James "Stump" Johnson | |
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Background information | |
Also known as | Shorty George, Snitcher Roberts |
Born | Clarksville, Tennessee, United States | January 17, 1902
Died | December 5, 1969 67) St. Louis, Missouri, United States | (aged
Genres | St. Louis blues |
Occupation(s) | Musician, singer |
Instrument(s) | Vocals, piano |
Labels | QRS, Bluebird, Paramount |
James "Stump" Johnson (January 17, 1902 – December 5, 1969)[1] was an American blues pianist and singer from St. Louis.
Biography
James "Stump" Johnson was the brother of Jesse Johnson, "a prominent black business man," who around 1909[2] had moved the family from Clarksville, Tennessee, to St. Louis, where he ran a music store and was a promoter.[3] James, a self-taught piano player,[4] made a career playing the city's brothels.[5] He had an instant hit with the "whorehouse tune"[2] "The Duck's Yas-Yas-Yas", "a popular St. Louis party song".[6] The song's title is from the lyric "Shake your shoulders, shake 'em fast, if you can't shake your shoulders, shake your yas-yas-yas."[2]
He made a number of other recordings (some mildly pornographic) under various pseudonyms.[7] These included Shorty George and Snitcher Roberts.[8] One of the more obscene songs was a version of "Steady Grinding", which he recorded with Dorothea Trowbridge on August 2, 1933;[9] the song has the "defiant, sexually aggressive lyrics" early blueswomen were noted for,[10] grinding being slang for sexual intercourse.[11]
Johnson died on December 5, 1969, from the effects of esophageal cancer at the Veteran's Hospital in St. Louis. He was 67 years old.[8]
Discography
James "Stump" Johnson (1929–1964)
James "Stump" Johnson (1929–1964) | |
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Compilation album by James "Stump" Johnson | |
Recorded | 1929–1964 |
Genre | St. Louis blues |
Label | Document |
Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order, Document DOCD-5250, CD[12]
- "The Duck's Yas-Yas-Yas"
- "The Snitcher's Blues"
- "Bound to Be a Monkey"
- "My Babe Blues"
- "Jones Law Blues"
- "Transom Blues (Bury That Thing)"
- "Soaking Wet Blues"
- "Kind Babe Blues"
- "What You Do What I Asked You To"
- "Heart Is Right Blues"
- "Low Moanin' Blue"
- "Snitcher's Blues"
- "Baby B. Blues"
- "You Buzzard You"
- "Sail on Black Sue"
- "Barrel of Whiskey Blues"
- "Steady Grindin'"
- "Money Johnson"
- "Don't Give My Lard Away"
- "Snitcher's Blues No. 2"
- "Bound to Be a Monkey"
- "Duck Yas-Yas-Yas"
The Duck's Yas-Yas-Yas
Compilation/reissue, Agram Blues AB-2007, LP[13]
Side A
- "The Duck's Yas-Yas-Yas"
- "The Snitchers Blues"
- "My Babe Blues"
- "My Babe Blues"
- "Transom Blues (Bury That Thing)"
- "Soaking Wet Blues"
- "Kind Babe Blues"
- "Would You Do What I Asked You To"
Side B
- "The Duck's Yas-Yas-Yas"
- "Heart Is Right Blues"
- "Snitcher's Blues"
- "You Buzzard You"
- "Sail on Black Sue"
- "Money Johnson"
- "Snitchers Blues"
- "The Duck's Yas-Yas-Yas"
- "The Duck's Yas-Yas-Yas"
- "Snitchers Blues"
References
- ↑ "The 1960s". Thedeadrockstarsclub.com. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
- 1 2 3 Rijn, Guido van (1993). James "Stump" Johnson 1929–1964 (CD booklet). Document Records. p. 2.
- ↑ Townsend, Henry; Greensmith, Bill (1999). A Blues Life. University of Illinois Press. p. 116 n. 5. ISBN 978-0-252-02526-6.
- ↑ Cunningham, Lyn Driggs; Jones, Jimmy (1989). Sweet, Hot, and Blue: St. Louis' Musical Heritage. McFarland. p. 99. ISBN 978-0-89950-302-8.
- ↑ Oliver, Paul (1989). Screening the Blues: Aspects of the Blues Tradition. Da Capo Press. p. 171. ISBN 978-0-306-80344-4.
- ↑ Hentoff, Nat; McCarthy, Albert J. (1975). Jazz: New Perspectives on the History of Jazz by Twelve of the World's Foremost Jazz Critics and Scholars. Da Capo Press. p. 219. ISBN 978-0-306-80002-3.
- ↑ Oliver, Paul (1997). Conversation with the Blues. Cambridge University Press. p. 190. ISBN 978-0-521-59181-2.
- 1 2 "James "Stump" Johnson | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved December 25, 2019.
- ↑ Oliver, Paul (1989). Screening the Blues: Aspects of the Blues Tradition. Da Capo Press. p. 272 n. 29. ISBN 978-0-306-80344-4.
- ↑ Winsby, Meghan; Fairweather, Abrol (2012). "'The Blue Light Was My Baby and the Red Light Was My Mind': Religion and Gender in the Blues". In Jesse R. Steinberg; Abrol Fairweather (eds.). Blues – Philosophy for Everyone: Thinking Deep About Feeling Low. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 153–75. ISBN 9780470656808.
- ↑ Calt, Stephen (2009). Barrelhouse Words: A Blues Dialect Dictionary. University of Illinois Press. p. 275. ISBN 9780252033476.
- ↑ "James 'Stump' Johnson (1929–1964)". Weblo.com. Retrieved July 21, 2009.
- ↑ Rijn, Guido van. "Agram Blues". Agram. Archived from the original on May 26, 2009. Retrieved July 21, 2009.
External links
- Johnson bibliography, in Ford, Robert (2007). A Blues Bibliography. Routledge. p. 525. ISBN 978-0-415-97887-3.
- Biddle Street Barrelhousin' review at Allmusic.com