Instruments Guitar, vocals Record label Electro-Fi Records | Years active Mid-1960s–present | |
Born January 12, 1943 (age 74)
Chicago, Illinois, United States ( 1943-01-12 ) Occupation(s) Guitarist, singer, songwriter Labels Wolf Records, Electro-Fi Records Genres Chicago blues, Electric blues Similar Little Mack Simmons, Fruteland Jackson, Julian Fauth, Lester Davenport, Bonnie Lee | ||
Johnny Laws (born January 12, 1943) is an American Chicago blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. A regular performer for over half a century in Chicago's South Side clubs, Laws has released two albums, including Burnin' in My Soul, which caused Blues & Rhythm magazine in November 1999 to note "It's a real shame that Johnny Laws has been unjustly ignored in the past... This is an enjoyable CD... Full marks to those folks at Electro-Fi."
His version of McKinley Mitchell's "End of the Rainbow", demonstrates his versatility and vocal range.
In an April 1999 editorial leader, Toronto Star, remarked that "South Side Chicago fave Johnny Laws... [is] winning paudits for his seductive, soul-drenched blues."
Life and career
Johnny Laws was born in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and has remained there all of his life. He has played and performed on the South Side of Chicago since the mid-1960s, remaining largely a local cult favorite for decades. He learned his Chicago blues craft mainly from his appreciation of Jimmy Reed and Buster Benton. His aching falsetto voice and vast repertoire gained much local acclaim. His style ranges from soul to postwar blues to occasional country. In addition to a regular weekend slot at the Cuddle Inn, Laws has been a frequent performer at the annual Chicago Blues Festival, including a set in 2000. Laws was prominently featured in a 1993 edition of Living Blues magazine.
Laws finally released his debut album, My Little Girl, through Wolf Records in 1995. The album contained a couple of blues standards, although most of the songs were written by Laws.
In 1999, Electro-Fi Records released Laws' second album, Burnin' in My Soul. On the collection Laws covered Junior Wells' song, "Little by Little", "Steal Away" by Jimmy Hughes, "Honest I Do" plus "Ain't That Lovin' You Baby" by Jimmy Reed, and "Sadie" originally written and recorded by Hound Dog Taylor. The autumn 1999 edition of Juke Blues stated "Johnny Laws has a smooth, silky voice, at times almost a whisper, then rising into a falsetto, and falling back again into gentle expressiveness... His appeal is in a delivery that seems so deceptively effortless."