Lazy Lester

Lazy Lester

Lazy Lester (Leslie Carswell Johnson) is an American blues singer, harmonica player, guitarist and songwriter from Torras, Louisiana. Born in 1933 and active from the 1950s until his death in 2018, he works mainly in blues, Louisiana blues and swamp blues.

Early career and Excello recordings

In the mid-1950s, Lester is on the edges of the Louisiana blues scene. His career gathers momentum after he meets Lightnin' Slim on a bus travelling to an Excello recording session. When the intended harmonica player does not arrive, Lester says he can play the instrument and is recorded. That session leads producer Jay Miller to record him as a solo artist and to use him as a multi-instrumentalist on other sessions, where he plays percussion, guitar, bass and harmonica for artists including Slim Harpo. Miller gives him the name Lazy Lester because of his relaxed manner.

He becomes best known for regional hits recorded with Ernie Young’s Nashville-based Excello Records. During this period he also contributes to recordings by other Excello artists, including Slim Harpo, Lightnin' Slim and Katie Webster.

Songwriting and cover versions

Lester is particularly associated with songs such as "I'm a Lover Not a Fighter," "I Hear You Knockin'" and "Sugar Coated Love." He says he writes these songs, although most are credited to Miller or to Lester and Miller. He also says he receives little royalty income from them, which leaves him suspicious of the music industry. Cover versions of his songs appear in the repertoires of artists including the Kinks, the Flamin' Groovies, Freddy Fender, Dwight Yoakam, Dave Edmunds, Raful Neal, Anson Funderburgh and the Fabulous Thunderbirds.

Later years, recordings and recognition

By the late 1960s, Lester has left the music industry and works manual labour while also fishing. He later moves to Pontiac, Michigan, and lives with Slim Harpo’s sister. In 1971, Fred Reif arranges a Lightnin' Slim concert at the University of Chicago Folk Festival, and Lester travels from Louisiana to accompany him. After that appearance, he returns to Louisiana. Later, when Reif and Lester are both in Michigan, Reif helps to organise a comeback.

From the late 1980s onwards, Lester records new albums and performs in the United States and abroad, often backed by blues bands including Loaded Dice. His later recordings appear on Alligator and Telarc, as well as on releases in Europe. He also records with and is backed by musicians including Mike Buck, Sue Foley, Gene Taylor, Kenny Neal, Lucky Peterson and Jimmie Vaughan.

Recognition and later appearances

Lester receives a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Boston Blues Society in 2002. In 2003, Martin Scorsese includes him in a blues tribute concert at Radio City Music Hall, later released as the film and album Lightning in a Bottle. He appears in the group photograph in that release alongside B.B. King, Solomon Burke, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Buddy Guy, Levon Helm, Chuck D, the Neville Brothers, Dr. John, John Fogerty and Aerosmith.

He appears in the 2015 documentary film I Am the Blues. In 2012, he performs a special double-header concert with British blues singer Dani Wilde as part of Gloucester Rhythm and Blues Festival. He also appears in a nationally aired Geico Insurance television commercial in 2018. Lester lives in Paradise, California, with his girlfriend, and dies in August 2018.