Results for “Dion”

Rocky Sharpe (Robert Podsiadly)

26 November 1952 – 5 December 2019

Lou Johnson passed away this week after a long illness caused by a severe stroke many years ago. I only ever met him via the phone but he was so warm and welcoming, I felt I knew him well. I also got on famously with his wife Linda, as we had something in common – Lou was our favourite singer.

Ace Records aficionados will very likely be familiar with the uniquely soulful guitar-playing which embellished such notable hits as Dobie Gray’s ‘Drift Away’ and Billy Swan’s ‘I Can Help’, as well as the ground-breaking use of electric sitar on the Box Tops’ ‘Cry Like A Baby’ and ‘Hooked On A Feeling’ by B.J. Thomas. Add to these Elvis Presley’s ‘In The Ghetto’ and ‘Suspicious Minds’, Dusty Springfield’s ‘Son Of A Preacher Man’, Joe Tex’s ‘Skinny Legs And All’, and many more significant chartbusters by the likes of Bill Black’s Combo, Joe Tex, Neil Diamond, Wilson Pickett, King Curtis, Jimmy Buffett, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Merle Haggard. Such an imposing list should provide an idea of the enormous contribution made over six decades by Memphis and Nashville’s most versatile and in-demand session guitarist, Reggie Young, who has died at the age of 82.