.co.uk The RhinoSite

Biography

Ronnie Johnson  ronnie.htm

John Victor 'Rhino' Edwards
Ronnie Johnson
Rock-fusion virtuoso, and revered former Van Morrison 'Too Long in Exile' fretman,Johnson's 1990 solo project not only featured Rhino, but also songs contributed by him. There was also a cover of theFrank Zappa track 'Sofa' -Zappabeing a well-chronicled influence of a young Rhino. The almost entirely instrumental album was entitled 'Give 'em Enough Rope'. The sessions at MILL studios, and consequent 1990/91 live performances, gave us an almost entireSunday Band reunion, whenCharlie Morgan andIan Raines also lent their talents.   From the RhinoSite Archives Track Listing Give Them Enough Rope Gary Shaw Francine Burundi Brothers Mill Valley Days BBHC Livin' Sofa Little People No Middle Man The work for the album began in 1989, with Ronnie Johnson. The Iraqi war was looming, and became a social factor influencing the songs, especially the title track "Give them enough Rope". The album was recorded in a one week session at the Mill Studios in Cookham. A facility used by Elton John, Jimmy Page and Chris Rea, to name but a few. The studio's management team is led by Rod Halling who had previously worked with Rhino in the Spam Band. The engineer for the sessions was John Etchells, who remains one of the leading engineers in the UK. The personnel also included Charlie Morgan of Sunday Band, Judie Tzuke, Rhino! and Rhino's Revenge fame. All the tracks on the album are either first or second takes, with a live approach for sound. The album was released on Bridge Recordings in 1990. Although the album had little commercial success, the track 'Little People' was played extensively on Melody Radio, and the reviews rated the work highly, most notably Guitarist magazine. Japanese radio has played the track 'BBHC' to a fair extent, resulting in several hundred copies being sold by mail order to Japan, as well as including a cover of Frank Zappa's 'Sofa' making it irresistable to Zappa freaks the world over. In fact, its first release it sold around 2000 copies, and has now become something of a cult recording. Ronnie toured the World with Van Morrison, and has found fans bringing copies of the album for signing in places as diverse as Italy, Spain and Brazil. adapted from text by Andrew Brel
Brenda Cochrane	Ronnie Johnson	Spider!

Biography Index

© The RhinoSite 2003