Buddy Johnson

With his sister <a href="spotify:artist:4BFRpD4ZW8NAHdPqkiBas3">Ella</a> seductively serving for decades as his primary vocalist, pianist Buddy Johnson led a large jump blues band that enjoyed tremendous success during the 1940s and '50s. The suave bandleader spotlighted a series of talented singers, including balladeers <a href="spotify:artist:6yJZMmgqsTjH6ooVALu7oT">Arthur Prysock</a>, Nolan Lewis, and Floyd Ryland, but it was <a href="spotify:artist:4BFRpD4ZW8NAHdPqkiBas3">Ella</a>'s understated delivery (beautifully spotlighted on the sumptuous ballad "Since I Fell for You") and Buddy's crisply danceable "Walk-Em Rhythm" that made the aggregation so successful for so long.

Buddy began taking piano lessons at age four. Although he specialized professionally in tasty R&B, classical music remained one of his passions. In 1939, Buddy Johnson waxed his first 78 for Decca, "Stop Pretending (So Hep You See)." Shortly thereafter, <a href="spotify:artist:4BFRpD4ZW8NAHdPqkiBas3">Ella</a> joined her older brother; her delicious vocal on "Please Mr. Johnson" translated into long-term employment.

Buddy had assembled a nine-piece orchestra by 1941 and visited the R&B charts often for Decca during wartime with "Let's Beat Out Some Love," "Baby Don't You Cry," the chart-topping "When My Man Comes Home," and "That's the Stuff You Gotta Watch." <a href="spotify:artist:4BFRpD4ZW8NAHdPqkiBas3">Ella</a> cut her beloved rendering of "Since I Fell for You" in 1945, a year after Buddy waxed his jiving gem "Fine Brown Frame."

In addition to their frequent jaunts on the R&B hit parade, the Johnson organization barnstormed the country to sellout crowds throughout the '40s. Buddy moved over to Mercury Records in 1953 and scored more smashes with <a href="spotify:artist:4BFRpD4ZW8NAHdPqkiBas3">Ella</a>'s "Hittin' on Me" and "I'm Just Your Fool," the latter a 1954 standout that was later purloined by Chicago harpist <a href="spotify:artist:22JuR9OeENcP54XN5TlNWS">Little Walter</a>.

Rock & roll eventually halted Buddy Johnson's momentum, but his band (tenor saxophonist Purvis Henson was a constant presence in the reed section) kept recording for Mercury through 1958, switched to Roulette the next year, and bowed out with a solitary session for Hy Weiss' Old Town label in 1964.

Singer <a href="spotify:artist:4i9IEoaY6Q1v3Puqz3PwC1">Lenny Welch</a> ensured the immortality of "Since I Fell for You" when his velvety rendition of the Johnson-penned ballad reached the uppermost reaches of the pop charts in 1963. It was a perfect match of song and singer; <a href="spotify:artist:4i9IEoaY6Q1v3Puqz3PwC1">Welch</a>'s smooth, assured delivery would have fit in snugly with the Johnson band during its heyday a couple of decades earlier. ~ Bill Dahl, Rovi