Free downloads of Johnnie Johnson tracks available starting June 27

While StLJN usually concentrates on jazz (and leaves the blues-related news to our pal Dave Beardsley of STLBlues.net), every once in a while an item comes along that causes an invocation of the seldom-used "and other music-related items" clause from our official site description, and this one qualifies.

Beginning on June 27, songwriter/producer Jeff Alexander will be making available free downloads of music from legendary St. Louis pianist Johnnie Johnson's final studio recording, Johnnie Be Eighty, And Still Bad. Alexander, who produced the CD and co-wrote the songs with Johnson, is offering the free music to celebrate the DVD release of Hail, Hail, Rock 'n Roll, the 1987 concert film/documentary that featured Chuck Berry but also helped spur the public's rediscovery of Johnson and his subsequent career renaissance.

The downloadable tracks will be available on Alexander's site Cousin Moe Music through July 8, Johnnie Johnson's date of birth. And for a little more about the sessions that produced those tracks, see this article that I wrote for the RFT at the time the CD was originally released.