Johnny Temple (October 18, 1906 – November 22, 1968) was an American

Chicago blues Chicago blues is a form of blues music developed in Chicago, Illinois. It is based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues, but performed in an urban style. It developed alongside the Great Migration of the first half of the twentieth cent ...

guitarist and singer, who was active in the 1930s and 1940s. He was variously billed as Johnny Temple, Johnnie Temple and Johnnie "Geechie" Temple.

Life and career

Temple was born in

Canton, Mississippi Canton is a city in Madison County, Mississippi, Madison County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 13,189 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is the county seat of Madison County, and situated in the northern part of th ...

, and grew up around

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

. He learned to play guitar and mandolin as a child and began playing house parties as a teenager. While in Jackson he befriended

Skip James Nehemiah Curtis "Skip" James (June 9, 1902October 3, 1969) was an American Delta blues singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter. AllMusic stated: "This emotional, lyrical performer was a talented blues guitarist and arranger with an impressive ...

. He moved to Chicago in the early 1930s and started playing with

Joe McCoy Wilbur "Kansas Joe" McCoy (May 11, 1905 – January 28, 1950) was an American Delta blues singer, musician and songwriter. Career McCoy performed under various stage names but is best known as Kansas Joe McCoy. Born in Raymond, Mississippi, h ...

in clubs. Temple began recording songs such as "The Evil Devil Blues" and "Lead Pencil Blues" in 1935. His most popular record, "Louise Louise Blues," released by

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

, was a

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

in 1936.Santelli, Robert (2001). ''The Big Book of Blues''. Penguin Books. page 454. . The

Harlem Hamfats The Harlem Hamfats was a Chicago jazz band formed in 1936. Initially, they mainly provided backup music for jazz and blues singers, such as Johnny Temple, Rosetta Howard, and Frankie Jaxon, for Decca Records. Their first record, "Oh! Red", be ...

, a Chicago

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

band formed in 1936, provided backup music for Temple and other singers. By 1940, Decca had released two dozen of his records. Temple continued

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...

with various labels through most of the 1940s. His connection with the record producer

Mayo Williams Jay Mayo "Ink" Williams (September 25, 1894 – January 2, 1980) was a pioneering African-American producer of recorded blues music. Some historians have claimed that Ink Williams earned his nickname by his ability to get the signatures of t ...

provided him with recording opportunities until 1949. After World War II, Temple played an important role in welcoming blues musicians who arrived from the South. Though his recording career ended, he continued to perform gigs, often alongside

Big Walter Horton Walter Horton (April 6, 1921 – December 8, 1981), known as Big Walter (Horton) or Walter 'Shakey' Horton, was an American blues harmonica player. A quiet, unassuming, shy man, he is remembered as one of the premier harmonica players in the hi ...

and

Billy Boy Arnold William "Billy Boy" Arnold (born September 16, 1935, Chicago, Illinois) AllMusic biography">AllMusic.html" ;"title="AllMusic">AllMusic biography/ref> is an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter. Arnold is a self-taught harmonica p ...

. He returned to Mississippi in the mid-1950s, where he continued to perform in clubs and juke joints in and around Jackson. Temple eventually gave up the blues to become a minister. He died of cancer on November 22, 1968, aged 62, in Jackson.

Discography

Selected discography

References

External links

* Johnny "Geechie" Temple (All-Music Guide)
Illustrated Johnny Temple discography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Temple, Johnny 1906 births 1968 deaths American blues singers American blues guitarists American male guitarists American blues pianists American male pianists African-American guitarists Chicago blues musicians East Coast blues musicians Deaths from cancer in Mississippi Blues musicians from Mississippi 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century African-American male singers Guitarists from Illinois Guitarists from Mississippi 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American pianists African-American pianists