This record cover makes one yearn for the Seventies: Those were the times - no arty-farty covers, give the people what they want! Alas, it's all too misleading: First of all, this album wasn't recorded in the 70s. It was initially released in 1963 with the title "The Blues Soul Of...", then in 1967 as "I Cried For You" and in the 90's as "...Plays Misty" and again as "Witchcraft": 5 different editions, 5 different titles and covers. They must have thought that if they keep changing the package, someone will eventually buy it. Judging from the title and aesthetic, this 1978 edition seems to be trying to exploit the artist's success in the Funk/Dance scene of the 70's, but this isn't Disco Watson or even Blues Watson (remember his hit "Gangster Of Love", covered by Steve Miller and Jimmy Hendrix?). Hell, it isn't Guitar Watson at all, because there isn't a single guitar note in the whole album! Now, isn't that misleading when you call yourself Johnny "Guitar" Watson and put the picture of a girl making love to a guitar on the cover? Well, although it is weird for an urban blues label like Chess Records to put out an easy listening jazz album with songs made famous by the likes of Frank Sinatra, it's not a bad record per se. The 8 jazz standards on the album are well played by a small band with an excellent pianist. Two of them are instrumentals ("I'll Remember April" and "Misty"), one blues (Lowell Fulson's "Reconsider Baby") and the rest classic crooner material. Johnny Watson sings well enough, but why would you choose him over Frankie, Billie Holiday or Louis Armstrong? Well, probably because this is a record cover you can also frame and hang on your wall...
**** for Reconsider Baby
*** for Witchcraft, I Cried For You, Exactly Like You, When Did You Leave Heaven, Misty
** for I'll Remember April, Polka Dots And Moonbeams
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