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Johnnie Johnson

 


Johnnie Johnson | Rock and Roll Hall of Fame | tc547

Jazz, blues and rock and roll pianist, band leader and song writer Johnnie Clyde Johnson was born in Fairmont, West Virginia on July 8, 1924.  A Mr. Chuck Berry joined his trio in 1952 when saxophonist Alvin Bennett suffered a stroke. Berry took an idea for a song to Chess Records, and took the other members of the trio, Ebby Harding the drummer and Johnson, with him to the recording studio. The rest is, as they say, history and Johnson can be heard playing on many Chess recordings from 1955 to the 1970s. The songs “School days”, “Roll over Beethoven”, “Carol” and “Nadine” are among Berry and Johnson’s many collaborations. The Johnnie Johnson Blues and Jazz Festival is held every year in Fairmont. 

Johnnie Johnson died of pneumonia and kidney disease in St. Louis, Missouri, on April 13, 2005. He was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for breaking racial barriers in the military during his World War II service. 

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