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((Short description|American blues harmonica player (1933–2018)))
((Use American English|date=November 2022))
((Use mdy dates|date=November 2022))
((More citations needed|date=August 2018))
((Infobox musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Musicians -->
| name             = Lazy Lester
| image            = Lazy Lester in 2004 (cropped).jpg
| caption          = Lester in 2004
| birth_name       = Leslie Johnson
| alias            =
| birth_date       = ((birth date|1933|6|20))
| birth_place      = [[Torras, Louisiana]], U.S.
| death_date       = ((death date and age|2018|08|22|1933|06|20))
| death_place      = [[Paradise, California]], U.S.
| instrument       = Harmonica, vocals, guitar
| genre            = [[Swamp blues]], [[harmonica blues]], [[Louisiana blues]]
| occupation       = Musician
| years_active     =
| associated_acts  = [[Lightnin' Slim]]
| website          =
))

'''Leslie Johnson''' (June 20, 1933 – August 22, 2018),<ref name="amg" /><ref>((cite web|url=http://blues.about.com/od/bluesartistsel/p/blprollester.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060411182952/http://blues.about.com/od/bluesartistsel/p/blprollester.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 11, 2006|title=Lazy Lester – Swamp Blues Pioneer – Blues Profile – Biography|date=April 11, 2006|access-date=August 23, 2018))</ref> better known as '''Lazy Lester''', was an American [[blues]] musician who sang and played the harmonica and guitar. In a career spanning the 1950s to 2018, he pioneered [[swamp blues]],<ref name=Slotnik>((cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/24/obituaries/lazy-lester-bluesman-dead.html |title=Lazy Lester, Luminary of Swamp Blues, Is Dead at 85 |last=Slotnik |first=Daniel E|date=August 24, 2018 |work=The New York Times |access-date=September 6, 2022))</ref> and also played [[harmonica blues]], [[rhythm and blues]] and [[Louisiana blues]].<ref name="amg" />

Best known for regional hits recorded with Ernie Young's [[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]]-based [[Excello Records]], Lester also contributed to songs recorded by other Excello artists, including [[Slim Harpo]], [[Lightnin' Slim]], and [[Katie Webster]]. Cover versions of his songs have been recorded by (among others) the [[The Kinks|Kinks]], the [[The Flamin' Groovies|Flamin' Groovies]], [[Freddy Fender]], [[Dwight Yoakam]], [[Dave Edmunds]], [[Raful Neal]], [[Anson Funderburgh]], and the [[The Fabulous Thunderbirds|Fabulous Thunderbirds]]. In the comeback stage of his career (since the late 1980s), he recorded new albums backed by [[Mike Buck (musician)|Mike Buck]], [[Sue Foley]], [[Gene Taylor (pianist)|Gene Taylor]], [[Kenny Neal]], [[Lucky Peterson]], and [[Jimmie Vaughan]].

== Biography ==
Leslie Johnson<ref name="bare">((cite book| first1= Bob| last1= Eagle| first2= Eric S.| last2= LeBlanc| year= 2013| title= Blues: A Regional Experience| publisher= Praeger| location= Santa Barbara, California| pages=179 | isbn= 978-0-313-34423-7))</ref><ref name="russell">((cite book
| first= Tony
| last= Russell
| year= 1997
| title= The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray
| edition=
| publisher= Carlton Books
| location= Dubai
| page= 133
| isbn= 1-85868-255-X))</ref> started playing the guitar around age 11 and began performing in his teens around Baton Rouge with [[Raful Neal]], later co-founding the Rhythm Rockers.<ref>((Cite book|last=Tomko|first=Gene|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5ZKzDwAAQBAJ|title=Encyclopedia of Louisiana Musicians: Jazz, Blues, Cajun, Creole, Zydeco, Swamp Pop, and Gospel|publisher=Louisiana State University Press|year=2020|isbn=978-0-8071-6932-2|location=Baton Rouge|pages=154))</ref> In the mid-1950s, Lester was on the margins of the [[Louisiana blues]] scene. According to ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' (February 2006), [[Buddy Guy]], before moving to Chicago, had played in Louisiana with some of the old masters: [[Lightnin' Hopkins]], Lazy Lester, [[Slim Harpo]]. When Guy left for Chicago, in 1957, Lester replaced him, on guitar, in a local band – even though Lester, at that time, did not own such an instrument.

Lester's career took off when he found a seat next to [[Lightnin' Slim]] on a bus transporting Slim to an Excello recording session. At the studio, the scheduled harmonica player did not appear. Slim and Lester spent the afternoon unsuccessfully trying to find him, when Lester volunteered that he could play the harmonica. Lester's work on that first Lightnin' Slim session led the producer, [[J. D. "Jay" Miller|Jay Miller]], to record Lester as solo artist and also to use him as a multi-instrumentalist on percussion, guitar, bass, and harmonica in sessions headlined by other artists whose recordings were produced by Miller, including, notably, Slim Harpo.<ref name="LarkinBlues">((cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Guinness Who's Who of Blues]]|editor=[[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]]|publisher=[[Guinness Publishing]]|date=1995|edition=Second|isbn=0-85112-673-1|pages=230/2))</ref> 'Percussion' on these sessions went beyond the traditional [[drum kit]] and included a rolled-up newspaper striking a cardboard box.<ref name="amg">((cite web|author=Dahl, Bill |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/lazy-lester-mn0000123082/biography |title=Lazy Lester: Biography |publisher=[[AllMusic]].com |date=June 20, 1933 |access-date=August 13, 2015))</ref> Miller dubbed Lester "Lazy Lester" because of his laconic, laid-back style.<ref name="amg" />

More than his vocal delivery, Lester is best remembered for songs that were later covered by a wide range of [[rock music|rock]], [[country music|country]], [[blues]], and [[Tejano music|Tex-Mex]] stars, chiefly, "I'm a Lover Not a Fighter," "I Hear You Knockin',"<!--NOT the Dave Bartholomew song, recorded by Smiley Lewis, Dave Edmonds, et al.--> and "Sugar Coated Love".<ref name="LarkinBlues" />

Lester stated that he wrote these songs, but almost all are credited to Miller or to Lester and Miller. Lester also stated he received few [[royalties]], which embittered him and made him skeptical of the music industry. By the late 1960s, he had given up on the music industry,<ref name="LarkinBlues" /> working manual labor and pursuing his favorite hobby – fishing. Lester eventually moved to [[Pontiac, Michigan]], living with Slim Harpo's sister.

In 1971, Fred Reif set up a Lightnin' Slim concert at the University of Chicago Folk Festival, and Lester was brought up from Louisiana to accompany him. A few weeks after that performance, Lester was back in Louisiana. Years later, Reif and Lester were both in Michigan, from where Reif orchestrated a comeback. Lester recorded and played around the United States and abroad, backed by blues bands, including, frequently, Loaded Dice.
[[File:Lazy Lester.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Lester in 1997]]
Lester's recordings in this period were on blues labels [[Alligator Records|Alligator]] and [[Telarc Records|Telarc]], alongside releases in Europe (primarily on the British label, [[Flyright Records]]).<ref name="Wirz"/>

In September 2002, he was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Boston Blues Society.((Citation needed|date=December 2009))

In 2003, [[Martin Scorsese]] included Lester in his blues tribute concert at [[Radio City Music Hall]], a record of which was released as the film and album ''Lightning in A Bottle''. The group photograph inside the album depicted Lester grinning, dead-center among peers and musical progeny including [[B.B. King]], [[Solomon Burke]], [[Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown]], [[Buddy Guy]], [[Levon Helm]], [[Chuck D]], the [[The Neville Brothers|Neville Brothers]], [[Dr. John]], [[John Fogerty]], and [[Aerosmith]].

Lester lived in [[Paradise, California]], with his girlfriend,<ref>((cite web|url=http://www.lazylester.net/index.cfm?do=biography |title=Lazy Lester |website=LazyLester.net |date=|access-date=August 13, 2015))</ref> and appeared in the 2015 documentary film ''[[I Am the Blues (film)|I Am the Blues]]''.<ref>[http://exclaim.ca/music/article/here_are_6_must-see_music_films_at_hot_docs "Here Are 6 Must-See Music Films at Hot Docs"]. ''[[Exclaim!]]'', April 19, 2016.</ref>

Lester continued to perform nationally and abroad into 2018, often returning to Louisiana where he regularly shared the stage with [[Lil Buck Senegal|Lil' Buck Sinegal]], [[Carol Fran]], and [[Kenny Neal]]. In the same year, he appeared and performed in a television commercial aired nationally for Geico Insurance.<ref>((cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNFbmyKqLfI|title=Lazy Lester Riffs on The Gecko |date=June 26, 2018|access-date=August 23, 2018|via=[[YouTube]]))</ref>

Lester died of cancer on August 22, 2018, at the age of 85.<ref>((cite web|url=https://www.americanbluesscene.com/blues-hall-of-famer-lazy-lester-dead-at-85/|title=Blues Hall of Famer Lazy Lester Dead at 85 – American Blues Scene|first=JD|last=Nash|date=August 23, 2018 |website=Americanbluescene.com|access-date=August 23, 2018))</ref>

==Selected discography==
* ''True Blues'' – 1967, [[Excello Records|Excello]]
* ''Lazy Lester Rides Again'' – 1987, King Snake
* ''Harp & Soul'' – 1988, [[Alligator Records|Alligator]] (featuring [[Lucky Peterson]], [[Kenny Neal]])
* ''Lazy Lester'' – 1989, Flyright (previously unreleased Excello session takes from the 1960's)
* ''I'm a Lover Not a Fighter'' – 1994, [[Ace Records (United Kingdom)|Ace Records]]
* ''I Hear You Knockin': Best of the Excello Singles'' – 1994, Excello/AVI Records
* ''All Over You'' – 1998, [[Antone's Record Label|Antone's]] (recorded 1997; featuring Derek O'Brien, [[Sue Foley]], [[Sarah Brown (actress)|Sarah Brown]], Mike Buck)
* ''Lazy Lester'' – 2000, APO (6-song audiophile 12" EP; recorded October 12–13; featuring [[Henry Gray]], [[Jimmy D. Lane]])
* ''Superharps II'' – 2001, Telarc (co-billed with [[Carey Bell]], [[Raful Neal]], [[Snooky Pryor]])
* ''Blues Stop Knockin' '' – 2001, Antone's (featuring [[Jimmie Vaughan]])
* ''Blues On My Radio'' – 2004, SWMAF (featuring [[Louisiana Red]])
* ''Family Meeting'' – 2008, Ruf – [[double album]] by Wentus Blues Band
* ''One More Once'' – 2010, Karonte/Cambaya (produced by [[Mike Vernon (record producer)|Mike Vernon]])
* ''You Better Listen'' – 2011, Bluestown (recorded in Notodden, Norway)
* "New Orleans" - 2011, (featuring Maurice 'Big Mo' Huffman) on Huffman's album ''Torn''<ref>((Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/lazy-lester-mn0000123082/discography/all|title=Lazy Lester Albums and Discography|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=June 26, 2023))</ref><ref name="Wirz">((Cite web|url=https://www.wirz.de/music/lazylest.htm|title=Illustrated Lazy Lester discography|website=Wirz.de|access-date=June 26, 2023))</ref>

==See also==
* [[Blues harp]]
* [[List of harmonica blues musicians]]
* [[List of harmonicists]]
* [[List of swamp blues musicians]]
* [[Music of Louisiana]]
* [[San Francisco Blues Festival]]
* [[The Southern Legends Entertainment & Performing Arts Hall of Fame]]

==References==
((Reflist))

==External links==
* ((allMusic))
* [http://www.enjoythemusic.com/blues_masters_at_the_crossroads_2014/Joe_Beard_Lazy_Lester_Marquise_Knox.htm 2014 Blues Masters at the Crossroads performance] accompanied by [[Marquise Knox]]
* [https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/lazy-lester-johnson Lazy Lester talks about the guitar being the love of his life – NAMM Oral History Library (2006)]
* [http://www.bluesreviews.it/lazy-lester-i-hear-you-knockin/ Lazy Lester, I Hear You Knockin'] at BluesReviews ((In lang|it))
* [http://www.bluesreviews.it/lazy-lester-blues-stop-knockin/ Lazy Lester, Blues Stop Knockin'] at BluesReviews ((In lang|it))

((Authority control))

((DEFAULTSORT:Lester, Lazy))
[[Category:1933 births]]
[[Category:2018 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American musicians]]
[[Category:20th-century American guitarists]]
[[Category:20th-century American male musicians]]
[[Category:Alligator Records artists]]
[[Category:American blues guitarists]]
[[Category:American blues harmonica players]]
[[Category:American blues singers]]
[[Category:American male guitarists]]
[[Category:American male singers]]
[[Category:American male songwriters]]
[[Category:Blues musicians from Louisiana]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in California]]
[[Category:Deaths from stomach cancer]]
[[Category:Excello Records artists]]
[[Category:Guitarists from Louisiana]]
[[Category:Harmonica blues musicians]]
[[Category:People from Paradise, California]]
[[Category:People from Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana]]
[[Category:Singers from Louisiana]]
[[Category:Songwriters from Louisiana]]
[[Category:Swamp blues musicians]]

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