The Johnny Otis Show’s “Watts Breakaway” gets downright Funky with well-placed loopage by Genghis Than:
Ioannis Alexandres Veliotes, aka Johnny Otis, was a composer, musician, early disc jockey and more, not to mention he “discovered” the likes of Hank Ballard and Etta James, dropping all kinds of Funky trinkets in his wake from Big Band and Swing to Jazz and Funky Soul.
And thanks to Genghis Than (@genghisthan) for the DOPE edit, definitely peep his YouTube channel for more.
Some background on Johnny Otis from his official website:
Johnny Otis was born December 28, 1921 in Vallejo, California. He grew up in a predominantly black neighborhood in Berkeley, California, where his father owned and operated a neighborhood grocery store. He began his musical career in 1939 as a drummer with Count Otis Matthew’s West Oakland House Rockers. In 1943, at the recommendation of Nat “King” Cole and Jimmy Witherspoon, he moved to Los Angeles to join Harlan Leonard’s Kansas City Rockets at the Club Alabam. By 1945 he was leading his own band, and had his first big hit that year with “Harlem Nocturne”. In 1948 he joined with Bardu and Tila Ali, and Johnny Miller to open The Barrelhouse in Los Angeles, which was the first nightclub to feature Rhythm & Blues exclusively.
