Lazy Lester

An inductee of the Blues Hall of Fame, Leslie Johnson, better known as Lazy Lester, was an American musician lauded as one of the leading swamp blues players from Louisiana in the 1950s. Born in the town of Torras, he learned to play the harmonica and guitar as a boy and a chance meeting with noted blues performer Lightnin' Slim led to the opportunity to play on one of his recordings. He went on to sign with Excello Records and played the harmonica and several other instruments alongside artists such as Nathan Abshire, Henry Gray, Slim Harpo, Johnny Jano, and Whispering Smith.

He wrote many songs and had hits with singles such as 'I Hear You Knockin'', I'm a Lover Not a Fighter', 'Lester's Stomp' and 'Sugar Coated Love', many of which were later covered by other artists. He made his album debut in 1967 with 'True Blues' but in the early 1970s he turned away from music, taking odd jobs until his return in the mid-1980s. He released 'Lazy Lester Rides Again' and 'Poor Boy Blues' in 1987 followed by 'Harp & Soul' (1988), 'All Over You' (1998) and 'Blues Stop Knockin'' and 'Superharps II' in 2001. He toured frequently and was heralded as a legendary blues performer around the world.

In 2003 he performed along with artists such as B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Solomon Burke, Levon Helm, Dr. John and the Neville Brothers at a blues tribute concert produced by film-maker Martin Scorsese at New York's Radio City Music Hall that was released on DVD and CD with the title 'Lightning in a Bottle'. He appeared with British blues singer Dani Wilde at the Gloucester Rhythm and Blues Festival in 2012 and was featured in a 2015 documentary 'I Am the Blues'. He died of cancer aged 85 in California on 22nd August 2018.