Music
Johnnie Bassett
1935–2012 · blues guitarist, singer, songwriter
Detroit-raised blues guitarist who played on Fortune Records sessions in the 1950s and, late in life, became the city's elder statesman of jump blues.
- Born
Marianna, Florida- Died
Detroit, Michigan
aged 76- Birth name
- Johnnie Alexander Bassett
- Detroit years
- 1944–2012
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Bassett's family moved from Florida to Detroit in 1944, and as a young man he played guitar in Joe Weaver and the Bluenotes, backing touring stars such as Big Joe Turner and Ruth Brown. After Army service he became a session guitarist for Fortune Records, playing behind Nolan Strong and the Diablos and Andre Williams, and he also played on the Miracles' 1958 debut single. He spent most of the 1960s in Seattle, working with Tina Turner and Little Willie John, then returned to Detroit. Only in the 1990s did he lead his own band and record under his own name; Cadillac Blues (1998) drew five W. C. Handy Award nominations, and a Grosse Pointe concert led Mack Avenue Records to sign him. For years he played a weekly gig at the Northern Lights Lounge. He died of cancer in 2012, and a headstone was placed on his grave at Detroit Memorial Park in 2022.
Highlights
- Guitarist with Joe Weaver and the Bluenotes in the 1950s
- Session player for Fortune Records (Nolan Strong, Andre Williams)
- Cadillac Blues (1998) earned five W. C. Handy Award nominations
- The Gentleman Is Back (2009) on Detroit's Mack Avenue Records
- Detroit Blues Society Lifetime Achievement Award (1994)
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 3
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Recorded here · late 1950s
Fortune Records
Demolished · 1956–1995
Bassett played guitar on Fortune sessions for Nolan Strong and the Diablos and Andre Williams.
Performed here · 2000s–2012
Northern Lights Lounge
New Center lounge where Bassett and his band played a weekly gig in his last years.
Buried here · 2012
Detroit Memorial Park East
Bassett's grave received a headstone from the Killer Blues Headstone Project in April 2022.