Big Road Blues Show 12/30/07: The Legacy of Tommy Johnson

Show Notes:

For someone who recorded so little Tommy Johnson’s influence was unusually vast and long lasting; after all his recorded output only consists of six issued sides for Victor in 1928 and six issued sides for Paramount in 1929. A welcome surprise in recent years has been the discovery of several recordings of unissued material. It was Johnson’s Victor sides that were the most influential and oft covered: “Cool Drink of Water Blues”, “Big Road Blues”, “Bye-Bye Blues”, “Maggie Campbell Blues”, “Canned Heat Blues” and “Big Fat Mama.” Unlike the Paramount records these sold fairly well and were apparently the songs Johnson sang most often in person. As David Evans wrote: “For about thirty years Tommy Johnson was perhaps the most important and influential blues singer in the state of Mississippi.”

Johnson was born in 1896 in Hinds County, MS, on the George Miller plantation. Once the family moved to Crystal Springs in 1910, Tommy picked up the guitar, learning from his older brother, LeDell. By age 16, Johnson had run away from home to become a “professional” musician, largely supporting himself by playing on the street for tips. By the late teens-early ’20s, Tommy was frequently playing the company of rising local stars Charley Patton, Dick Bankston and Willie Brown. Johnson spent most of the ’20s playing in the company of Rubin Lacy, Charley McCoy, Son Spand, Walter Vincent, and Ishmon Bracey. He cut his first records for the Victor label at sessions held in Memphis, TN, in 1928.

He cut one session for the Paramount label in 1930, largely through the maneuvering of fellow buddy Charley Patton. Then the slow descent into alcoholism started taking its toll. He worked on a medicine show with Ishmon Bracey in the ’30s, but mostly seemed to be a mainstay of the juke and small party dance circuit the rest of his days. He was playing just such a local house party in November of 1956 when he suffered a fatal heart attack.

I was aware of Johnson’s influence but hadn’t really thought about it until recently. I was listening to some records in preparation for one of my shows, records by K.C. Douglas and Shirley Griffith, both of who were influenced by Johnson first hand. I began to dig out some other records, mainly LP’s of field recordings David Evans made in the 1960’s and 70’s. It was David Evans investigation into Johnson in the late 1960’s that we owe a good deal of what we know about Johnson and it was through Evans’ field recordings that Johnson’s influence comes into sharper focus. Evans had this to say regarding Johnson’s influence: “Johnson exerted almost no musical influence, either in person or through his records, on blues singers outside the state of Mississippi. …Furthermore, none of his songs, was a big enough hit to enter the folk tradition significantly in its recorded from. Instead, his records tended to act as a reinforcement of the playing of men who had already learned the songs from him in person, and as a stabilizing force within the tradition. …Versions of Johnson’s songs derive exclusively from personal contact, though many of the artists undoubtedly heard Johnson’s records at one time or other.” Evans recorded many men who learned directly from Johnson including Roosevelt Holts, Boogie Bill Webb, Arzo Youngblood, Isaac Youngblood, Bubba Brown, Babe Stovall, Houston Stackhouse and Tommy’s brother Mager Johnson.

Babe Stovall

Among the records played on today’s show are the following, all recorded by Evans: The Legacy of Tommy Johnson (the companion LP to Evans’ book Tommy Johnson – I want to thank Evans for making me a copy of this hard to find record), two albums by Roosevelt Holts (Presenting The Country Blues, Roosevelt Holts and Friends) , South Mississippi Blues, Goin’ Up The Country and Catfish Blues: Mississippi Blues From Jackson & Crystal Springs. Outside of Catfish Blues all the other records have never been issued on CD. Evans has done quite a bit of field recording much of it unavailable. Here’s a link to a list of some of the recordings he’s made.

In addition Johnson’s influence can be heard on many earlier recordings. Those played on todays show include: Willie Lofton’s “Dark Road Blues” (1935), Mississippi Sheiks “Stop and Listen Blues” (1930) were covers of “Big Road Blues”, The McCoy Brothers recorded “Going Back Home” (1934) which was a version of “Cool Drink of Water Blues”, Robert Nighthawk recorded versions of “Maggie Campbell Blues” in 1953 (he also cut a version in 1964) and K.C. Douglas who recorded “Canned Heat Blues” 1961 (he cut another version in 1956).

As for Johnson’s own recording they are available in their entirety (outside a a newly found title) on Document’s Tommy Johnson 1928 – 1929 and JSP’s Legends of Country Blues. Sound quality is good on both but even better on Yazoo’s Masters Of The Delta Blues ~ Friends Of Charlie Patton and Revenant’s Screamin’ And Hollerin’ The Blues: The Worlds Of Charlie Patton, although these feature only a few tracks.

I again want to thank David Evans for taking the time to talk with me about Tommy Johnson. If you can track down a copy, I highly recommend his book Tommy Johnson.