Ain't That a Bitch

Ain’t That a Bitch is a funk album by the American musician Johnny "Guitar" Watson, whose long career influenced the development of blues, soul music, rhythm and blues, funk and rock music. It was recorded and released in 1976.[1]

For the Aerosmith song, see Nine Lives (Aerosmith album).
Ain’t That a Bitch
Studio album by
Johnny "Guitar" Watson
Released1976
Recorded1976
StudioParamount Recording Studios, Hollywood, California
GenreSoul, funk
LabelDJM DJLPA-3
ProducerJohnny Guitar Watson
Johnny "Guitar" Watson chronology
I Don’t Want to Be a Lone Ranger
(1975)		 Ain’t That a Bitch
(1976)		 Real Mother for Ya
(1977)

It was Watson's first successful funk album and contains a few of his best-known funk songs. It was certified as a Gold Record for sales of more than 500,000 copies.[2]

Critical reception

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Stephen Cook praised Ain't That Bitch, saying it "works beautifully as a first-disc choice for newcomers [to Watson], especially those who want to hear the '70s funk material."[3]

In 1998, The Wire included Ain't That a Bitch in their list of "100 Records That Set the World on Fire (While No One Was Listening)", where the staff described it as "the best-sounding funk album of all time", complimenting its futuristic lyrics (as on "Superman Lover") and "Watson's unerring ear for note placement" and praising its sound for being "as steely and urgently urban as Edgard Varèse, as slinky as Nat King Cole, as sharp and sassy as no one else in recorded history."[4]

Track listing
  • All tracks composed by Johnny "Guitar" Watson; except where indicated.

The original 1976 release track list is as follows:

  1. "I Need It" (4:46)
  2. "I Want to Ta-Ta You Baby" (5:49)
  3. "Superman Lover" (Reynaldo Rey, Watson) (5:44)
  4. "Ain't That a Bitch" (5:02)
  5. "Since I Met You Baby (3:30)
  6. "We're No Exception" (4:18)
  7. "Won't You Forgive Me Baby" (5:17)[1]

In 2003 the UK music company Sanctuary Records, under the Castle Records label, re-released and digitally remastered the album as a "Deluxe Expanded Edition" on compact disc. The track listing was the same, but with two bonus tracks:

  1. "I Need It" (7" single edit) (3:31)
  2. "Superman Lover" (7" single edit) (3:18)

In 2005 the American music company Shout! Factory Records also re-released the album on compact disc and on vinyl record. The track listing was the same as the original, but with two different bonus tracks:

  1. "Funkula" (4:20)
  2. "Follow Me" (4:36) (this instrumental was released in 1979 on the album Extra Disco Perception under his funk band name "The Watsonian Institute")

Personnel
Peter Martin (trumpet) and Paul Dunmall (tenor saxophone) – Johnny " * Guitar" Watson's orchestra in 1976
  • Johnny "Guitar" Watson – organ, synthesizer, bass, guitar, piano, conga, drums, keyboards and vocals
  • Paul Dunmall – saxophone
  • Peter Martin – trumpet
  • Tommy Robertson – trombone
  • Emry Thomas – drums, backing vocals, production assistant
  • Kerry McNabb – engineer[5]

Samples by other artists

Several tracks from the album have been sampled by other artists:

References
  1. Stephen Cook. "Ain't That a Bitch – Johnny "Guitar" Watson". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  2. "Billboard – Google Books". 18 June 1977. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  3. Cook, Stephen. "Ain't That a Bitch Review by Stephen Cook". AllMusic. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
  4. "100 Records That Set the World on Fire (While No One Was Listening)". The Wire. No. 175. September 1998.
  5. "Ain't That a Bitch – Johnny "Guitar" Watson | Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
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