Lonnie Johnson, one of the earliest and most influential guitar stars from the 1920's, came to Arizona in the fall of 1947 to play several weeks worth of shows in both Tucson and Phoenix.

Lonnie was on the verge of a renewed popularity when he began a two-week stint at Jimmy's Chicken Shack in Tucson, followed by a trip to Phoenix to play the Riverside Ballroom and at Elks Home.

It was on Halloween night, 1947, when Lonnie began playing in Tucson at Jimmy's Chicken Shack, 275 S. Meyer St. The venue, long since demolished, sat just across the street from the historic Ferrin House building where today sits, The Coronet Restaurant. The club owner was Jimmy Mitchell, the charismatic promoter and M.C. who brought acts not only to his own establishment but to Phoenix as well, including Lonnie's appearances there. Lonnie’s Tucson revue was billed as "A Night In Harlem" and featured two backing bands, Mike Lacy and his Chocolate Dandies (no relation to the Chocolate Dandies that Lonnie recorded with in 1928), and tenor saxophone player Bob Milligan and his All-Stars featuring the musicians, Don Brown, El Bazy and Fess Jackson (likely piano, bass and drums). Also appearing were singer Inez Coleman ("300 lbs of rhythm") and tap dancer Frances Nealy.

On November 14th Lonnie scored an exceptional Friday night booking in Phoenix at Riverside Ballroom, "Home of Name Bands", where they advertised him not only as "The World's Greatest Guitar Player" but also as "The World's Greatest Recording Artist". "A Night In Harlem" continued in Phoenix at William H. Patterson Elks Lodge #477. A review of the "Elks Home" show appeared in Phoenix's black newspaper, Arizona Sun, declaring that "the crowd was thrilled from the very first curtain until the show was over; every number was encored." 75 years later, while the Riverside Ballroom and Park was finally demolished several decades ago, The Elks still occupy the building at 1007 S 7th Ave, and it is listed on the Phoenix Historic Property Register.

Just a month later, Lonnie signed with King Records, travelling to their headquarters in Cincinnati, OH on December 10th, 1947 to make his initial recordings for the label including his classic, "Tomorrow Night", which soon topped the R&B charts for 7 weeks eventually selling over 3 million copies.

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