Lazy Lester  True Blues 
Label: Excello  – LP 8006 
Released:1967 
Format: [email protected]


Lazy Lester (a.k.a Leslie Johnson) has been called a "National Treasure," the "High Sheriff of Louisiana" and "a nut” and is a member of the Louisiana Hall of Fame. Lester's high-pitched harmonica and 'lazy' vocals are blues archetypes and he has been often imitated but never duplicated. As one of the key creators of the South Louisiana swamp blues sound in the 1950s, blues fans worldwide prize his early singles. 
Swamp blues originated in the Baton Rouge area where musicians like Slim Harpo, Lightnin' Slim, Lonesome Sundown, and Lazy Lester developed a unique, rocking, Cajun-influenced blues style, captured after 1948 on Excello records recorded in Lake Charles, Louisiana. It appealed particularly to British rockers of the 1960s (the Rolling Stones covered Harpo's "I'm a King Bee," for instance, and the Kinks recorded Lazy Lester's first hit single "I'm a Lover Not a Fighter") and eventually contributed to the development of Zydeco. 

Born in 1933 and raised outside of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Lester was initially influenced by Jimmy Reed and Little Walter. But his entree into playing professionally came when he met Excello star Lightnin' Slim while riding on a bus sometime in the mid-1950s. The two became close friends, with Slim taking Lester under his wing. Lester emerged on the blues scene playing harmonica with Lightnin' Slim, who would introduce Lester's solos with his trademark, "Play your harmonica, son."  Soon legendary Excello producer Jay Miller found that Lester was equally talented on guitar and drums, and he became a stalwart of Miller's session bands. Lester appeared on Miller-produced songs by Lightnin' Slim, Slim Harpo, Katie Webster, Lonesome Sundown and others. Lester's carefree personality prompted Miller to dub him "Lazy Lester." 
His harmonica riffs were crisp and articulate, his vocals a bit 'mushmouthed.'  When Miller gave him a chance to record as a leader, Lester produced a series of swamp blues classics that were hits on Southern R&B radio.  His tunes have been covered time and time again. Apart from The Kinks, Anson Funderburgh cut Talk To You By Hand, the Fabulous Thunderbirds recorded Sugar Coated Love, and dozens of other bands have cut his tunes. 

Tracklist:

01.  I'm A lover, Not a Fighter
02.  I Hear you Knockin'
03.  Sugar Coated Love
04.  I'm So Glad
05.  If you Think I've Lost You
06.  Bye, Bye Baby
07.  Lonesome Highway Blues
08.  I Made Up My Mind
09.  Because She's Gone
10.  Pondarosa Stomp
11.  The Same Thimg Could Happen To You
12.  Lester's Stomp