Margaret Johnson

Margaret Johnson was an American blues and early jazz vocalist and pianist.[1]

Johnson's primary era of recording activity as a vocalist was from 1923 to 1927.[2] Prior to this, she had worked in vaudeville. She is best known for her recording of the song, "Dead Drunk Blues".[1][3] Her main output was released on the Okeh and Victor labels.

Biography

She recorded with the harmonica player Bobby Leecan and guitarist Robert Cooksey, playing country blues; she also did several recordings with New Orleans jazz ensembles which included Sidney Bechet, Clarence Williams, Louis Armstrong, Bubber Miley, and Tom Morris.[1] In 1924, she recorded "Absent Minded Blues", which was written by Tom Delaney, and another of his compositions, "Nobody Knows the Way I Feel This Mornin'".[4] She was accompanied by Williams on these recordings.[5][6] She and Clarence Williams also played with the Jazz Rippers, Buddy Christian's ensemble, although Williams was not credited and Johnson was listed under the name Margaret Carter. Her songs were often humorous and sexually suggestive in tone.[1]

In September 1927, she released one of her final recordings, "Second-Handed Blues" / "Good Woman Blues", on Victor Records.[7] After the late 1920s she ceased to record as a vocalist.

Most of Johnson's 1920s sides were reissued on CD by Document Records.[1]

Confusion

She is not to be confused with "Countess" Margaret Johnson (1919 – 1939),[8] a child prodigy on piano who accompanied Billie Holiday, Lester Young, and many jazz musicians of the 1930s.[8] Johnson, the pianist, was born in 1919 in Chanute, Kansas, and moved to Kansas City in the early 1930s. As a young teenager her style was compared to Mary Lou Williams. She replaced Williams for a time in New York.[8] Her piano style was tasteful and according to those who heard her live, effortless. She died of tuberculosis in 1939.[8]

There can be further confusion in that Sara Martin made several recordings using the 'Margaret Johnson' name.[9]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Eugene Chadbourne. "Margaret Johnson : Artist Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 2014-04-04.
  2. ↑ Michael Taft (2005). Talkin' to Myself: Blues Lyrics, 1921-1942 (Fourth ed.). Taylor & Francis. p. 317. ISBN 978-0-415-97377-9.
  3. ↑ Daphne Duval Harrison (2000). Black Pearls: Blues Queens of the 1920s (Fourth ed.). Rutgers. p. 97. ISBN 0-8135-1280-8.
  4. ↑ "List of Compositions and Recordings" (Pdf). Rainerjazz.com. Retrieved 2014-09-04.
  5. ↑ Ross Laird (1996). Moanin' Low: A Discography of Female Popular Vocal Recordings, 1920-1933 (First ed.). Greenwood Press. p. 288. ISBN 0-313-29241-8.
  6. ↑ "Margaret Johnson – Nobody Knows The Way I Feel This Mornin' / Absent Minded Blues". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2014-09-04.
  7. ↑ "Margaret Johnson – Second-Handed Blues / Good Woman Blues". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2014-09-04.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Ian Carr; Digby Fairweather; Brian Priestley (2004). The Rough Guide to Jazz (Third ed.). Penguin Books. p. 414. ISBN 1-84353-256-5.
  9. ↑ Doc Rock. "The Dead Rock Stars Club : The 1950s and earlier". Thedeadrockstarsclub.com. Retrieved 2014-09-04.

External links