Johnny Dyer was born on December 7, 1938, in Rolling Fork, Mississippi. He began playing harmonica at age seven, inspired by Little Walter on the radio, and started performing with Smokey Wilson in the early 1950s. In January 1958, Dyer moved to Los Angeles and collaborated with George "Harmonica" Smith, performing concerts with a father-son billing. He formed his own combo, Johnny Dyer and the Blue Notes, and played with notable artists such as Jimmy Reed, J.B. Hutto, and Jimmy Rogers. After leaving the music industry in the 1960s, Dyer resurfaced in the 1980s, releasing several albums, including Johnny Dyer and the LA Jukes (1983), Listen Up (1994) with Rick Holmstrom, and Shake It! (1995). His final album was Rolling Fork Revisited (2004), recorded with Mark Hummel. Dyer received a Blues Music Award nomination in 2004 for "Hard Times Won" and died on November 11, 2014, at his home in San Dimas, California.
