Along with Charlie Patton, Tommy Johnson can be considered one of the originators of Delta blues. Like one of Mississippi's itinerant balladeers, Tommy Johnson was a true showman, attracting onlookers with his antics as much as his music. He built a legend for himself, even claiming to have received his gifts from an encounter with the devil at the crossroads at midnight! In the 20s, Tommy Johnson was in Jackson, the capital of the state of Mississippi, livening up the taverns in the company of the Mississippi Sheiks and the McCoy brothers. Such was his reputation that in 1928, the Victor label brought him to Chicago to record a crucial session that produced Cool Drink Of Water, Canned Heat, Maggie Campbell, Big Fat Mama, Big Road Blues, all of which became blues and rock standards (the band Canned Heat took its name from Tommy Johnson's blues!). By this time, Johnson's popularity was considerable among Southern blacks.
A trailblazer. An inveterate alcoholic (he even drank liquid shoe polish...), Tommy Johnson was unable to capitalize on his success. For the rest of his life, he alternated between stints in prison and performances in seedy bars. Although too quickly interrupted, his work - vividly imaged compositions, syncopated guitar playing, tenor voice with lots of falsetto effects - exerted a strong influence on the originators of post-war electric Chicago blues: Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Johnny Temple, Floyd Jones, Robert Nighthawk... It remains one of the essential contributions to blues history.
G. H.
