Lazy Lester

Lazy Lester

Lester in 2004
Background information
Birth name Leslie Carswell Johnson
Born (1933-06-20) June 20, 1933
Torras, Louisiana, United States
Genres Swamp blues, harmonica blues, rhythm and blues, Louisiana blues[1]
Occupation(s) Musician, songwriter
Instruments Vocals, guitar, harmonica, percussion, bass guitar
Labels Excello, Alligator, Telarc
Associated acts Lightnin' Slim
External video
Oral History, Lazy Lester talks about the guitar being the love of his life. Interview date September 25, 2006, NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) Oral History Library

Lazy Lester (born Leslie Carswell Johnson,[2][3] June 20, 1933)[1][4] is an American blues musician, who sings, and plays the harmonica and guitar. His career spans the 1950s to the 2010s.

Best known for regional hits recorded with Ernie Young's Nashville, Tennessee based Excello label, Lester also contributed 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, The Flamin' Groovies, 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.

Biography

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 left 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 producer, Jay Miller, to record Lester's solo and also to use him 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 included a rolled-up newspaper on a cardboard box.[1]

Miller dubbed Lester "Lazy Lester" because of his laconic, laid-back style.[1]

More than his vocal delivery, Lester is best remembered for songs that were later covered by a wide range of rock, country, blues, and Tex-Mex stars, chiefly, "I'm a Lover Not a Fighter," "I Hear You Knockin'," and "Sugar Coated Love."

Lester stated that he wrote these songs, but almost all are officially credited to Miller, or to Lester and Miller. Lester also stated he received few royalties, which embittered him and made him skeptical 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 Slim Harpo's sister.

In 1971, Fred Reif set up a Lightnin' Slim concert at the University of Chicago Folk Festival, and Lester was brought up from Louisiana to accompany Slim. A few weeks after that performance, Lester was back in Louisiana. Years later Reif and Lester were 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 labels Alligator and Telarc, alongside releases in Europe.

If disenchanted, Lester retained his harmonica, guitar, and vocal talents (the songwriting that had been muse to The Kinks and Dwight Yoakam 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 depicted 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 girlfriend.[5]

Selected discography

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Bill Dahl (1933-06-20). "Lazy Lester | Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 2015-08-13.
  2. ↑ Eagle, Bob; LeBlanc, Eric S. (2013). Blues - A Regional Experience. Santa Barbara: Praeger Publishers. p. 179. ISBN 978-0313344237.
  3. ↑ Russell, Tony (1997). The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray. Dubai: Carlton Books Limited. p. 133. ISBN 1-85868-255-X.
  4. ↑ Archived April 11, 2006, at the Wayback Machine.
  5. ↑ "Lazy Lester". Lazy Lester. 1933-06-20. Retrieved 2015-08-13.
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