Syl Johnson
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Syl Johnson (born Sylvester Thompson in Holly Springs, Mississippi on July 1, 1936) is an American blues and soul singer.
Johnson sang and played with blues artists Magic Sam, Billy Boy Arnold, Junior Wells and Howlin' Wolf in the 1950s, before recording with Jimmy Reed for Vee-Jay in 1959. He made his solo debut that same year with Federal, a subsidiary of King Records of Cincinnati, backed by Freddie King on guitar.
He then began recording for Twilight/Twinight Records of Chicago in the mid 1960s. Beginning with his first hit, Come On Sock It to Me in 1967, Johnson dominated the label as both a hitmaker and producer. His song Different Strokes, also from 1967, recently featured on the Ultimate Breaks and Beats breakbeat compilation.
Several of his records at this time were produced in Memphis with Willie Mitchell and the Hi house band. Like other black songwriters of the period, he explored themes of African-American identity and social problems in songs including Is It Because I'm Black, which reached number 11 in the R&B charts in 1969.
In 1971 Willie Mitchell brought Johnson to Hi Records, for whom he recorded three albums and a number of 45s. These yielded music of power and enduring value, including the hits We Did It, Back for a Taste of Your Love and Take Me to the River, his biggest success (number 7 R&B in 1975). However, at Hi Johnson was always to some extent in Al Green's shadow, commercially if not artistically.
After the Hi years ended, Johnson produced two LPs for his own Shama label, the latter of which (Ms. Fine Brown Frame, 1982) was picked up for distribution by Boardwalk Records and produced Johnson's last hit record, the title cut. He re-emerged as a performer in the mid 1990s.
His daughter is recording artist Syleena Johnson.
[edit] Partial Discography
[edit] Singles
- Come On Sock It To Me (Twilight, 1967)
- Different Strokes (Twilight, 1967)
- Is It Because I'm Black? (Twinight, 1969)
- One Way Ticket To Nowhere (Twinight, 1970)
- Diamond in the Rough (Hi, 1972)
- We Did It (Hi, 1972)
- Back For A Taste Of Your Love (Hi, 1973)
- Take Me To The River (Hi, 1975)
- I Only Have Love (Hi, 1975)
- Ms. Fine Brown Frame (Boardwalk, 1982)
