Sum’ Mo’ Chikan begins with “Freddy’s Thang,” a primer in the blues that led to Southern Rock. From there, James “Super Chikan” Johnson leads all the rock ‘n’ roller chicks home to roost at his feet.
I love how Chikan tells stories, especially involving his Mama. On the beginning of “Crystal Ball Eyes,” he talks about not wanting to eat dinner one night as a kid because he was afraid that his Mama had cooked up his rooster. His Wolfman Jack-like version of his Mama’s voice is tremendous. Then there’s “Hookin’ Up” about the young Chikan wanting to yodel. It’s a Bo Diddley rhythm where his Mama tells him to stop trying to yodel like Roy Acuff and instead yodel like John Lee Hooker—“A-haw haw haw haw/Boom boom boom boom.”
The variety of sounds that Chikan gets out of his unique, handmade chik-can-tars spans the electric blues sound—Mississippi, New Orleans, Memphis, and Chicago. It’s a talking guitar; it’s a walking guitar. There’s shuffle steps, and there’s smooth soul. All of this wraps itself into a sound that Super Chikan can call his own—polished, familiar, warm, rich, soulful, and from the core.
