Jesse Johnson — Jesse Johnson’s Revue/ Shockadelica/ Every Shade

Here’s a two-CD set bringing together the first three 1980 albums of US funk/ R&B/ Soul artist Jesse Johnson, whose early work has a very Prince-like sound/feel- though he did start to step outside of this. Featured here are Jesse Johnson's Revue (1985), Shockadelica (1986), and Every Shade Of Love (1988) plus bonus tracks- which all first appeared on A&M Records.

The two-disc set appears on Robin Songs- which is the Funk/Soul/ etc label of Cherry Red Records. The CDs come presented in a clear jewel case. Included is a twelve-page inlay booklet- this features a seven-page write-up about Mr Johnson & the albums to hand by  Mojo/ Record Collectors Charles Waring.

Jesse Johnson was born in the year 1960 in  Rock Island, Illinois.  At the age of he moved to East St. Louis, Illinois, to be brought up by foster parents- as his folks had split up. By the age of sixteen, he had moved back to Rock Island to live with his father Jackwood Johnson. Around this time Jesse started playing guitar, honing his chops in local rock bands such as Treacherous Funk, Pilot, and Dealer, throughout his teens and early twenties. On the recommendation of Robbie Muskeyvalley (of the band Midnight Express ), he moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1981. Here he met Morris Day and played briefly in Day's band Enterprise. He then became the lead guitarist for The Time, a funk rock group formed by Prince.

Prince penned all of The Time’s material- but in 1984 Jesse left the band, signing a solo contract with A&M Records. In all he released five albums- Jesse Johnson's Revue (1985), Shockadelica (1986), Every Shade Of Love (1988) Bare My Naked Soul (1996), and Verbal Penetration ( 2009).

So the first disc opens with the eight tracks from his debut album Jesse Johnson's Revue. It kicks off with “Be Your Man” which is built around a slamming bass tone ‘n’ snapping beat backdrop. These are topped with sassy key vamps,  subtle funk guitar tones, and Jesse's vocals- and it’s fair to say that you could (almost) take it as a Prince B-side, as everything from the vocals, the instrumentation, and programming sounds like Prince of the mid 80’s. As we move through the album we do get a few tracks that (semi) break from Prince-template- there’s synth soul ballard “I Want My Girl” which features some nice subtle emotive guitar tones/ soloing. Or the snapping electro-soul pop of “Can You Help Me”, which gave me a Jermaine Stewart vibe- with a rocking ‘n’ soaring guitar solo stuck on the end. It’s not to say  Jesse Johnson's Revue is a bad debut- as the song arrangements for the six-piece band are well done, as is the production & we get some quite memorable tunes- the problem is too much of it sounds a bit too close to comfort to the Purple one.

So on the second half of disc one/ beginning of disc two, we have 1986 Shockadelica. This featured ten tracks, and while his vocals still ( at points)  sound a fair bit like Prince at the mid-range of his delivery- the tracks (largely) have their own identity. There’s rapid funk bass twang, synthetic horn sassy ‘n’ swoon, and wavering female backing vocals of  “Crazy”.  We have the choppily grooving electro soul meets funk guitar strut of “ She( I Can’t Resist). There’s the mid-paced funk stroll meet urgent harmonic keyboard climb of “Tonite”. With the album playing out with the strumming clean guitar & rising synth strings of “Black In America”. As follow-ups go Shockadelica is not bad, and as I mentioned earlier he is slowly but surely coming out of the big purple shadow of Prince.

So next we have Every Shade Of Love, and it’s eight tracks. It moves from sailing/ wailing rock guitar meets juddering ‘n’ snapping electro beats/ keys of “So Misunderstood” which features a purely female-based chorus. There’s the title track which is all cutely groovy snapping bass lines, tick-tocking beats, and subtle horn playfulness. We have mid-paced funk soul meets strutting/ ringing guitar tones of “I’m Just Wanting You”.   I’d say of the three albums here this is the most distinctive- with some rather nice memorable songcraft, and grooves on offer.

The second CD is finished off with four bonus tracks- taking extended mixes/ remixes, and Jesse's contribution to the soundtrack of John Hughes's classic 80’s teen drama The Breakfast Club.

So, in finishing, I’d say you’ll have to have some love for Prince to enjoy this three-album collection- as there is no doubt he was seriously influenced by the great purple one. But as the albums went by he started to find his own voice/ sound- sure it still features Prince moments, but he certainly managed to stand on his own feet in the second & third albums here.