Johnny Jenkins RIP

The Final Word today says farewell to yet another influential southern soul musician - this time Johnny Jenkins, the left handed guitarist who introduced Otis Redding to Stax Records and was a major influence on Jimi Hendrix. Johnny died in Macon, Georgia, only two months after the death of Capricorn Records founder Phil Warden, with whose label Johnny was closely associated. He recorded the soulful but spooky Ton-ton Macoute album in 1970, with backing by Duane Allman and Eddie Hinton among others, for Capricorn. More recently Phil Walden also produced a comeback album called Blessed Blues. Johnny never achieved universal acclaim, but he was an influential figure at Capricorn Records and will forever be associated with the early success of Otis Redding. Another great soul artist has left the building.