Al Johnson

Alfred Orlando Johnson (February 11, 1948 – October 26, 2013) was an American R&B singer, writer, arranger and producer. He co-wrote the song "We Have Love for You" with Deniece Williams from her 1977 album Songbird. Biography Born in Newport News, Virginia in 1948, Johnson attended Howard University in Washington, D.C. and while there, co-founded the soul group, the Unifics. The group, with Johnson as lead singer, scored three hits on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968 and 1969 for the Kapp Records label. The first, "Court of Love" climbed to #25, but reached #3 on the US Billboard R&B chart. The follow-up, "The Beginning of My End" got to #36 on the Hot 100 and #9 R&B. Two further releases in 1969 reached the R&B chart. Johnson continued to write songs for other artists throughout the 70s including Sparkle star Lonette McKee, Tata Vega and Deniece Williams. In 1978 he recorded his debut solo album, Peaceful which he co-produced, as well as arranging and co-writing, for a small label, Marina, part-owned by former singer, Lloyd Price. In 1980, Johnson collaborated with jazz/soul producer Norman Connors for his second solo album, Back For More, on Columbia Records. This came after he had sung on Norman Connors' album, Invitation for Arista Records in 1979, singing the lead track, "Your Love". Back for More peaked at #48 on the Billboard Black Albums chart. The lead single from the album, "I'm Back for More", a duet with Jean Carn, reached #26 on the R&B chart, whilst the follow-up, "I've Got My Second Wind", hit #58, both in 1980. That same year, "Second Wind" was covered in an up-tempo groove by Tata Vega featuring G. C. Cameron on Motown Records.