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Johnnie Johnson The Father of Rock & Roll Piano -- Grammy nominee Johnnie Johnson -- has been performing for 67 of his 75 year. While Johnsons legendary piano licks grace dozens of classic rock recordings from the 50s, it took another 40 years for his voice to be etched in vinyl. Before, admits Johnnie, I could play piano for a million people with no problem, but i was strick with stage fright if I even opened my mouth to sing in front of three people. Keith Richards kept after me to sing, so when we co-write Tanqueray for our first cd, I decided, OK, Ill sing so he can see how bad I am. My plan backfired! To my surprise, everyone liked it! People started to ask me to sing more .. That album was entitled Johnny B. Bad. It was produced by Kieth Richards, and Johnnie was backed up by fans such as NRBQ and Eric Clapton.. On Johnnies second cd, Johnnie B. Back, produced by NBC Late Night guitarist Jimmy Vivino, Johnson sang on the half of dozen tracks he helped to choose. Accompanying the Johnnie Johnson Band (James Wormorth (drums), Mike Merritt (bass) and Vivino), are album guest Buddy Guy, Al Kooper, John Sebastian, Phoebe Snow, Max Weinburg and Steve Jordan. Says Johnnie, I thing I put more into this CD than the others each CD I make brings me closer to being more comfortable in the studio, more comfortable singing, more better being me. Johnnie Johnson was born in 1924 in Fairmont, West Virginia, a country music-loving mining town near Charleston. My father was a miner, reminisces Johnson, he loved working in a coal mine His first taste of ivory was at age five when his mother bought an upright piano. as soon as the piano came in, I sat down and just started playing it. My mother cried Its a gift from God that I could just sit down and start playing, laughs Johnnie. From there on then, wherever I was, I aslways had me a piano and a band though youd never find me singing, Johnnie is quick to add. Over the years, Johnnie quickly progressed from Chop Sticks to learning songs from his mothers Bessie Smith and Ethel Waters 78s. Johnnie grew up during the Big Band Era, listening to late night radio shows and Glen Miller, Count Basie, and the Dorsey Brothers. This periods influence is evident in the compositions Johnson wrote for Chuck Berry, the majority of which were written in keys typically found in big band arrangements. After graduating high school in 1942, Johnnie moved to Detroit to work at the Ford Motor Company plant. A year later, he was drafted and served in the Marines special weapons crew in the South Pacific Marshall Islands. Our job, reflects Johnnie, was to secure the islands after they were taken. I stayed for 31 long months, traveling island to island even there I had a band, AND I played in our companys band called The Barracudas, AND with USO bands that came through. I played behind Bob Hope, Betty Hutton, Joe Stafford, and lots of comedians. Thats when I decided music was for me. In 1946, Johnnie ended his tour of duty and returned to Detroit. It was great, everyone was back on a happy scale again. It was at this time that I heard T-Bone Walker a guitar player playin the blues. I was playing jazz at the time and this was my first real introduction to it. I got hooked!! I went to see him every night that I could he really influenced my sound. After three years, Johnnie had played all the clubs he could play in Motor City. A friend told me the scene in Chicago was much hotter I arrived on a Tuesday and was playing on a Friday! I got hired right away and over the years got to sit in with Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf, Little Walter, Memphis Slim, Etta James and the Moonglows half the time, I wasnt even on the payroll, but I didnt care. March 31, 1952 the day before April Fools Johnnie moved to St. Louis. I had a brother living there and I got a job with him working for Penn Railroad. Compared to Chicago, or anywhere for that matter, there wasnt much of a music scene in St. Louis: there was jazz and blues, but not much. There werent too many clubs, so my band played mostly parties. That New Years Eve his saxophonist called in sick, and he hired an unknown named Chuck Berry. Chucks music raised all kinds of eyebrows that night because they werent used to seeing a black man playing hillbilly music. We became the hottest band on the local scene and two or three years later, Chuck took a tape of old hillbilly songs to Chicagos Chess Records it was an old fiddle tune called Ida Red. I changed the music and re-arranged it, Chuck re-wrote the words, and the rest, as they say, was history. Leonard Chess asked me to come up to record it live. At that time, somone else already had a song out by the same name, so we had to change our version. We noticed a mascara box in the corner, so we changed the name to Maybellene. The Johnson/Berry union created an infectious groove that transformed popular music and influenced a generation of musicians. Their collaborations featured Johnsons stylish, pulsing, blues-shaded mix of jazz and boogie-woogie, and Berrys lyrics and R&B/hillbilly guitar interpretations of Johnsons distinct sound. Maybellene, Back In The U.S.A., Little Queenie, Memphis, Tennessee, Sweet Little Sixteen, Oh Carol, School Days, Roll Over Beethoven, Rock & Roll Music, and Berrys tribute to Johnson, Johnny B. Goode all feature Johnsons fingerwork and music. Johnson and Berry toured together for 18 years and continue to play together occasionally. Since the late 1980s, Johnnie has been touring non-stop with his own group. Members of the Johnson fan club include Keith Richards, George Thorogood, NRBQ, Al Kooper, Buddy Guy, John Sebastian, and even actor Lou Gossett Jr., who requested Johnnie tutor him for his film role as Professor Longhair. Eric Clapton regularly invites Johnnie to join him onstage at his annual Royal Albert Hall concerts. Johnnie Johnson was recognized for his pioneering contribution to Rock & Roll in the acclaimed 1988 film rockumentary, Hail Hail Rock & Roll. Comments Keith Richards, I realized how important he was on Chucks early records, how his influence affected Chuck, and how little credit he got for it at the time. Richards was so impressed he invited Johnnie to play on his solo LP Talk Is Cheap the Gold Record of which hangs proudly on Johnnies wall. When the Rolling Stones 1989 Steel Wheels tour steamed into St. Louis, Johnson received a personal invitation to perform with the band. In 1993, Johnnie was teamed up with The Kentucky Headhunters to release the acclaimed CD, Thatll Work. In 1996 & 97, Johnnie joined The Grateful Deads Bob Weirs new group Rat Dog, and toured often, including the summers Further Festival. In January of 1998, Johnnie was asked by Paul Schaeffer to play piano at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fames induction ceremony held in New York City. Later in the year, Johnnie recorded a live CD from The Bottom Line in New York City entitled Johnnie B. Live, with guests Al Kooper and Bernard Fowler. Johnnie can also be seen as a featured artist on the PBS television special, A Tribute to Muddy Waters, taped at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., as well as appearing on the hit CD, Blues Blues Blues, with Jimmy Rogers and all-stars Eric Clapton, Stephen Stills, Keith Richards, Jimmy Page, Mich Jagger and others. Johnnie Johnson continues to tour actively, and is
in demand from clubs, concerts & festivals around the world. It
isnt that Johnnie plays RocknRoll
he is RocknRoll.
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