Tommy Johnson (musician)
| Tommy Johnson | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Tom Johnson |
| Born | January 1896 Terry, Mississippi, United States |
| Died | November 1, 1956 (aged 60) Crystal Springs, Mississippi, United States |
| Genres | Delta blues |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar |
| Years active | 1914–1956 |
| Labels | Victor, Paramount |
| Associated acts | Papa Charlie McCoy, Ishman Bracey |
Tommy Johnson (January 1896 – November 1, 1956) was an American Delta blues musician who recorded in the late 1920s and was known for his eerie falsetto voice and intricate guitar playing. He was unrelated to the blues musician Robert Johnson.
Johnson was born near Terry, Mississippi, and moved around 1910 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 he married and moved to Webb Jennings' plantation near Drew, Mississippi, close to the Dockery Plantation. There he met other musicians, including Charlie Patton and Willie Brown.
By 1920 Johnson was an alcoholic and an itinerant musician, based in Crystal Springs but traveling widely around the South, sometimes accompanied by Papa Charlie McCoy. In 1928 he made his first recordings, with McCoy, for Victor Records, including "Canned Heat Blues", in which he sang of drinking methanol from the cooking fuel Sterno. The song features the refrain "canned heat, mama, sure, Lord, killing me." The blues group Canned Heat 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.
Johnson recorded two further sessions, for Victor in August 1928 and for Paramount Records 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, 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.
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