Tommy Johnson (January 1896November 1, 1956)
was an American
Delta blues
Delta blues is one of the earliest-known styles of blues. It originated in the Mississippi Delta, and is regarded as a regional variant of country blues. Guitar and harmonica are its dominant instruments; slide guitar is a hallmark of the s ...
musician who recorded in the late 1920s and was known for his eerie
falsetto
''Falsetto'' (, ; Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave.
It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous ed ...
voice and intricate guitar playing.
He was unrelated to the blues musician
Robert Johnson
Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911August 16, 1938) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His landmark recordings in 1936 and 1937 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that has influenced later generati ...
.
Early life
Johnson was born near
Terry, Mississippi
Terry is a town in Hinds County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 1,063 at the 2010 census, up from 664 at the 2000 census. It is located along Interstate 55, about southwest of Jackson and located in Supervisors District Five of H ...
, and in about 1910 moved to
Crystal Springs, where he lived for most of his life.
He learned to play the guitar and, by 1914, was supplementing his income by playing at local parties with his brothers Major and LeDell. In 1916 Johnson married and moved to Webb Jennings' plantation near
Drew, Mississippi
Drew is a city in Sunflower County, Mississippi. The population was 1,927 at the 2010 census. Drew is in the vicinity of several plantations and the Mississippi State Penitentiary, a Mississippi Department of Corrections prison for men. It is note ...
, close to the
Dockery Plantation
Dockery Plantation was a cotton plantation and sawmill in Dockery, Mississippi, on the Sunflower River between Ruleville and Cleveland, Mississippi. It is widely regarded as the place where Delta blues music was born. Palmer, Robert (1981). '' ...
. There he met other musicians, including
Charlie Patton
Charley Patton (April 1891 (probable) – April 28, 1934), also known as Charlie Patton, was an American Delta blues musician and songwriter. Considered by many to be the "Father of the Delta Blues", he created an enduring body of American musi ...
and
Willie Brown.
["Tommy Johnson - Delta School"]
Career
By 1920, Johnson was an itinerant musician based in Crystal Springs but traveling widely around the South, sometimes accompanied by
Papa Charlie McCoy
Charles "Papa Charlie" McCoy (May 26, 1909 or 1911 – July 26, 1950) was an American Delta blues musician and songwriter.
Career
McCoy was born in Jackson, Mississippi. He was best known by his nickname, Papa Charlie. As a guitarist and mando ...
.
In 1928, he made his first recordings, with McCoy, for
Victor Records
The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer that operated independently from 1901 until 1929, when it was acquired by the Radio Corporation of America and subsequently operated as a subsidi ...
,
including "Canned Heat Blues", in which he sang of drinking
methanol
Methanol (also called methyl alcohol and wood spirit, amongst other names) is an organic chemical and the simplest aliphatic alcohol, with the formula C H3 O H (a methyl group linked to a hydroxyl group, often abbreviated as MeOH). It is a ...
from the cooking fuel
Sterno
Sterno is a brand of jellied, denatured alcohol sold in a can and meant to be burned directly in its can. Its primary uses are in food service for buffet heating, in the home for fondue, and as a chafing fuel for heating chafing dishes. Other use ...
.
The song features the refrain "canned heat, mama, sure, Lord, killing me." The blues group
Canned Heat
Canned Heat is an American band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1965. The group is noted for its efforts to promote interest in blues music and its original artists and rock music. It was founded by two blues enthusiasts Alan Wilson and Bob ...
took their name from this song.
Johnson's "Big Road Blues" inspired Canned Heat's song "
On the Road Again". A significantly different version of the song appears as "Canned Heat" on the album ''Big Road Blues'' by
K. C. Douglas
K. C. Douglas (November 21, 1913 – October 18, 1975) was an American rural blues singer and guitarist. His given names were initials only.
Career
Born in Sharon, Mississippi, Douglas moved to Vallejo, California in 1945 to work in the naval ...
.
Johnson recorded two further sessions, for Victor in August 1928 and for
Paramount Records
Paramount Records was an American record label known for its recordings of jazz and blues in the 1920s and early 1930s, including such artists as Ma Rainey, Tommy Johnson and Blind Lemon Jefferson.
Early years
Paramount Records was formed in 19 ...
in December 1929. He did not record again, mistakenly believing that he had signed away his right to record. Some suggest he had been intentionally given this misimpression by people at Paramount Records. This resulted in a legal settlement with the
Mississippi Sheiks
The Mississippi Sheiks were a popular and influential American guitar and fiddle group of the 1930s. They were notable mostly for playing country blues but were adept at many styles of popular music of the time. They recorded around 70 tracks, ...
, who had used the melody of Johnson's "Big Road Blues" in their successful "Stop and Listen". Johnson was party to the copyright settlement but was too drunk at the time to understand what he had signed.
Johnson's recordings established him as the premier
Delta blues
Delta blues is one of the earliest-known styles of blues. It originated in the Mississippi Delta, and is regarded as a regional variant of country blues. Guitar and harmonica are its dominant instruments; slide guitar is a hallmark of the s ...
vocalist of his day, with a powerful voice that could go from a growl to a falsetto.
He was an accomplished guitarist. He also performed tricks with his guitar, playing it between his legs and behind his head and throwing it in the air while playing.
His style influenced later blues singers, such as
Robert Nighthawk
Robert Lee McCollum (November 30, 1909 – November 5, 1967) was an American blues musician who played and recorded under the pseudonyms Robert Lee McCoy and Robert Nighthawk. He was the father of the blues musician Sam Carr. Nighthawk was in ...
and
Howlin' Wolf
Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910January 10, 1976), better known by his stage name Howlin' Wolf, was an American blues singer and guitarist. He is regarded as one of the most influential blues musicians of all time. Over a four-decade care ...
(whose song "I Asked for Water
he Brought Me Gasoline was based on Johnson's "Cool Drink of Water Blues"),
and the
country singer
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, old ...
Hank Williams
Hank Williams (born Hiram Williams; September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century, he reco ...
.
Johnson was a talented composer, blending fragments of folk poetry and personalized
lyrics
Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, a ...
into set guitar accompaniments to craft striking blues compositions such as "Maggie Campbell".
To enhance his fame, Johnson cultivated a sinister persona. According to his brother LeDell, he claimed to have
sold his soul to
the devil
Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an entity in the Abrahamic religions that seduces humans into sin or falsehood. ...
at a crossroads in exchange for his mastery of the guitar.
[Evans, David (1971). ''Tommy Johnson''. Studio Vista, p. 22. .] This story was later also associated with
Robert Johnson
Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911August 16, 1938) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His landmark recordings in 1936 and 1937 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that has influenced later generati ...
, to whom Tommy Johnson was unrelated.
Johnson remained a popular performer in the
Jackson area through the 1930s and 1940s, sometimes performing with
Ishman Bracey
Ishmon Bracey (January 9, 1899 or 1901 – February 12, 1970), sometimes credited as Ishman Bracey, was an American Delta blues singer-guitarist. Alongside his contemporary Tommy Johnson, Bracey was a highly influential bluesman in Jackson, M ...
.
He influenced other performers, partly because he was willing to teach his style and his repertoire. His influence on local traditions is described by David Evans in the books ''Tommy Johnson'' (1971) and ''Big Road Blues: Tradition and Creativity in the Folk Blues'' (1982).
Death
Johnson died of a heart attack after playing at a local party in 1956.
He is buried in the Warm Springs Methodist Church Cemetery, outside Crystal Springs, Mississippi.
In April, 2000, Johnson family members gave permission for a headstone to be placed on Johnson's grave organized through the
Mt. Zion Memorial Fund
The Mount Zion Memorial Fund is a non-profit corporation formed in 1989 and named after the Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Morgan City, Mississippi, United States. The fund was organized by Raymond 'Skip' Henderson, a former social worke ...
, a Mississippi nonprofit corporation active in historic African American cemetery preservation since 1989. Underwriting for the memorial was obtained through the support of blues musician
Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American blues singer and guitarist. In 1971, Raitt released her self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed roots-influenced albums that incorporated ...
. The large granite memorial engraved with Johnson's portrait and including several of Johnson's best-known songs, added at the family's request, was unveiled in October, 2001 in Crystal Springs, but was not placed on Johnson's actual grave for another 10 years however, because of a dispute between Johnson's family (led by his niece, Vera Johnson Collins), the owners of farm property encircling the cemetery, and the Copiah County Board of Supervisors over a deteriorated road that led to the burial site. The dispute was resolved in October 2012 thanks in large part to research work done by University of Mississippi researcher T.D. Moore. It was finally announced that the headstone would be erected on October 26 of that year. The headstone had been on public display in the Crystal Springs Public Library since being unveiled on October 20, 2001. On the night of Saturday, February 2, 2013, the headstone fell and was damaged. It is a matter of dispute whether it fell because it was inadequately secured or because it was pushed over or deliberately smashed.
The Tommy Johnson Blues Festival is held annually in Crystal Springs on the third weekend in October. The inaugural festival was held in
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, Q ...
and Crystal Springs in 2006.
In fiction
In the film ''
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
''O Brother, Where Art Thou?'' is a 2000 comedy drama film written, produced, co-edited, and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. It stars George Clooney, John Turturro, and Tim Blake Nelson, with Chris Thomas King, John Goodman, Holly Hunter, and C ...
'' (2000), a character named Tommy Johnson, played by
Chris Thomas King
Chris Thomas King (born Durwood Christopher Thomas, October 14, 1962) is an American blues musician and actor based in New Orleans, Louisiana.
History
King was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States. He is the son of blues musician Tabby ...
, describes selling his soul to the devil to play guitar. The Tommy Johnson character in the film plays a number of songs originally recorded by the blues musician
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 ...
and accompanies the
Soggy Bottom Boys
''O Brother, Where Art Thou?'' is a 2000 comedy drama film written, produced, co-edited, and directed by Coen brothers, Joel and Ethan Coen. It stars George Clooney, John Turturro, and Tim Blake Nelson, with Chris Thomas King, John Goodman, Holl ...
, a band consisting of the film's three main protagonists plus Johnson, on "
Man of Constant Sorrow
"Man of Constant Sorrow" (also known as "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow") is a traditional American folk song first published by Dick Burnett, a partially blind fiddler from Kentucky. The song was originally titled "Farewell Song" in a songbook b ...
".
The story of Johnson's selling his soul to the devil was first told by his brother, LaDell Johnson, and reported by David Evans in his 1971 biography of Johnson.
This legend was subsequently attributed to the blues musician
Robert Johnson
Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911August 16, 1938) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His landmark recordings in 1936 and 1937 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that has influenced later generati ...
.
Discography
Victor Records, 1928, Memphis, Tennessee
"Cool Drink of Water Blues""Louisiana Blues" (unissued test)
Paramount Records, 1929, Grafton, Wisconsin
References
External links
with links and material related to Tommy Johnson
Canned Heat Blues LyricsMP3 Audio file of "Canned Heat Blues"on The Internet Archive
Tommy Johnson on Paramount Records*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Tommy
1896 births
1956 deaths
People from Terry, Mississippi
African-American guitarists
Delta blues musicians
Country blues musicians
American blues guitarists
American male guitarists
Country blues singers
American blues singers
Blues musicians from Mississippi
Paramount Records artists
Victor Records artists
20th-century American guitarists
Guitarists from Mississippi
People from Drew, Mississippi
20th-century African-American male singers
Deal with the Devil