Pete Johnson
Encyclopedia
Pete Johnson was an American
boogie-woogie
and jazz
pianist
.
Journalist
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
in a band
setting; and as an accompanist, unlike Lewis or Albert Ammons
, he could sparkle but not outshine his singing partner". Fellow journalist, Scott Yanow (Allmusic) added "Johnson was one of the three great boogie-woogie pianists (along with Lewis and Ammons) whose sudden prominence in the late 1930s helped make the style very popular".
, United States
.
He began his musical career in 1922 as a drummer
in Kansas City. From 1926 to 1938 he worked as a pianist, often accompanying Big Joe Turner
. Record producer
John Hammond
discovered him in 1936 and got him to play at the Famous Door in New York
. In 1938 Johnson and Turner appeared in the "From Spirituals to Swing
" concert
at Carnegie Hall
. This concert started a boogie-woogie
craze, and Turner and two other performers at the concert, Meade Lux Lewis and Albert Ammons, worked together afterwards at Café Society
for a long time; they also toured and recorded
together. In 1941 Lewis, Ammons and Johnson were featured in the movie
short Boogie-Woogie Dream
.
The song, "Roll 'Em Pete
" (composed by Johnson and Turner), featuring Turner on vocals and Johnson on piano, was one of the first rock and roll records, although there is strong reason to believe he stole that piece from Jelly Roll Morton
who neglected to register his works, leaving him without claim to them. 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
hit
, "Rocket 88
".
In the late 1940s, Johnson recorded an early concept album
, House Rent Party, in which he starts out playing alone, supposedly in a new empty house, and is joined there by J. C. Higgenbotham, J. C. Heard
, and other Kansas City players. Each has a solo
single
backed by Johnson, and then the whole group plays a jam session
together. On this album
Johnson shows his considerable command of stride piano
and his ability to work with a group.
Johnson used to play at a nightclub
in Niagara Falls
where he had to climb a long ladder to the piano above the bar.
In 1950 he moved to Buffalo
, but despite problems with his health, he continued to tour and record, notably with Jimmy Rushing
, Big Joe Turner, and on a 1958 Jazz at the Philharmonic
tour of Europe
, despite losing part of a finger some years earlier while changing a tire.
A stroke
in 1958 left him partly paralyzed. His last years were troubled by illness and poverty. Johnson made one final appearance at Hammond's January 1967 "Spirituals to Swing" concert, playing the right hand on a version of "Roll 'Em Pete", two months before his death.
He died in Meyer Hospital, Buffalo, New York
in March 1967, at the age of 62.
|| indicates in print, as of February, 2009
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
boogie-woogie
Boogie-woogie
Boogie-woogie has the following meanings:*Boogie-woogie, a piano-based music style*Boogie-woogie , a swing dance or a dance that imitates the rock-n-roll dance of the 1950s*"Boogie Woogie" , a song by EuroGroove and Dannii Minogue...
and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
.
Journalist
Music journalism
Music journalism is criticism and reportage about music. It began in the eighteenth century as comment on what is now thought of as 'classical music'. This aspect of music journalism, today often referred to as music criticism , comprises the study, discussion, evaluation, and interpretation of...
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
Meade Lux Lewis
Meade Lux Lewis was a American pianist and composer, noted for his work in the boogie-woogie style. His best known work, "Honky Tonk Train Blues", has been recorded in various contexts, often in a big band arrangement...
in a band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
setting; and as an accompanist, unlike Lewis or Albert Ammons
Albert Ammons
Albert Ammons was an American pianist. Ammons was a player of boogie-woogie, a bluesy jazz style popular from the late 1930s into the mid 1940s.-Life and career:...
, he could sparkle but not outshine his singing partner". Fellow journalist, Scott Yanow (Allmusic) added "Johnson was one of the three great boogie-woogie pianists (along with Lewis and Ammons) whose sudden prominence in the late 1930s helped make the style very popular".
Biography
Johnson was born in Kansas City, MissouriKansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
He began his musical career in 1922 as a drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
in Kansas City. From 1926 to 1938 he worked as a pianist, often accompanying Big Joe Turner
Big Joe Turner
Big Joe Turner was an American blues shouter from Kansas City, Missouri. According to the songwriter Doc Pomus, "Rock and roll would have never happened without him." Although he came to his greatest fame in the 1950s with his pioneering rock and roll recordings, particularly "Shake, Rattle and...
. Record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
John Hammond
John H. Hammond
John Henry Hammond II was an American record producer, musician and music critic from the 1930s to the early 1980s...
discovered him in 1936 and got him to play at the Famous Door in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. In 1938 Johnson and Turner appeared in the "From Spirituals to Swing
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, Helen Humes, Meade Lux Lewis, Albert Ammons, Mitchell's...
" concert
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
. This concert started a boogie-woogie
Boogie-woogie
Boogie-woogie has the following meanings:*Boogie-woogie, a piano-based music style*Boogie-woogie , a swing dance or a dance that imitates the rock-n-roll dance of the 1950s*"Boogie Woogie" , a song by EuroGroove and Dannii Minogue...
craze, and Turner and two other performers at the concert, Meade Lux Lewis and Albert Ammons, worked together afterwards at Café Society
Café Society
Café society was the collective description for the so-called "Beautiful People" and "Bright Young Things" who gathered in fashionable cafes and restaurants in New York, Paris, and London beginning in the late 19th century...
for a long time; they also toured and recorded
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
together. In 1941 Lewis, Ammons and Johnson were featured in the movie
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
short Boogie-Woogie Dream
Boogie-Woogie Dream
Boogie-Woogie Dream is an independently-made short film musical directed by Hanus Burger, starring Lena Horne, Albert Ammons, Pete Johnson and Teddy Wilson and his orchestra...
.
The song, "Roll 'Em Pete
Roll 'Em Pete
"Roll 'Em Pete" is a rhythm and blues song originally recorded in 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".-Original recording:...
" (composed by Johnson and Turner), featuring Turner on vocals and Johnson on piano, was one of the first rock and roll records, although there is strong reason to believe he stole that piece from Jelly Roll Morton
Jelly Roll Morton
Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe , known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American ragtime and early jazz pianist, bandleader and composer....
who neglected to register his works, leaving him without claim to them. Another self-referential title was their "Johnson and Turner Blues". In 1949, he also wrote and recorded "Rocket 88 Boogie", a two-sided instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
, which influenced the 1951 Ike Turner
Ike Turner
Isaac Wister Turner was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, arranger, talent scout, and record producer. In a career that lasted more than half a century, his repertoire included blues, soul, rock, and funk...
hit
Hit single
A hit single is a recorded song or instrumental released as a single that has become very popular. Although it is sometimes used to describe any widely-played or big-selling song, the term "hit" is usually reserved for a single that has appeared in an official music chart through repeated radio...
, "Rocket 88
Rocket 88
"Rocket 88" is a rhythm and blues song that was first recorded at Sam Phillips' recording studio in Memphis, Tennessee, on 3 March or 5 March 1951...
".
In the late 1940s, Johnson recorded an early concept album
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
, House Rent Party, in which he starts out playing alone, supposedly in a new empty house, and is joined there by J. C. Higgenbotham, J. C. Heard
J. C. Heard
J. C. Heard a.k.a. James Charles Heard was a United States swing, bop, and blues drummer....
, and other Kansas City players. Each has a solo
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
backed by Johnson, and then the whole group plays a jam session
Jam session
Jam sessions are often used by musicians to develop new material, find suitable arrangements, or simply as a social gathering and communal practice session. Jam sessions may be based upon existing songs or forms, may be loosely based on an agreed chord progression or chart suggested by one...
together. On this album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
Johnson shows his considerable command of stride piano
Stride piano
Harlem Stride Piano, Stride Piano, or just Stride, is a jazz piano style that was developed in the large cities of the East Coast, mainly in the New York, during 1920s and 1930s. The left hand may play a four-beat pulse with a single bass note, octave, seventh or tenth interval on the first and...
and his ability to work with a group.
Johnson used to play at a nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
in Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls
The Niagara Falls, located on the Niagara River draining Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, is the collective name for the Horseshoe Falls and the adjacent American Falls along with the comparatively small Bridal Veil Falls, which combined form the highest flow rate of any waterfalls in the world and has...
where he had to climb a long ladder to the piano above the bar.
In 1950 he moved to Buffalo
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
, but despite problems with his health, he continued to tour and record, notably with Jimmy Rushing
Jimmy Rushing
James Andrew Rushing , known as Jimmy Rushing, was an American blues shouter and swing jazz singer from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, best known as the featured vocalist of Count Basie's Orchestra from 1935 to 1948.Rushing was known as "Mr...
, Big Joe Turner, and on a 1958 Jazz at the Philharmonic
Jazz at the Philharmonic
Jazz at the Philharmonic, or JATP, was the title of a series of jazz concerts, tours and recordings produced by Norman Granz....
tour of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, despite losing part of a finger some years earlier while changing a tire.
A stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
in 1958 left him partly paralyzed. His last years were troubled by illness and poverty. Johnson made one final appearance at Hammond's January 1967 "Spirituals to Swing" concert, playing the right hand on a version of "Roll 'Em Pete", two months before his death.
He died in Meyer Hospital, Buffalo, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in March 1967, at the age of 62.
Notable songs
- "1280 Stomp"
- "627 Stomp"
- "Basement Boogie"
- "Buss Robinson Blues"
- "Cherry Red"
- "Death Ray Boogie"
- "Goin' Away Blues"
- "Holler Stomp"
- "Just for You"
- "Lone Star Blues"
- "Pete's Blues"
- "Pete's Lonsome Blues"
- "Rebecca"
- "Roll 'Em PeteRoll 'Em Pete"Roll 'Em Pete" is a rhythm and blues song originally recorded in 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".-Original recording:...
"
Albums
- 1938-1939 Classics, 1938
- King of Boogie Milan, 1939
- Master of Blues and Boogie Woogie, Vol. 3 Oldie Blues, 1939
- Boogie Woogie Mood (1940-1944) MCA ca. 1970
- Pete's Blues Savoy, 1946
- Central Avenue Boogie || Delmark 1993
- Master of Blues and Boogie Woogie Oldie Blues 1975
- 1939-1941 Classics 1996
- 1944-1946 Classics 1997
- Blues & Boogie Woogie Master 1938/1946 EPM Musique 1998
- St. Louis Parties of July 20 & August 1, 1954 Document 1999
- Roll 'Em Pete Pearl 1999
- 1947-1949 Classics 2000
- Atomic Boogie: The National Recordings 1945-1947 Savoy Jazz 2001
Anthologies
- The Boogie Wooge Boys || Magpie Records, 1994
- Boogie Woogie Giants || Jazz Hour, 1995
- 50 Sublimes Chanteurs de Jazz, 1940-1953 || Body & Soul, 2003
- Boogie Woogie || Membran, 2005, 10 discs
|| indicates in print, as of February, 2009
See also
- Big Joe TurnerBig Joe TurnerBig Joe Turner was an American blues shouter from Kansas City, Missouri. According to the songwriter Doc Pomus, "Rock and roll would have never happened without him." Although he came to his greatest fame in the 1950s with his pioneering rock and roll recordings, particularly "Shake, Rattle and...
- List of boogie woogie musicians
- List of jazz pianists
- List of people from Kansas City
- Kansas City JazzKansas City JazzKansas City Jazz is a style of jazz that developed in Kansas City, Missouri and the surrounding Kansas City Metropolitan Area during the 1930s and marked the transition from the structured big band style to the musical improvisation style of Bebop...
- First rock and roll record
External links
- Early part of Pete Johnson's biography
- Mini Johnson biography
- [ Biography] at Allmusic websiteWebsiteA website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...