Johnny Knight RIP

Very sorry to hear of the death, at the age of 86, of 'Mr Rock and Roll Guitar' Johnny Knight. Born John Mangiagli, Johnny played with Johnny Otis in LA in the late 50s and recorded his best known record 'Rock and Roll Guitar', backed by 'Snake Shake', for the short lived Morocco label in 1958. The record did pretty well but the label folded and Johnny found himself label-less. Later he recorded under various other names, including Johnny Marlo, Johnny Donn and Johnny Mangelli before coming up with the comedy character Gamma Goochee. I saw Johnny on a couple of occasions. At Viva Las Vegas in 2016 he appeared wearing a glittery jacket and was pretty good on 'Snake Shake', 'Two Ton Annie' and 'What Happened Last Night'. I had a chat with him at the time (see photo above) and he was very friendly and enthusiastic. At the Rockin' Race in 2019 I wrote: 'The highlight on the first evening (was) 82 year old Mr 'Rock and Roll Guitar' Johnny Knight, backed by the Deke Dickerson band, with Johnny's son on keyboards. Dressed in a splendid sparkly black jacket, Johnny was good on his sole hit, 'Rock and Roll Guitar',and it's B side 'Snake Shake', plus 'Got My Mojo Working', 'What Happened Last Night', 'I'm Going To Buy Me A Dog', 'Two Ton Annie', 'Ooh Poo Pah Doo' and 'Shake A Hand'. He also reappeared as his alter ego, the comedy character Gamma Goochee. Only 30 minutes on stage but effective.' The photos below show him at the Rockin' Race, including one of him in his Gamma Goochee persona. RIP Johnny.

Another recent death is that of W C Clark, at the age of 84, who was known as the Godfather of Austin Blues. Wesley Curley Clark played around Austin in his youth before joining Joe Tex's band. Returning to Austin he helped develop the city's blues scene, forming several bands, with members at various times including Jimmie Vaughan and Angela Strehli. His W C Clark Blues Revue played with the likes of B B King, Albert King and Bobby Bland and he played alongside Stevie Ray Vaughan, Lou Ann Barton and Kim Wilson on the Austin City Limits TV show.

Another death, at the age of 79, is that of BB Seaton (Bibby) who was a Jamaican singer/ songwriter with the Gaylads, the Astronauts and the Messengers. He first recorded with the duo Winston and Bibby in 1960 and aafter leaving the Gaylads had a successful solo career. He was the first reggae artist to be signed by Virgin leading to the formation of Front Line records and was active in the UK from the 1970s onwards as a producer as well as performing with the Gaylads.