Which Weather Report Albums did Alphonso Johnson Play on?

[Blackbird]

And which should I get first?

Will C.

[jazzbo]

I know he played in the albums previous to Jaco.
He played on "Black Market," (my favorite), "Tale Spinnin'," and "Mysterious Traveler."

Incidentally, I found a solo album, on vinyl, by Alphonso Johnson, at the Rasputin's in Pleasant Hill. I think it was called "Spellbound." Not bad stuff. It's got a bit of that cheesy early 80s soul feel to it, with a little George Benson-ish guitar, but it's not bad. I think Alphonso did a little overplaying, but you can hear that he's a very talented man.

[JimK]

...damn, I have been looking for SPELLBOUND for, literally, 20 years! Very recently, a "Best Of" cd containg cuts from AJ's 3 '70s solo albums was issused. Yes, much of the material sounds kinda "dated", thanks to the cheesy synth patches of yesteryear(I hated them, I hate them now).

MYSTERIOUS TRAVELLER-
...both AJ & Vitous are on this, right?
BLACK MARKET-
...also, Jaco's first appearance with WR.

Transition albums...?

Also, AJ with the Cobham/Duke Band(w/ Scofield on guitar)LIVE IN EUROPE is a pretty good sample of '70s Fusion.

[Rob W]

Trivia- did you know the Alphonso was briefly considered to play in Genesis' live band after the departure of Steve Hackett. Rutherford quickly discovered that he wasn't the right choice, so Daryl Stuermer got the gig.

Chester Thompson did wind up staying for 20 years though!

[Brad Johnson]

Originally posted by jazzbo
I know he played in the albums previous to Jaco.
He played on "Black Market," (my favorite), "Tale Spinnin'," and "Mysterious Traveler."

Incidentally, I found a solo album, on vinyl, by Alphonso Johnson, at the Rasputin's in Pleasant Hill. I think it was called "Spellbound." Not bad stuff. It's got a bit of that cheesy early 80s soul feel to it, with a little George Benson-ish guitar, but it's not bad. I think Alphonso did a little overplaying, but you can hear that he's a very talented man.

Those are the three I'm aware of. I liked his solo stuff, it was different at the time. Lots of spacy, phased bass. "Follow Your Heart", "Nomads" and especially "Bahama Mama". The George Benson-ish(?) guitar was Pat Thrall, later of the Pat Travers Band. Another Thrall project was "Automatic Man". This stream of consciousness crap is scary

"Yesterday's Dreams" and "Moonshadows" were pretty good LPs, too. I think AJ's playing is more about the song than most solo bassists.

Another project AJ was involved in was Lee Ritenour's "Captain Fingers". On the title track I'd swear AJ played the entire song except for the break in the middle, which had to be the other AJ, Anthony Jackson. Never had that confirmed, though.

[JimK]

Rob-
...yeah, I kinda remembered that; I was in an '80s Top-40 band playing Jeffrey Osborne's "Stay With Me Tonight" & tellin' everyone(who cared)that it was Alphonso Johnson on bass. The keyboardist, a big Rock fan, said "...oh, yeah, Genesis tried to get him into their band".
Wasn't AJ on Phil Collins' FACE VALUE album?
Somebody check out the credits...!

[Bruce Lindfield]

I'm often amazed at some of the session players that were on "British" CDs I bought years ago and only now realise that these were great Jazz players. Marcus Miller is on so many albums I've got, for example. Although I suppose the most incongruous "session" playing for me has to be when Marcus dragged Miles Davis along to play on the Scritti Politti album "Provision"!

[Rob W]

Originally posted by JimK
Wasn't AJ on Phil Collins' FACE VALUE album?
Somebody check out the credits...!

Yeah, that was AJ on 'Face Value'- on certain tracks anyway. John Giblin did the other half. That was just about the time Genesis started turning into the dreaded Pop band. I guess it was good Pop, but there are enough people doing that sort of thing, while very few could do what they used to do in the prog genre. It's a shame really - from Watcher of the Skies to Tarzan is quite a scary transformation!

In any case, AJ did some fine work on 'Face Value'. Ironically, the guitar player on most of the album was Daryl Stuermer.

[some guy#2]

Pardon me, I was fairly sure Alphonso passed on the gig because they (Genesis) were looking for a guitarist/bassist & Alphonso considerd himself much more a bassist (& as such felt perhaps he was not up to, nor inclined to learn/cover some of the guitar parts!)
(i don't *know*, i was not there!)
He is pictured sitting with Phil in Armando Gallo's Genesis book.

Alphonso Johnson recommended Daryl Stuermer for the job...the rest is sad history.
If he's regained his health (flu or some nonesuch) perhaps he'll entertain the question himself!
VERY NICE gentleman!
How do I add a link here?
http://www.embamba.com
Ask Alphonso!

Genesis were once a great & mighty band! Now they limp along, imperceptibly, even after the loss of the singer that "replaced" Phil!

Why don't Tony & Mike give up the ghost?

[some guy#2]

I went over & asked Alphonso himself...

I guess I just had a hard time reading "Rutherford quickly dicovered he wasn't the right choice, so Daryl Stuermer got the the gig."

[Rob W]

I was only going on a quote by Mike Rutherford in the second Genesis box set that just came out:

"And I actually had a session with Alphonso Johnson before I realised it was wrong - not because of him but because I realised that we definitely needed a guitarist who could play bass rather than vice versa."


It makes sense, since at that time, the live work would have consisited of mostly guitar duties to replace Steve Hackett. As a rule, Rutherford still played bass on the material written while Hackett was stil there.

BTW, Genesis did officially pack it in after the album and tour with Ray Wilson.

Yes and Jethro Tull are still at it in full force, and still writing the same kind of great music they always did.

[some guy#2]

Sorry Rob W, Not trying to be confrontational just wanted to know the accurate story & it looks like we are both part right!
Courtesy of Alphonso!

http://www.embamba.com/wwwboard/messages/1186.html

& thanks for the heads up on the dissolution of the band Genesis...I WAS(guess still AM!) a huge fan of most of the work up until about 'Abacab'. Like most, IF not all, though I prefer the Gabriel/Hackett years!
I had surfed recently looking for some info on them & missed the announcement!

[louloomis]

Originally Posted by Rob W

I was only going on a quote by Mike Rutherford in the second Genesis box set that just came out:

"And I actually had a session with Alphonso Johnson before I realised it was wrong - not because of him but because I realised that we definitely needed a guitarist who could play bass rather than vice versa."


It makes sense, since at that time, the live work would have consisited of mostly guitar duties to replace Steve Hackett. As a rule, Rutherford still played bass on the material written while Hackett was stil there.

BTW, Genesis did officially pack it in after the album and tour with Ray Wilson.

Yes and Jethro Tull are still at it in full force, and still writing the same kind of great music they always did.

This thread is full of misinformation and I would like to clear up one point:

Rutherford played guitar and bass during the entire career of Genesis. Before Hackett was out of the band, Rutherford played - during different songs/periods - 12 string guitar (both acoustic and electric), 4 string bass, 6 string bass, 8 string bass, and bass pedals. When Hackett was out of the band, he added 6 string guitar to the aforementioned list.

When Stuermer joined the live band, Rutherford and Stuermer shared guitar and bass duties, depending on the song. On some songs they both played 6 string guitar - such as "Turn It On Again".

LL

[louloomis]

Originally Posted by Rob W

I was only going on a quote by Mike Rutherford in the second Genesis box set that just came out:

"And I actually had a session with Alphonso Johnson before I realised it was wrong - not because of him but because I realised that we definitely needed a guitarist who could play bass rather than vice versa."


It makes sense, since at that time, the live work would have consisited of mostly guitar duties to replace Steve Hackett. As a rule, Rutherford still played bass on the material written while Hackett was stil there.

BTW, Genesis did officially pack it in after the album and tour with Ray Wilson.

Yes and Jethro Tull are still at it in full force, and still writing the same kind of great music they always did.

I would like to clear up one point:

Rutherford played guitar and bass during the entire career of Genesis. Before Hackett was out of the band, Rutherford played - during different songs/periods - 12 string guitar (both acoustic and electric), 4 string bass, 6 string bass, 8 string bass, synth guitar, bass pedals, and even drums live (during "Whodunnit" - at least during one tour as seen in an early '80s live concert video). When Hackett was out of the band, Rutherford filled the role of 6 string guitarist in the studio and live (see below).

When Stuermer joined the live band, Rutherford and Stuermer shared guitar and bass duties, depending on the song. On some songs they both played 6 string guitar - such as "Turn It On Again".

LL

[markjazzbassist]

tale spinnin is great as well as black market.

george duke and billy cobham live in europe is great, alphonso really sits well in the mix and he doesn't get lost, great sound.

[tedesco23]

High, high recommendations to Black Market--you get some fantastic playing from Alphonso, plus two tracks with Jaco. Overall, some of WR's best compositions, IMO.

[StereoPlayer]

Always liked Alphonso. I still play Bahamma Mamma for warming up.
He Played a Charles LaBou(sp?) "fretless singing bas"s on one album and played thru a B.A.S.T.A.R.D. system. Bass amplification through added rengenitive devices(I think it was called)

[Johno Dunn]

Check out any of the Jazz is Dead albums. Greatful Dead songs covered (instrumentally) by phenom Fusion Cats. IMHO way better then the originals.
Side note, AJ played a clinic in my home town using my rig years ago. My amp and cabs never sounded so good!

J!

[1958Bassman]

Originally Posted by Rob W

Trivia- did you know the Alphonso was briefly considered to play in Genesis' live band after the departure of Steve Hackett. Rutherford quickly discovered that he wasn't the right choice, so Daryl Stuermer got the gig.

Chester Thompson did wind up staying for 20 years though!

Actually, Alphonso told them they needed a guitarist who can play bass, not a bass player who can play guitar and he recommended Daryl. I think they probably met when Daryl was in Jean-luc Ponty's band when they toured with Weather Report.

Before Daryl auditioned, they checked out about 30 others, at least one of whom asked "How do you want this played?" when they were about to start songs that had already been on records. He got the gig because he knew the songs- he was better prepared than the others.

[1958Bassman]

Originally Posted by some guy#2

I went over & asked Alphonso himself...

I guess I just had a hard time reading "Rutherford quickly dicovered he wasn't the right choice, so Daryl Stuermer got the the gig."

Neighbors?