William Manuel Johnson

Last updated
Bill Johnson
BillJohnson1909.jpg
Johnson in 1909
Background information
Birth nameWilliam Manuel Johnson
BornDisputed [1]
Talladega, Alabama
DiedDecember 3, 1972
New Braunfels, Texas, U.S.
Genres Jazz, dixieland
Occupation(s)Musician
Instrument(s) Double bass
Years active1880s–1950s

William Manuel "Bill" Johnson (died December 3, 1972) was an American jazz musician who played banjo and double bass; [2] he is considered the father of the "slap" style of double bass playing. [3]

In New Orleans, he played at Lulu White's legendary house of prostitution, with the Eagle Band, and with the Excelsior Brass Band. [4] Johnson claimed to have started "slapping" the strings of his bass (a more vigorous technique than the classical pizzicato) after he accidentally broke his bow on the road with his band in northern Louisiana in the early 1910s. Other New Orleans string bass players picked up this style, and spread it across the country with the spread of New Orleans Jazz. [5] [6]

Johnson was founder and manager of the first jazz band to leave New Orleans and tour widely in the 1910s, The Original Creole Orchestra. [6] They participated in vaudeville skits centered around the "Uncle" character and the "boys," performing in the Midwest, Northwest, and Canada. [7] He brought the Creole Band to Chicago in 1915. [4] Johnson and his band played an instrumental role in establishing Royal Gardens (later known as Lincoln Gardens), as one of the great jazz clubs in Chicago; a location they were residence at beginning in 1918. [8]

In Chicago during the early 1920s he assembled King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band, considered perhaps the best of the early ensemble style jazz bands. He taught younger Chicago musicians (including Milt Hinton) his "slap" style of string bass playing. He made many recordings in Chicago in the late 1920s. [5] He notably says "Oh play that thing" into the horn during the recording of "Dippermouth Blues" in 1923 with King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band. [9]

Johnson continued to play with various jazz bands and orchestras into the early 1950s, sometimes working under other names. He was also involved in the import/export business along the Mexico–United States border. [6]

Johnson's younger half-brother Ollie "Dink" Johnson was also a noted musician. Jelly Roll Morton's common law wife from 1917 to 1922, Anita Gonzales (Bessie Johnson), was Bill Johnson's half-sister. [10]

Bill Johnson died in New Braunfels, Texas in 1972. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King Oliver</span> American jazz cornet player and bandleader

Joseph Nathan "King" Oliver was an American jazz cornet player and bandleader. He was particularly recognized for his playing style and his pioneering use of mutes in jazz. Also a notable composer, he wrote many tunes still played today, including "Dippermouth Blues", "Sweet Like This", "Canal Street Blues", and "Doctor Jazz". He was the mentor and teacher of Louis Armstrong. His influence was such that Armstrong claimed, "if it had not been for Joe Oliver, Jazz would not be what it is today."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clarence Williams (musician)</span> American jazz pianist, composer, producer, and publisher

Clarence Williams was an American jazz pianist, composer, promoter, vocalist, theatrical producer, and publisher.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kid Ory</span> American jazz trombonist

Edward "Kid" Ory was an American jazz composer, trombonist and bandleader. One of the early users of the glissando technique, he helped establish it as a central element of New Orleans jazz.

Johnny Dodds was an American jazz clarinetist and alto saxophonist based in New Orleans, best known for his recordings under his own name and with bands such as those of Joe "King" Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, Lovie Austin and Louis Armstrong. Dodds was the older brother of drummer Warren "Baby" Dodds, one of the first important jazz drummers. They worked together in the New Orleans Bootblacks in 1926. Dodds is an important figure in jazz history. He was the premier clarinetist of his era and, in recognition of his artistic contributions, he was posthumously inducted into the Jazz Hall of Fame. He has been described as "a prime architect in the creation of the Jazz Age."

Freddie Keppard was an American jazz cornetist who once held the title of "King" in the New Orleans jazz scene. This title was previously held by Buddy Bolden and succeeded by Joe Oliver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Okeh Records</span> American record label

OKeh Records is an American record label founded by the Otto Heinemann Phonograph Corporation, a phonograph supplier established in 1916, which branched out into phonograph records in 1918. The name was spelled "OkeH" from the initials of Otto K. E. Heinemann but later changed to "OKeh". Since 1965, OKeh was a subsidiary of Epic Records, a subsidiary of Sony Music. Today, OKeh is a jazz imprint, distributed by Sony Masterworks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eddie Condon</span> American jazz musician (1905–1973)

Albert Edwin Condon was an American jazz banjoist, guitarist, and bandleader. A leading figure in Chicago jazz, he also played piano and sang. He also owned a self-named night club in New York City.

"Potato Head Blues" is a Louis Armstrong composition regarded as one of his finest recordings. It was made by Louis Armstrong and his Hot Seven for Okeh Records in Chicago, Illinois on May 10, 1927. It was recorded during a remarkably productive week in which Armstrong's usual Hot Five was temporarily expanded to seven players by the addition of tuba and drums. Some scholars have suggested that a key melodic figure in "Potato Head Blues" was picked up by Hoagy Carmichael for "Stardust." Its musical composition entered the public domain on January 1, 2023.

The Hot Five was Louis Armstrong's first jazz recording band led under his own name.

Louis Armstrong and his Hot Seven was a jazz studio group organized to make a series of recordings for Okeh Records in Chicago, Illinois, in May 1927. Some of the personnel also recorded with Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five, including Johnny Dodds (clarinet), Lil Armstrong (piano), and Johnny St. Cyr. These musicians were augmented by Dodds's brother, Baby Dodds (drums), Pete Briggs (tuba), and John Thomas. Briggs and Thomas were at the time working with Armstrong's performing group, the Sunset Stompers.

"West End Blues" is a multi-strain twelve-bar blues composition by Joe "King" Oliver. It is most commonly performed as an instrumental, although it has lyrics added by Clarence Williams.

Carroll Dickerson was a Chicago and New York–based dixieland jazz violinist and bandleader, probably better known for his extensive work with Louis Armstrong and Earl Hines or his more brief work touring with King Oliver.

Honoré Dutrey was a dixieland jazz trombonist, probably best known for his work in King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band. In New Orleans, Dutrey played with the Excelsior Brass Band and with John Robichaux's orchestra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunset Cafe</span>

The Sunset Cafe, also known as The Grand Terrace Cafe, was a jazz club in Chicago, Illinois operating during the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. It was one of the most important jazz clubs in America, especially during the period between 1917 and 1928 when Chicago became a creative capital of jazz innovation and again during the emergence of bebop in the early 1940s. From its inception, the club was a rarity as a haven from segregation, since the Sunset Cafe was an integrated or "Black and Tan" club where African Americans, along with other ethnicities, could mingle freely with white Americans without much fear of reprisal. Many important musicians developed their careers at the Sunset/Grand Terrace Cafe.

Reuben "River" Reeves was an American jazz trumpeter and bandleader.

James Preston McDonald, better known by his stage name Preston Jackson was an American jazz trombonist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heebie Jeebies (composition)</span> 1926 single by Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five

"Heebie Jeebies" is a composition written by Boyd Atkins which achieved fame when it was recorded by Louis Armstrong in 1926. Armstrong also performed "Heebie Jeebies" as a number at the Vendome Theatre. The recording on Okeh Records by Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five includes a famous example of scat singing by Armstrong. After the success of the recording, an accompanying dance was choreographed and advertised by Okeh.

Joe "Fox" Smith(Joseph Emory Smith; June 28, 1902 – December 2, 1937) was an American jazz trumpeter.

"Dippermouth Blues" is a song first recorded by King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band for Gennett Records in April 1923 and for Okeh Records in June of that same year. It is most often attributed to Joe "King" Oliver, though some have argued that Louis Armstrong was in fact the composer. This is partly because "Dippermouth", in the song's title, was a nickname of Armstrong's. Also, the phonograph recordings from 1922 gave credit to Armstrong and Oliver jointly. The song is a strong example of the influence of the blues on early jazz. There is a twelve-bar blues harmonic progression, with frequent bent notes and slides into notes.

Ollie Powers was an American jazz drummer and vocalist.

References

  1. ↑ "When he registered for the draft at Local Board No. 3 in Chicago on 12th September 1918, Bill [Johnson] gave his date of birth as 10th August 1874, which confirms the details for his birth year recorded in the 1880 U.S. Census in the entry for the Johnson family in Montgomery, Alabama. Other birth dates on U.S. Census records (1876, 1879 and 1882) and the date on his death certificate (1872) would appear to be incorrect."
  2. ↑ Brothers, Thomas (2014). Louis Armstrong: Master of Modernism. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company. p. 18. ISBN   978-0-393-06582-4.
  3. ↑ Singleton, Joan (2011). Keep It Real: The Life Story of James "Jimmy" Palao "The King of Jazz". iUniverse. pp. 1–. ISBN   978-1-4620-0721-9.
  4. 1 2 Brothers, Thomas (2014). Louis Armstrong: Master of Modernism. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company. p. 20. ISBN   978-0-393-06582-4.
  5. 1 2 Gushee, Lawrence (April 29, 2010). Pioneers of Jazz: The Story of the Creole Band. Oxford University Press. pp. 65–. ISBN   978-0-19-988979-2.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "William Manuel Johnson". Memim Encyclopedia.
  7. ↑ Brothers, Thomas (2014). Louis Armstrong: Master of Modernism. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company. p. 26. ISBN   978-0-393-06582-4.
  8. ↑ "Nightclubs and other venues; Lincoln Gardens [Royal Gardens]". Grove Music Online . Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press. 2001. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.J330000.
  9. ↑ Brothers, Thomas (2014). Louis Armstrong: Master of Modernism. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company. p. 150. ISBN   978-0-393-06582-4.
  10. ↑ Levin, Floyd (2000). Classic Jazz: A Personal View of the Music and the Musicians. University of California Press. p. 114. ISBN   0520213602 . Retrieved October 11, 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.