Syl Johnson | |
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 Johnson at the 1997 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival | |
| Born | Sylvester Thompson (1936-07-01)July 1, 1936 |
| Died | February 6, 2022(2022-02-06) (aged 85) Mableton, Georgia, U.S. |
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| Years active | 1959–2022 |
| Children | Syleena Johnson (daughter) |
| Relatives | Jimmy Johnson (brother) |
| Musical career | |
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Musical artist | |
Sylvester Johnson (bornSylvester Thompson; July 1, 1936 – February 6, 2022) was an Americanblues andsoul singer, musician, songwriter and record producer. His most successful records included "Different Strokes" (1967), "Is It Because I'm Black" (1969) later covered by reggae artistsKen Boothe andDelroy Wilson, and "Take Me to the River" (1975), a cover ofAl Green's 1974 original.
Born near[1]Holly Springs, Mississippi,[2] the sixth child of a harmonica-playing farmer, he moved with his family in about 1950 toChicago, where blues guitaristMagic Sam was his next-door neighbor.[3][4] Johnson sang and played with Magic Sam and other blues artists, such asBilly Boy Arnold,Junior Wells andHowlin' Wolf, in the 1950s.[3] He recorded withJimmy Reed forVee-Jay in 1959,[2] and – after label ownerSyd Nathan suggested he change his name from Thompson to Johnson[4] – made his solo debut that same year with "Teardrops" onFederal, a subsidiary ofKing Records of Cincinnati, backed byFreddie King on guitar.[2] However, Johnson's recordings for King and Federal met with little success, and he also kept a day job as a truck driver.[3]
After several years of recording for small local labels, and performing regularly in local clubs,[3] Johnson began recording forTwilight/Twinight of Chicago in the mid-1960s.[2] Beginning with his first hit, "Come On Sock It to Me", in 1967,[2] he dominated the label as both a hit-maker and a producer. His song "Different Strokes", also from 1967, is included on thebreakbeat compilation album,Ultimate Breaks and Beats (SBR 504),[5] and some years later wassampled on manyhip hop tracks.[4] Both "Come On Sock It to Me" and "Different Strokes" featured on Johnson's debutLP,Dresses Too Short, in 1968.[3]
Like other black songwriters of the period, Johnson wrote songs exploring themes of African-American identity and social problems, such as "Is It Because I'm Black", which reached number 11 on theBillboardR&B chart in 1969.[6] The song has been described as "among the most affecting of thecivil rights era,"[7] and provided the title track of his second album.[3]
In 1971, the producerWillie Mitchell brought Johnson toHi Records. Together they recorded three albums, which generated a number of singles.[2] Produced inMemphis with theHi house band, these albums contained the hits "We Did It", "Back for a Taste of Your Love" and "Take Me to the River",[2] his biggest success, reaching number 7 on the R&B chart in 1975, and first recorded as an album track by labelmateAl Green.[8] However, at Hi Records, Johnson was always to some extent in the shadow of Al Green, commercially if not artistically.[2] Mitchell also chose to use mainly in-house compositions rather than Johnson's original songs.[3] According toRobert Pruter, "His output on the label was of a consistently higher quality than his Twinight work. In most respects, the Hi material possessed better melodies, had more rhythmic punch, and was better produced."[9]
Reviewing one of his last albums for Hi, 1976'sTotal Explosion,Robert Christgau wrote inChristgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981): "Johnson has tended to disappear in between Willie Mitchell and Al Green, but on this LP he takes his harmonica up to the microphone and stands clear as a lapsed bluesman. Good move. His voice is still shriller, and more strained than Green's, but that can be a satisfying distinction in the right context."[10]
After his years with Hi ended, Johnson produced two LPs for his own Shama label, the second of which, the soul/funkMs. Fine Brown Frame (1982),[2] was picked up for distribution byBoardwalk Records.[11] The title track of that album was Johnson's last hit record.
Around the mid-1980s, Johnson mostly retired from performing,[2] making only occasional appearances at blues clubs.[12] At that time, he opened a chain of seafood restaurants,[2] and began investing in real estate.[13]
In 1992, Johnson found out that his song "Different Strokes" had beensampled by severalrappers, includingWu-Tang Clan,Public Enemy,Kool G Rap,Hammer,De La Soul,[14] and theGeto Boys. This stimulated his interest in making a comeback in themusic industry.[12] He recorded the albumBack in the Game, released byDelmark Records in 1994, which featured theHi Rhythm Section and his youngest daughter,Syleena Johnson.[15]
Johnson was one of the most sampled artists, largely from "Different Strokes" and "Is It Because I'm Black". He felt passionately that taking music from an original artist without proper compensation constituted theft,[16] and he sued other artists for copyright infringement.[17][18]
The 2015 documentaryAny Way the Wind Blows, directed by Rob Hatch-Miller, premiered at theChicago International Film Festival.[19] It takes its inspiration from events in the life of this "mostly forgotten" (according toGreil Marcus) soul singer from the 1970s seeking a second attempt at a career. While his records were being sampled by artists from Wu-Tang Clan toKid Rock, toJay-Z andKanye West, Johnson often found himself with neither credit nor money.[20]
Johnson was the brother of blues guitarist and singerJimmy Johnson and bassist Mack Thompson.[13]
In 2014, he appeared in an episode of theTV One reality seriesR&B Divas: Atlanta, in which he offered advice and encouragement to his daughterSyleena before she gave a live performance.[21][22] Johnson and his family appeared on the American reality television seriesIyanla: Fix My Life, by the request of his daughter Syleena, to help her mother's alcohol addiction.[23]
He died ofcongestive heart failure, at the home of one of his daughters, inMableton, Georgia, on February 6, 2022, at the age of 85, six days after the death of his older brother Jimmy.[24][25]
Source:[26]
Source:[28]
Source:[29]
| Year | Single | Chart Positions | Label | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Pop[30] | US R&B[31] | |||
| 1967 | "Come On Sock It to Me" | 97 | 12 | Twilight |
| "Different Strokes" | 95 | 17 | ||
| 1968 | "Dresses Too Short" | – | 36 | Twinight |
| 1969 | "Is It Because I'm Black" | 68 | 11 | |
| 1970 | "Concrete Reservation" | – | 29 | |
| "One Way Ticket to Nowhere" | 125 | 24 | ||
| 1971 | "Get Ready" | – | 34 | |
| 1972 | "The Love You Left Behind" | – | 43 | Hi |
| "We Did It" | 95 | 23 | ||
| 1973 | "Back for a Taste of Your Love" | 72 | 16 | |
| 1974 | "I'm Yours" | – | 68 | |
| "Let Yourself Go" | – | 54 | ||
| "I Want to Take You Home (to See Mama)" | – | 40 | ||
| 1975 | "Take Me to the River" | 48 | 7 | |
| "I Only Have Love" | – | 15 | ||
| 1976 | "Star Bright, Star Lite" | – | 89 | |
| "Bout to Make Me Leave Home" | – | 94 | ||
| 1977 | "Goodie-Goodie-Good Times" | – | 93 | Shama |
| 1982 | "Ms. Fine Brown Frame" | – | 60 | Boardwalk |
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