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For some Blues musicians tales of mojos and gris-gris
make for nice story lines behind their songs. For guitarist John Campbell
though, they were a part of his life. A self-proclaimed hoodoo man, Campbell
lived a lifetime full of tragedy and sadly succumbed just as his career was
hitting its stride, at an altogether much too early age.
John Campbell was born in Shreveport, LA, on January
20, 1952 and died of a heart attach while sleeping on June 13, 1993. He was 41.
He was first exposed to string music by his grandmother,when he was very young.
She played a Hawaiian-style lap steel guitar. He received his first guitar at
the age of five and was immediately wanted to learn as much as he possibly
could.
His family moved between Shreveport, Baton Rouge and East Texas, Musicians
fulfilled his hunger. He learned his lessons well, as he began playing
professionally by the time he was 13, opening shows for Blues greats like
Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown,
Son Seals and
Albert Collins.
He wholeheartedly studied the music of Lightnin' Hopkins, John Lee Hooker
and Muddy Waters.
Playing the guitar was an outlet for him; a method for reaching his inner
self, his spirituality, and also to communicate with his dreams and nightmares.
John Campbell's music had a dark side. His songs often deal
with jealousy, revenge, betrayal, death and spiritual torment. The blues was his
way of exorcising inner demons. Standing like a gladiator and armed only with
his guitar and a few trusted mojos, he threw down a gauntlet in the darkness.
Life may be a fiery inferno filled with pain, grief, and disappointment, but
John Campbell never gave in. On every recording and at every performance he
played it raw and without apology.
(Exerpt used with permission of Thomas Geiger devilinmycloset.net)
He was one of those musicians that left you awed. His vocals were powerful
and his guitar playing was extremely firey. When your hear him, you stop what
you’re doing and listen, sort of mesmerized. His music will mark his legacy.
Campbell's slide work on his steel-bodied guitar will forever bring out the
mystical and spiritual world he possessed. It will also serve as a sad epitaph
to the brilliance that John Campbell held and the rest of the world will
never know.
John
Campbell