King Johnson, World's Funkiest White Boys

Story and Photos by
Art Howard

Check out a KJ song here in Real Audio.

Oliver Wood, guitar dynamo

King Johnson may be the funkiest band never to have been fronted by James Brown. They're the horn band with a difference, the difference being that they don't sound like K.C. and the Sunshine Band like most current horn bands. Instead, King Johnson's horns could come right out of New Orleans' famed Preservation Hall. The group has been a favorite on the Southeastern blues circuit since the mid-90's, but with their new album, Luck So Strange, the band seems to be sailing for tie-dyed waters. With lyrical references to the Grateful Dead, an open-door policy for tapers, and a blood relation to a member of Medeski, Martin and Wood, the group's hippie rock credentials seem to be golden right out of the box.


Marcus James, sax		The blue-eyed soul voice on several King Johnson tunes belongs to guitarist Oliver Wood. Before a jazzy funk became his fretboard trademark, Wood was turned onto guitar by his dad, who had seen a bit of the limelight himself accompanying a young Joan Baez. The elder Wood's folk tastes were an early influence on his son. "My dad got me into stuff like Lightnin' Hopkins, Josh White, and country blues," Wood remembers. These influences later mixed with the electric styles of Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page. Oliver Wood says he and his younger brother Chris, now of Medeski, Martin and Wood, were each other's first jamming partners. "We had a little garage band; we had a four track and used to write songs together and jam a lot. Actually when I was 16 I got a bass for Christmas and got tired of it after a few months, and switched to guitar. My brother picked up the bass, and the rest is history there."

Wood later found himself sitting in on blues jam nights at clubs around Atlanta, and was eventually tapped to tour with celebrated blues singer/guitarist Tinsley Ellis. "I went on the road with Tinsley around `93, `94. That was my first taste of a serious road gig and playing full-time. That was real educational. I have a lot of respect for Tinsley and he certainly taught me a lot about music and the business, and still does. He helps us out a lot."

Having gotten his chops together on the guitar and learned the business from Ellis, Oliver Wood was now ready to make his own musical mark. It was during downtime from playing with Ellis that Wood began jamming with transplanted Hoosier blues bassist/singer Chris Long.


"First Chris had me go in the studio with him to help him with his songs and play guitar on his demos. When I was ready to move on from Tinsley's band and do my own thing is when Chris and I decided we would like to do something together." The duo joined with drummer Greg Baba in 1994 and formed a King Johnson blues trio. The name is a tribute to the various great blues musicians named King and Johnson.		Chris Long: Writes the songs he lives, lives the songs he writes

After a couple of years in the trio format the group took time off to refine their vision. "Working as a trio was just not really fulfilling," Wood says, "It was hard to realize some of the songs, so as a new twist we decided we would have some friends who were horn players sit in, and we just loved it." He says adding new members not only changed the band's performance style, but also the songwriting process, "Now we have more of a melting pot sound. Not every song is guitar solo, guitar solo, guitar solo. There's only so much you can do with that unless you're Jimi Hendrix, which most of us aren't. Its easier to be creative this way."

The frantic Mardi Gras grooves have come to a head on the new Luck So Strange CD. The disc sports several instrumentals that will make groovers burn a hole in their Birkenstocks (one featuring a special guest identified as Hampton B. Coles, who sounds suspiciously like a man jam fans know as Colonel Bruce). Alongside these rhythmic Godzilla numbers are soulful originals by Wood and Long.

If any cut on the disc has a chance on FM radio its the ballad "Luckiest Man," penned by Wood and drummer Greg Baba. The song seems to be about resigning oneself to the fact that life has its rewards, even if it's not the ones you were seeking. Wood says of the lyrics, "I'm not sure what the hell that song's about. 'Luckiest Man' just sounded good with the chords, but as I looked at it later I thought maybe it was about getting married, which I did last year. But Greg helped me write it and he's not married, so that's just reaching for something. Its one of those songs that I think could mean different things to different people." One thing for sure, the song easily commands the attention of a crowd of rowdy dancers where most ballads would send them to the toilet.

King Johnson has opened for jam band staples like Derek Trucks and Colonel Bruce Hampton, and is hitting the college circuit with greater frequency these days. Oliver Wood says the band encourages those who want to tape and save the shows. "I have no problem with that. I like that. So much of our show is improvised and open and free, and no two nights are alike. That's one neat thing about taping and tapers is that they capture that unique stuff," he says. Gentlemen, start your DATs!

Look for King Johnson to start burning up the jam festival circuit soon. In the meantime, put some Mardi Gras shuffle into your CD player at www.KingJohnson.com.