Pete Johnson Biography
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 25 March 1904, Kansas City, Missouri, USA, d. 23 March 1967, Buffalo, New York, USA. After playing drums when a teenager, Johnson switched to piano in 1926 and swiftly became a leading exponent of the blues. He was also an excellent accompanist to blues singers; especially Joe Turner, with whom he established a partnership that lasted for the rest of his life. In 1936 the ubiquitous John Hammond Jnr. brought Johnson and Turner to New York where they played at the Famous Door. Two years later Johnson played at one of Hammond’s Spirituals To Swing concerts at Carnegie Hall and later performed and recorded with Albert Ammons and Meade ‘Lux’ Lewis as the Boogie Woogie Trio. During the 40s, Johnson continued his solo career, interspersed with engagements with Ammons and, often, Joe Turner. In the 50s Johnson toured the USA and Europe and made several records with Turner and with Jimmy Rushing.
As a blues and boogie-woogie pianist, Johnson was superb and his thunderous left hand was always a joy to hear. In the recordings he made with Turner he invariably rose above himself, delivering both forceful solos and lifting the singer to some of his best work. Shortly after playing at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1958 Johnson suffered a stroke which incapacitated him. He did venture back to the recording studios in 1960 but did not appear again in public until 1967, when he was helped onstage to receive an ovation from the audience at the Spirituals To Swing 30th Anniversary concert. He took a bow and was being led off when the band swung into his best-known composition, ‘Roll ’Em Pete’, and his old companion, Joe Turner, prepared to sing. Johnson sat down at the piano alongside Ray Bryant and began picking uncertainly at the keys. Then, gradually, with Bryant laying down a solid left hand, Johnson showed that there was still music inside him. It was a long way from great piano playing but given the circumstances it was a highly emotional moment. It was made more so when, two months later, in March 1967, Johnson died.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin. Licensed from Muze.
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25 March 1904, Kansas City, Missouri, USA, d. 23 March 1967, Buffalo, New York, USA. After playing drums when a teenager, Johnson switched to piano in 1926 and swiftly became a leading exponent of the blues. He was also an excellent accompanist to blues singers; especially Joe Turner, with whom he established a partnership that lasted for the rest of his life. In 1936 the ubiquitous John Hammond Jnr. brought Johnson and Turner to New York where they played at the Famous Door. Two years later Johnson played at one of Hammond’s Spirituals To Swing concerts at Carnegie Hall and later performed and recorded with Albert Ammons and Meade ‘Lux’ Lewis as the Boogie Woogie Trio. During the 40s, Johnson continued his solo career, interspersed with engagements with Ammons and, often, Joe Turner. In the 50s Johnson toured the USA and Europe and made several records with Turner and with Jimmy Rushing.