Pete Johnson (born Kermit H. Johnson, March 25, 1904 – March 23, 1967) was an American

boogie-woogie Boogie-woogie is a genre of blues music that became popular during the late 1920s, developed in African-American communities since 1870s.Paul, Elliot, ''That Crazy American Music'' (1957), Chapter 10, p. 229. It was eventually extended from pi ...

and

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 ...

pianist. Tony Russell stated in his book ''The Blues – From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray'' that "Johnson shared with the other members of the 'Boogie Woogie Trio' the technical virtuosity and melodic fertility that can make this the most exciting of all piano music styles, but he was more comfortable than

Meade Lux Lewis Anderson Meade Lewis (September 4, 1905 – June 7, 1964), known as Meade Lux Lewis, was an American pianist and composer, remembered for his playing in the boogie-woogie style. His best-known work, "Honky Tonk Train Blues", has been recorded by ...

in a band setting; and as an accompanist, unlike Lewis or Albert Ammons, he could sparkle but not outshine his singing partner". Scott Yanow for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, wrote: "Johnson was one of the three great boogie-woogie pianists", the others being Lewis and Ammons "whose sudden prominence in the late 1930s helped make the style very popular".

Biography

Johnson was born in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

. He was raised by his mother after his father deserted the family. Things got so bad financially, Pete was placed in an orphanage when he was three. He became so homesick, however, that he ran away and returned living at home. By the age of 12, he sought out work to ease some of the financial burden at home. He worked various jobs; in a factory, a print shop, and as a shoe-shiner. He dropped out of school in the fifth grade as a result of his efforts. Johnson began his musical career in 1922 as a drummer in Kansas City. He began piano about the same time he was learning the drums. His early piano practices took place in a church, where he was working as a water boy for a construction company. From 1926 to 1938, he worked as a pianist, often working with Big Joe Turner. An encounter with record producer John Hammond in 1936 led to an engagement at the

Famous Door The Famous Door was a jazz club on New York's 52nd Street. It opened in 1935 and was one of the major clubs on the street, hosting leading jazz musicians until 1950, through changes of location and periods of closure. History The Famous Door op ...

in New York City. In 1938, Johnson and Turner appeared in the ''

From Spirituals to Swing ''From Spirituals to Swing'' was the title of two concerts presented by John Hammond in Carnegie Hall on 23 December 1938 and 24 December 1939. The concerts included performances by Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Big Joe Turner and Pete Johnson, ...

'' concert at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

. After this show the popularity of the

style was on the upswing. Johnson worked locally and toured and recorded with Turner, Meade Lux Lewis, and Albert Ammons during this period. Ammons and Johnson appeared in the film short '' Boogie-Woogie Dream'' in 1941. The 1938 song "

Roll 'Em Pete "Roll 'Em Pete" is a blues song, originally recorded in December 1938 by Big Joe Turner and pianist Pete Johnson. The recording is regarded as one of the most important precursors of what later became known as rock and roll. "Roll 'Em Pete" was ...

" (composed by Johnson and Turner), featuring Turner on vocals and Johnson on piano, was one of the

first rock and roll record The origins of rock and roll are complex. Rock and roll emerged as a defined musical style in the United States in the early to mid-1950s. It derived most directly from the rhythm and blues music of the 1940s, which itself developed from earlie ...

s. Another self-referential title was their "Johnson and Turner Blues." In 1949, he also wrote and recorded "Rocket 88 Boogie," a two-sided instrumental, which influenced the 1951

Ike Turner Izear Luster "Ike" Turner Jr. (November 5, 1931 – December 12, 2007) was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, record producer, and talent scout. An early pioneer of 1950s rock and roll, he is best known for his work in the 1960s and ...

hit, "

Rocket 88 "Rocket 88" (originally stylized as Rocket "88") is a song that was first recorded in Memphis, Tennessee, in March 1951. The recording was credited to " Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats", who were actually Ike Turner and his Kings of Rhythm. T ...

". On three dates in January 1946, Johnson recorded an early

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

, ''Pete Johnson's Housewarmin’'', in which he starts out playing alone, supposedly in a new empty house, and is joined there by

J. C. Higginbotham J. (Jack) C. Higginbotham (May 11, 1906 – May 26, 1973) was an American jazz trombonist. His playing was robust and swinging. Biography He was born in Social Circle, Georgia, United States, and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. In the 1930s a ...

J. C. Heard James Charles Heard (August 10, 1917 – September 27, 1988) was an American swing, bop, and blues drummer. Biography Heard was born in Dayton, Ohio and was raised in Detroit, Michigan. As a young child, he performed as a tap dancer in a ...

, and other Kansas City players. The recording also included parts played by

Albert Nicholas Albert Nicholas (May 27, 1900 – September 3, 1973) was an American jazz clarinet player. Career Nicholas's primary instrument was the clarinet, which he studied with Lorenzo Tio in his hometown of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Late ...

Hot Lips Page Oran Thaddeus "Hot Lips" Page (January 27, 1908 – November 5, 1954) was an American jazz trumpeter, singer, and bandleader. He was known as a scorching soloist and powerful vocalist. Page was a member of Walter Page's Blue Devils, Artie Sha ...

Clyde Bernhardt Clyde Edric Barron Bernhardt (July 11, 1905 – May 20, 1986) was an American jazz trombonist. Bernhardt was born in Gold Hill, North Carolina, and raised there and in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He started playing trombone at age 17, and in th ...

Budd Johnson Albert J. "Budd" Johnson III (December 14, 1910 – October 20, 1984) was an American jazz saxophonist and clarinetist who worked extensively with, among others, Ben Webster, Benny Goodman, Big Joe Turner, Coleman Hawkins, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke ...

, and a young singer,

Etta Jones Etta Jones (November 25, 1928 – October 16, 2001) was an American jazz singer. Her best-known recordings are "Don't Go to Strangers" and "Save Your Love for Me". She worked with Buddy Johnson, Oliver Nelson, Earl Hines, Barney Bigard, Gene A ...

. Each has a solo cut backed by Johnson, and then the whole group plays a jam session together. On this album Johnson shows his considerable command of

stride piano Stride jazz piano, often shortened to stride, is a jazz piano style that arose from ragtime players. Prominent stride pianists include James P. Johnson, Willie "the Lion" Smith, Fats Waller, Luckey Roberts, Mrs Mills and Mary Lou Williams. ...

and his ability to work with a group. It was later re-released as ''Pete's Blues''. At a nightclub in

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Fall ...

, the piano was on a platform above the bar, and Johnson had to climb a ladder to get there. In 1950, he moved to Buffalo. He encountered some health and financial problems in this period, including losing part of a finger in an accident and being partially paralyzed by a stroke. Between January and October 1953, he was employed by an ice cream company washing trucks, but supplemented his income by performing in a trio which played at the Bamboo Room in Buffalo on weekends. Johnson experienced more of the same the following year. He washed cars at a mortuary for $25 a week. In July, however, an engagement came his way at the St. Louis Forest Park Hotel, a six-week residency as the pianist at the Circus Snack Bar. Some broadcasts were made on Saturday afternoons in a program called ''Saturday at the Chase''. Johnson was also privately recorded on July 20 and August 1, 1954, at a pair of house parties arranged at the home of Bill Atkinson, a close friend. Things remained somewhat bleak for the next four years, except for three appearances in 1955 at the Berkshire Music Barn in Lenox, Massachusetts. But he continued to record, and toured Europe in 1958 with the

Jazz at the Philharmonic Jazz at the Philharmonic, or JATP (1944–1983), was the title of a series of jazz concerts, tours and recordings produced by Norman Granz. Over the years, "Jazz at the Philharmonic" featured many of the era's preeminent musicians, including Lou ...

ensemble, despite the fact that he was feeling unwell. While in Europe he received an invitation to appear at the

Newport Jazz Festival The Newport Jazz Festival is an annual American multi-day jazz music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island. Elaine Lorillard established the festival in 1954, and she and husband Louis Lorillard financed it for many years. They hire ...

, which he did upon his return to the States, accompanying Big Joe Turner,

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...

and

Big Maybelle Mabel Louise Smith (May 1, 1924 – January 23, 1972), known professionally as Big Maybelle, was an American R&B singer. Her 1956 hit single " Candy" received the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1999. Childhood and musical background Born in J ...

. Johnson underwent a physical examination in August, which revealed a heart condition as well as diabetes. Several strokes followed, resulting in complete loss of mobility in both hands. Four years after the series of strokes he was still disabled and was beginning to lose his eyesight. ''Jazz Report'' magazine ran a series of record auctions to raise money for Johnson. In 1964, a longtime correspondent of his, Hans Maurer, published ''The Pete Johnson Story''. All sales proceeds went to Johnson. After an article appeared in a 1964 issue of '' Blues Unlimited'' detailing Johnson's difficulty in receiving royalty payments other than from

Blue Note In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical c ...

and Victor, in June, Johnson was accepted as a member of

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

, which finally ensured that some of the royalties would be received on a regular basis. His final live appearance was the ''Spirituals to Swing'' concert at Carnegie Hall in January 1967, his eighth and final appearance at this event. A review of the concert by

Dan Morgenstern Dan Morgenstern (born October 24, 1929) is a jazz writer, editor, archivist, and producer. He is the son of the German-language Jewish author Soma Morgenstern. Morgenstern was raised in Vienna and Copenhagen and arrived in the United States in ...

of '' DownBeat'': "Then for the concert's most moving moment, Lieberson (the MC) escorted Pete Johnson on stage and introduced him as one of the participants in the original ''Spirituals to Swing'' and the greatest boogie-woogie pianist. Johnson had suffered a series of paralytic strokes and had not played piano for many years. His old buddy, Turner, took him by the hand, and for a moment the two middle-aged men looked touchingly like little boys. Turner dedicated 'Roll 'Em Pete' to his old friend, as Lieberson and Johnson were about to leave the stage. Instead, they stopped and the pianist seated himself next to ayBryant at the piano and began to play the treble part of his old showpiece, Bryant handling the bass. Johnson was a bit shaky but game, gaining in confidence as the number built in intensity." Pete Johnson died two months later in Meyer Hospital, Buffalo, New York, in March 1967, at the age of 62.

Discography

Selected albums

* 1941 – ''

Boogie Woogie Boogie-woogie is a genre of blues music that became popular during the late 1920s, developed in African-American communities since 1870s.Paul, Elliot, ''That Crazy American Music'' (1957), Chapter 10, p. 229. It was eventually extended from pi ...

'' (compilation), Columbia C44 * 1941 – '' 8 to the Bar'', with Albert Ammons, RCA Victor * 1946 – ''Pete's Blues'', Savoy * 1970 – ''Boogie Woogie Mood (1940–1944)'', MCA * 1974 – ''Master of Blues and Boogie Woogie'',

Oldie Blues Oldie Blues was a Dutch record label founded and owned by Martin van Olderen. History The label was founded in 1974 and focused primarily on piano blues, boogie-woogie and Delta blues, issuing 46 LPs and 13 CDs.Wynn, Neil, ''Cross the Water Blu ...

* 1975 – ''Master of Blues and Boogie Woogie, Vol. 2'', Oldie Blues * 1982 – ''Master of Blues and Boogie Woogie, Vol. 3'', Oldie Blues * 1992 – ''King of Boogie'', Milan * 1993 – ''Central Avenue Boogie'', Delmark * 1996 – ''The Chronological Pete Johnson 1938–1939'', Classics * 1996 – ''The Chronological Pete Johnson 1939–1941'', Classics * 1997 – ''The Chronological Pete Johnson 1944–1946'', Classics * 1998 – ''Blues & Boogie Woogie Master 1938/1946'', EPM Musique * 1999 – ''Roll 'Em Pete'', Pearl * 1999 – ''St. Louis Parties of July 20 & August 1, 1954'', Document * 2000 – ''The Chronological Pete Johnson 1947–1949'', Classics * 2001 – ''Atomic Boogie: The National Recordings 1945–1947'', Savoy Jazz

Anthologies

* 1983 – ''Boogie Woogie'', Murray Hill three LPs collection, primarily from Columbia Records and its labels * 1994 – ''The Boogie Woogie Boys'', Magpie Records * 1995 – ''Boogie Woogie Giants'', Jazz Hour * 2005 – ''Boogie Woogie'', Membran (10 discs) * 2008 – ''Boogie Woogie and Blues Piano'', Mosaic Select 30, three discs

References

External links