Biography All Music GuideWikipedia
All Music Guide:
Guitarist, singer, and songwriter Johnnie Bassett grew up with blues music all around him in his native Florida. His unique ability to combine jump blues and Delta stylings gave his playing a distinctive sound. The self-taught guitarist recalled seeing Tampa Red, Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, and other classic blues artists at fish fries in his grandmother's backyard. Bassett cited Aaron "T-Bone" Walker as a major influence, as well as B.B. and Albert King, Tiny Grimes, and Billy Butler.
After Bassett's family moved to Detroit in 1944, he made his debut as a guitarist with Joe Weaver & the Bluenotes, a teenage R&B band. The group won local talent contests and was hired to back up Big Joe Turner, Ruth Brown, and others on their tour stops in Detroit. Bassett went into the Army in 1958 and played in a country & western group while stationed in Washington state.
After returning to Detroit, he found work as a session guitarist for Fortune Records by day and in nightclubs at night. In the studios, he played backup to musicians and groups like Nolan Strong & the Diablos, Andre Williams & the Don Juans, and the Five Dollars. He also played guitar on the first recording by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles while traveling to Chicago to record as a session man for the Chess Records label. During his Detroit days, he also accompanied John Lee Hooker, Eddie Burns, Alberta Adams, Lowell Fulson, and the T.J. Fowler Band at their live shows, as well as Dinah Washington.
In the 1960s, Bassett moved to Seattle, where he backed up Tina Turner, Little Willie John, and others. Jimi Hendrix was a frequent guest at the bluesman's club gigs around Seattle. Before the decade ended, he moved back to Detroit, where he was based for the remainder of his life.
In 1994, Bassett received a lifetime achievement award from the Detroit Blues Society. He later recorded an album for the Dutch Black Magic label, I Gave My Life to the Blues (1996). Bassett and his band, the Blues Insurgents, made several U.S., Canadian, and European tours in support of LPs including 1997's Bassett Hound and 1998's Cadillac Blues. After the turn of the millennium, Bassett released two albums on the Sly Dog imprint of Mack Avenue Records, 2009's The Gentleman Is Back and 2012's I Can Make That Happen. After battling cancer, Johnnie Bassett died in August 2012 at the age of 76.
Wikipedia:
Johnnie Alexander Bassett (October 9, 1935 – August 4, 2012) was a Detroit-based American electric blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Working for decades primarily as a session musician, by the 1990s Bassett had his own backing band and released six albums. He cited Billy Butler, Tiny Grimes, Albert King, B.B. King and especially T-Bone Walker as major influences.
Biography [edit]
Born in Marianna, Florida, Bassett relocated with his family in 1944 to Detroit. As a guitarist in his local group, Joe Weaver and the Bluenotes, they won talent contests, and locally backed Big Joe Turner, and Ruth Brown. In 1958 Bassett enrolled into the United States Army, but on his return to Detroit worked with the Bluenotes as session musicians for Fortune Records. During this time he provided accompaniment to Nolan Strong & The Diablos and Andre Williams. He later backed The Miracles in a short tenure at Chess Records, working on their debut single, "Got a Job" (1958). In concerts while in Detroit, Bassett played on stage alongside John Lee Hooker, Alberta Adams, Lowell Fulson and Dinah Washington.
Basset spent most of the next decade doing gigs in Seattle, also backing Tina Turner and Little Willie John.
The Detroit Blues Society recognized Bassett's contribution to the blues with a lifetime achievement award in 1994. He released the album I Gave My Life to the Blues on the Dutch label Black Magic in 1996, before recording and touring in North America and Europe with his own backing band, the Blues Insurgents. Their 1998 album Cadillac Blues was nominated for five W.C. Handy Awards. His then record label, Cannonball Records ceased to trade, but Mack Avenue Records signed him to a new recording contract, after its owner saw Bassett and his band play in concert in Detroit's suburb of Grosse Pointe.
At the 2003 Great Lakes Folk Festival, Bassett performed as part of the Detroit Blues Revue with Alberta Adams and Joe Weaver. At the 2006 Detroit Music Awards, Bassett won the 'Outstanding Blues/R&B Instrumentalist' title. In both 2010 and 2011, he was awarded the 'Outstanding Blues Artist/Group' title.
Bassett's album, The Gentleman is Back was released in June 2009. In 2010, it won a Detroit Music Award for 'Outstanding National Small/Independent Label Recording'.
Bassett and his band (Chris Codish – keyboards, Keith Kaminski – saxophone, and Skeeto Valdez – drums) played weekly at the Northern Lights Lounge in Detroit.
He died of cancer on August 4, 2012.
