The Original Guitar Hero and the Power of Music - the Legendary Lonnie Johnson, Music and Civil Rights - Dean Alger

I've been a fan of Lonnie Johnson's ever since I came upon his jazzy approach to blues guitar. His style is smooth (BB King is, logically, a big fan, as was greats such as T-Bone Walker, among others) and distinctive and he has speed'n'grace to spare. As with any musician that I am intrigued with, I was interested in learning more about his personal story so I picked up this book.

Unfortunately, while Alger has the best intentions, the biographical material is so sparse and so few peers were still alive that it is difficult to come up with a coherent story line, especially for his early years, and Alger has to fall back on plenty of speculation. Also, apparently due to the lack of info on Johnson himself, the book covers - as the title suggests - the Civil Rights movement and the contributions of music in general and African-American music specifically, to the effort. There are also many tangents as the author talks about, say, the rise of the guitar in popular culture, or the history of New Orleans and the cultural influences from its various conquerers and inhabitants. The book tends to read more like a college course, complete with multiple references to upcoming and previous chapters, than a biography and it has plenty of conjecture and suppositions which, while they are not necessarily incorrect, really don't feel right in a biography. Dean also does a bit of self-promotion throughout and has high hopes that his book will raise awareness of Johnson's importance, although I rather doubt that will happen, although stranger things have occurred!

Not really the engaging bio that I was hoping for. Again, probably not Alger's fault, as there is not a lot of info available on the man - and he does relate as much as he can regarding recording sessions and live appearances - but, unfortunately, this was a bit dry.