Richard Young From The Kentucky Head Hunters

Chuck Berry once sang the lyrics, "Go! Go Johnny Go!" Did you know that Johnny was a real person. His piano player Johnny Johnson. The Kentucky Head Hunters were the last to record with Johnny and the album is now ready for your electronic stage. From the iHeart Radio Studio I'm Unplugged and Totally Uncut with Richard Young from the Kentucky Head Hunters. On January 25, 2003, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Johnnie Johnson—the man Rolling Stone called “the greatest sideman in rock and roll” for his groundbreaking piano work with Chuck Berry—stepped on stage at Houston, Texas’ Reliant Stadium. He joined his hosts, The Rolling Stones, for a rousing rendition of Honky Tonk Women. After hanging out all night with Keith Richards, Johnson got on a plane and flew to Kentucky. There he reunited with his good friends, Grammy-winning Southern blues-rockers The Kentucky Headhunters (brothers Richard and Fred Young, Greg Martin, Doug Phelps and Anthony Kenney). The plan was to have Johnnie lay down some piano for the band’s upcoming release, Soul. But the vibe was too strong and the music too good, so the tapes just kept rolling. With songs and arrangements furiously being created on the spot and everything recorded live as it happened over the course of three days, a magical musical event was underway. Because the whole session was spontaneous, there were no immediate plans to release an album. After Johnnie’s death in 2005, the tapes, while never forgotten, remained unissued. The performances, which can now be heard on Meet Me In Bluesland, found Johnson playing some of the deepest and most rocking blues piano of his legendary career. With The Kentucky Headhunters at their down-home best, the record is a country-fried, blues-infused party from start to finish. The album grooves from the raunchy rock of Stumblin’ to the slide-fueled Superman Blues to the roof-raising version of Little Queenie to the salacious She’s Got To Have It (the last vocal Johnson ever recorded). “The minute Johnnie sat down with us, the music was a kind of ecstasy,” says guitarist/vocalist Richard Young. “Johnnie made us play like real men,” adds guitarist/vocalist Greg Martin. “Playing with him, the groove got bigger and much more grown up.” Drummer Fred Young explains, “We all admired Johnnie from the start. The first time we played with him was the first time I ever felt like we were doing it right. The music we made on Meet Me In Bluesland is as good as it gets.”