HENRY " RUFE " JOHNSON

Va aprendre a tocar la guitarra amb el seu germà gran Roosevelt i  el secosi  Thelmon Johnson. També toca el piano a l'església local. El seu sobrenom "Rufe" li vé donat  des de la infància. Més tard, Rufe es produeix amb dos grups vocals: West Spring friendly Four  i The Silver Star Quartet l'actuació va ser transmesa, respectivament, per les ràdios i WPSA WBSU. Descobert per Pete Lowry, que el va ajudar a grabar el que fins ara  segueix sent el seu únic àlbum - "The Union County Flash " - en què de vegades s'uneix al seu amic de la infància "Peg Leg " Sam  a la harmònica. A més, participa en el disc Rufe Sam gravat en les mateixes sessions (Rufe canta en dues pistes en "Medicine show man "). Barreja Blues, Folk i Ragtime, ofereix unes excel·lents títols: "Join The Army ", "Boogie Baby ", "My baby`s home ", My dog's Blues etc. 


                 

Composed by Henry Johnson

Henry Johnson was born in Union County, S.C. near the towns of Union and Jonesville on December 8, 1908. He was inspired to play guitar by a cousin by the name of Thelman Johnson as well as local man by the name of J.T. Briggs. He also was inspired by recordings on 78 RPM by Blind Lemon Jefferson, Blind Blake & Blind Boy Fuller. Johnson soaked up a lot of styles in his youth by local string bands as well as gospel artists that he heard in live performances. (One artist was Blind Gussie Nesbitt). Around 1933 he also took up playing the piano hearing local artists on the instrument such as "Come By" Shelton & Tommy Foster. All of these influences made him a multi-instrumentalist playing finger-picking as well as slide guitar styles, piano and he also picked up harmonica along the way. A buried treasure, he wasn't heard until early white blues enthuasists chanced upon him in the early 1970's. Johnson recorded a full-length album for Trix in 1973, and a few live recordings by him were later released on a Flyright Records LP compliation. One of many instances where an artist was captured on record just in the nick of time, Johnson passed away in Union in February of 1974. 

Henry "Rufe" Johnson:Vocals & Guitar

Peg Leg Sam:Harmonica

Recorded in Jonesville, S.C. December 11, 1972


Originally issued on and this recording taken from the 1973 album "Henry Johnson:The Union County Flash!" (Trix 3304) (LP)

By randomandrare 

Henry "Rufe" Johnson (October 2, 1908 – February 4, 1974), was an American Piedmont blues guitarist, pianist, singer and songwriter. On occasion he performed on the guitar using a bottleneck, and finally found a larger audience through his original 1973 Trix LP, The Union County Flash! His fame was short-lived as he died months after its release.

Johnson was born in the small settlement of Bogansville, near to the towns of Union and Jonesville, South Carolina, United States. His elder brother, Roosevelt, taught Johnson the rudiments of guitar playing, and was further instructed by his cousin Thelmon Johnson. His childhood nickname of "Rufe", which stayed with him throughout his life, was a shortening of Rooster. He learned to play in standard tuning and mainly played gospel songs, although he was exposed to secular music, such as Blind Lemon Jefferson, Blind Blake and later Blind Boy Fuller via his family's record collection. He also got the opportunity to play alongside several white musicians. He expanded his repertoire in 1933, when he self-taught himself the piano, and Johnson played at the local church for several years. Johnson appeared with two vocal groups, the West Spring Friendly Four and the Silver Star Quartet, who both performed on radio at WPSA and WBSU respectively.

In 1952, he transferred from working on a farm to hospital duties, and made a gradual move towards playing more secular material albeit on a part-time basis. Finally discovered by blues historians, Johnson started to give solo concerts, appeared on the radio, and joined up musically with his old childhood friend, Peg Leg Sam.

Following recording sessions in November and December 1972, his own album, The Union County Flash!, was issued on Trix Records in 1973. Released the same year, Johnson supplied both guitar and vocals, as did Baby Tate, to a couple of tracks on Peg Leg Sam's album, Medicine Show Man.

Johnson died of kidney failure in Union, South Carolina, on February 4, 1974, aged 69.

Henry Johnson - The union county flash (1973)

Guitar, Vocals – Henry Johnson 
Harmonica – Peg Leg Sam (tracks: 03,11)

01 Join The Army 3:35
02 Who's Going Home With You 3:40
03 Boogie Baby 3:55
04 Rufe's Impromptu Rag 2:13
05 My Mother's Grave Will Be Found 6:32
06 My Baby's House 3:20
07 Be Glad When You're Dead 3:07
08 Little Sally Jones 4:26
09 John Henry 5:17
10 Crow Jane 5:07
11 My Dog's Blues 6:02
12 Old Home Town 3:03
13 Sign Of The Judgement 3:40

I do not own the copyright to this recording. This video is for historical and educational purposes.

 By sandma bluesandroll