Syl Johnson was born Sylvester Thompson in Holly Springs, Mississippi, in 1936. His family moved to Chicago in 1950, where Johnson started singing with Blues artists, including Magic Sam and Howlin’ Wolf. His first recording was playing with Jimmy Reed for Vee-Jay. His first solo work, singing and playing guitar and harmonica, came on the Federal label in 1959. “Lonely Man” from 1960 is a slow Soul/Blues, typical of his early output.
After making six singles for Federal up to 1962, Johnson spent the next four years with smaller labels, including Ember, Special Agent and Cha-Cha, before moving to Twilight (later Twinight) Records in the mid-sixties, where he had a series of R&B hits, becoming the most successful artist on the label.
It is significant that during this period Johnson used his songs to express some of his thoughts about how Black people were being treated in America. “Different Strokes” in 1967 and “Is It Because I’m Black” from 1969 certainly attracted the attention of later rap artists, who sampled them.
In 1971, Johnson moved to Hi Records at the invitation of Willie Mitchell, where he recorded four albums and fourteen singles. The Hi recordings are beautifully recorded and have much richer arrangements than Johnson’s earlier work. The raw edge in his voice is still there, and the songs are still Blues-based, but Mitchell and the Hi session musicians add a Funky feel to the new songs. The change is evident in his first Hi single, “The Love You Left Behind” from 1971.
One year later, Johnson cut a Memphis Soul classic, “We Did It”. Several of his Hi singles sold well, including “We Did It” and “Back for a Taste of Your Love”, but the most successful was “Take Me to the River”, which reached number seven on the R&B chart in 1975. It takes bravery to cover an Al Green hit, but Johnson never lacked conviction. He takes the Al Green/ Mabon Hodges song and turns into a Funky dance track. Willie Mitchell’s production is totally suited to the singer’s vocal strengths, just as his earlier version with Al Green had been. Johnson’s cover opens with a stomping drum beat and a Bluesy harmonica solo. The band clearly enjoyed themselves exploring new possibilities for this great song.
In 1978, Willie Mitchell and Syl Johnson reworked another Soul classic, “Stand By Me”, to which they added a Funky beat. It is probably not to everyone’s taste, but is well sung and beautifully arranged.
The following year, the team at Hi decided to remodel some of Otis Redding’s classic hits for Johnson, this time as Disco tracks! It proved to be Johnson’s final recording at Hi.
Syl Johnson 1997
Photo: Masahiro Sumori (Wikimedia Commons)
In 1980, Johnson set up his own Shama label, and later retired from the industry. Surprisingly, he returned in 1994 with an album entitled “Back in the Game”, which he recorded with the Hi Rhythm Section and one of his daughters, Syleena Johnson.
A final tribute to him came in 2015, with the premiere of the film “Any Way the Wind Blows” at the Chicago International Film Festival. The film, directed by Rob Hatch-Miller, was inspired by Syl Johnson’s story.
