Luther 'Snake Boy' Johnson

Luther "Snake Boy" Johnson (30 August 1941 – 18 March 1976; Davisboro, Georgia), born Lucious Brinson, was an American Chicago blues and electric blues guitarist, singer and songwriter, also known as Luther "Snake" Johnson, Luther "Georgia Boy" Johnson and Luther King.
 

Early Life

Johnson was born on a farm near Davisboro, Georgia, one of ten children, and taught himself to play guitar before he had even started school. After completing a period of military service, he settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he played guitar for the local gospel group the Milwaukee Supreme Angels, performing on the area's church circuit before his growing interest in the blues led him to form his own trio.

Career

Johnson relocated to Chicago in the late 1950s, where he played regularly alongside pianist Otis Spann and slide guitarist Elmore James. In 1964, billed as "Little Luther," he recorded the solo single "The Twirl" for Chess Records. He went on to join Muddy Waters's band in the mid-1960s, working alongside musicians including Chicago Bob Nelson, and released his debut album, Come on Home, in 1969. In 1970, Johnson left Muddy Waters's group, a position subsequently filled by fellow guitarist Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson, and relocated to Boston, Massachusetts, to pursue a solo career.

He spent the following years working the American college and blues festival circuits, as well as touring Europe with blues festival packages. His album Born in Georgia was released by the French Black & Blue label in 1972, followed by Chicken Shack (1974), Lonesome in My Bedroom (1975), and Get Down to the Nitty Gritty (1976), the final album issued during his lifetime.

His recordings included "Woman Don't Lie," "Take It Off Him and Put It on Me," "Blues Is Something I'll Never Lose," "Woman Why You Treat Me So Mean," "They Call Me Snake," "Slip It Off Your Hips and Move," "On the Rise Again" and "Impression from France." AllMusic critic Ron Wynn described Johnson's work as marked by "inimitable vocals, raspy lines and tart guitar," calling him "a good, occasionally outstanding blues artist."

Personal Life

Johnson is not to be confused with two other blues guitarists of the same name active during the same period, Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson and Luther "Houserocker" Johnson of Atlanta, Georgia, a source of ongoing confusion among blues historians and collectors.

He died of brain cancer in Boston, Massachusetts, on 18 March 1976, at the age of 34, and was interred at Mount Hope Cemetery in Mattapan, Massachusetts.

Johnson is remembered as a distinctive voice of the post-war Chicago blues tradition, whose brief but productive solo career on the Black & Blue label left behind a body of work still valued by blues collectors today.