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Pete Johnson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about an American jazz pianist. For information on the American Football running back named Pete Johnson, see Pete Johnson (American football).
Peter (Pete) Johnson (March 25, 1904 - March 23, 1967) was an American jazz pianist best known as a leading boogie-woogie pianist.
Pete Johnson was born in Kansas City, Missouri. He died in Meyer Hospital, Buffalo, NY.
He began his musical career in 1922 as a drummer in Kansas City, Missouri. From 1926 to 1938 he worked as a pianist, often accompanying Big Joe Turner. In 1938 he and Turner appeared in the From Spirituals to Swing concert at Carnegie Hall. This concert started a boogie-woogie craze, and Turner and two other performers at the concert, Meade Lux Lewis and Albert Ammons, worked together afterwards at Café Society for a long time; they also toured and recorded together.
The song, "Roll 'Em, Pete", featuring Turner on vocals and Johnson on piano, was one of the first rock and roll records. Another self-referential title was their "Johnson and Turner Blues". In 1949, he also wrote and recorded "Rocket 88 Boogie", a two-sided instrumental not to be confused with the Ike Turner 1951 hit "Rocket 88".
In the late '40s, Johnson recorded an early concept album Pete's House Warmin' , in which he starts out playing alone, supposedly in new empty house, and is joined there by J. C. Higgenbotham, J.C. Heard, and other Kansas City players. Each has a solo single backed by Pete and then the whole group plays a jam session together. On this album Johnson shows his considerable command of stride piano and his ability to work with a group.
In 1950 he moved to Buffalo, New York but, despite problems with his health, continued to tour and record, notably with Jimmy Rushing, Turner, and Jazz at the Philharmonic.
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