JESSIE JOHNSON'S RETURN!

I received a new release by The Time guitarist, Jesse Johnson the other day called "Verbal Penetration (Vol. I & II)". I am not sure if this project will ever make it to wide release, but it's a great find for fans of the 80's band. If you remember, Jesse had success with "Be Your Man" and to a lesser extent "Can You Help Me" and "I Want My Girl". It seemed that his future as a solo artist would be solidified but, for some reason, the solo thing never clicked for Jesse Johnson unlike his band mates, Morris Day and the production mega-team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Verbal Penetration features the single "UandIRWeRUs", which almost has a Curtis Mayfield feel to it. UandIRWeRUs, is full-bodied and nicely layered. Although the title is strange, there is a message in the words, putting thought into the lyrical content. The unfortunate thing is that without a hot name or big label this hidden gem will most likely be swallowed up in the sea of Christmas Music and the holiday push of higher grossing artists. 

 

If you are a fan of great guitar work, decent vocals and a cool little groove, you'll want to check UandIRWeRUs out for your digital archives. I wasn't able to get the full feel of Verbal Penetration, but from the tracks made available to me another standout was "Sheila Rae" a nice, light although slightly dated sounding ode to this special woman. The weakest of the batch is the title track "Verbal Penetration," which isn't bad but a little dated. Do a Google search or parose Bing or Ping for Jesse Johnson's Verbal Penetration!