the album "Bringin' It All Back Home" with local musicians, a fascinating experiment which worked beautifully. You should buy this one, even though it could be difficult to find it. Of course, we have to mention the album "Showdown" one more time, that small masterpiece from the magic trio Cray, Collins and Copeland. "Texas Twister" and "When The Rain Starts Fallin'" both collect material from Copeland's first four Rounder albums with great success. And then there is "Jungle Swing", a decrease in energy but compensated by an increased emotional depth with several acoustic songs and some tracks enriched by African rhythm's. Johnny was the "Chateauneuf du Pape" of the blues: powerful, tasteful and a flavour that every blueslover appreciates. That's how he went away, into eternity. See ya'll next week guys!

Video: Johnny Copeland Flyin' High (acoustic)

Website(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Copeland
http://www.johnnycopeland.com
http://www.myspace.com/johnnycopeland

Bringin' It All Home - Rounder 1985
Showdown! - Alligator 1985
Texas Twister - Rounder 1986
When The Rain Starts Fallin' - Rounder 1987
Jungle Swing - Verve 1995

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