Jimmy Johnson Appreciation: Inventor of Contemporary Blues?

When Jimmy Johnson was recently nominated for "Best Traditional Artist", my head kind of exploded-- he practically INVENTED contemporary blues. As we approach the anniversary of his passing, I went back and listened to "Johnson's Whacks", his '79 Delmark records debut. (I'm not counting the MCM live record which is really cool but not a proper studio record imho) What a record! There's song after song with cool non-blues changes with soaring, melodic intensely blues leads and vocal melodies over them. If that ain't a template for the now highly elastic term of 'contemporary blues', what is? "I Need Some Easy Money", "Strange How I Miss You" etc have become classics. At age 92, he still used up-to-the-minute beats on his last release, "Every Day of Your Life" on Delmark. His chords on that one almost remind me of an R and B version of "So What" --am I crazy?
I love the phrasing, tone, and the emotion of his playing. Like Otis Rush and Albert King, his bending style is highly personal and very expressive. He also manages to put his phrases in the very best places they can go-- another thing that separates a great guitarist from a good one.
It was a privilege to get to know Jimmy a bit, on and off stage, during my years in Chicago. He loved to play, as anyone who saw him perform live or on his livestreams on facebook during the pandemic can attest. RIP Jimmy Johnson, please leave any Jimmy stories and remembrances in the comments.
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