Jimmy Johnson

James Earl Thompson (November 25, 1928 – January 31, 2022), known professionally as Jimmy Johnson, was an American blues guitarist and singer. Early life Johnson was born in Holly Springs, Mississippi, on November 25, 1928. Several of his brothers had careers in music, among them soul musician Syl Johnson and bassist Mack Thompson, who played with Magic Sam. In his younger years, he played piano and sang in gospel groups. He and his family moved to Chicago in 1950, where he worked as a welder and played guitar in his spare time. He began playing professionally with Slim Willis in 1959, changing his last name to Johnson, as did his brother Syl. As a guitarist he was influenced by Buddy Guy and Otis Rush. He played with Freddie King, Albert King, Magic Sam, Otis Rush, and Eddy Clearwater, among others. Career In the 1960s, Johnson began to focus on soul, working with Otis Clay, Denise LaSalle, and Garland Green. He had his own group from the early 1960s, and by the mid-1960s had released his first single. By 1974, Johnson had returned to playing blues, working with Jimmy Dawkins and touring Japan with Otis Rush in 1975. Johnson's first solo albums appeared on MCM Records in 1978 and Delmark Records in 1979, when he was fifty years old. Reviewing the 1979 Johnson's Whacks, Robert Christgau wrote in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981): "Syl's cousin performed better on Alligator's Living Chicago Blues Volume I, but only marginally, and he compensates by showing unexpected chops as a writer. Whether hoping to make the cover of Living Blues magazine or complaining that women aren't loyal any more, he comes across as a bold-faced contemporary. But his basic wail starts to sound thin after a while, his band is only solid, and his guitar can't carry the extra load."