Hi Records / Fat Possum Records
Johnson, Syl – Uptown Shakedown – New LP
Regular price
$ 17.00
Sylvester Thompson
Profile:
b. 1st July 1936, Holly Springs, Mississippi, U.S.A.
American funk/soul/blues singer and music producer.
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 Records in 1959. He made his solo debut that same year with Federal Records (2), a subsidiary of King Records (3) of Cincinnati, backed by Freddie King on guitar.
He then began recording for 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.
Like other black songwriters of the period, several of his records at this time 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 singles. Produced in Memphis with the Hi house band, 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, reaching Number 7 on the R&B charts in 1975. However, at Hi Johnson was always to some extent in Al Green’s shadow commercially, if not artistically.
American funk/soul/blues singer and music producer.
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 Records in 1959. He made his solo debut that same year with Federal Records (2), a subsidiary of King Records (3) of Cincinnati, backed by Freddie King on guitar.
He then began recording for 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.
Like other black songwriters of the period, several of his records at this time 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 singles. Produced in Memphis with the Hi house band, 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, reaching Number 7 on the R&B charts in 1975. However, at Hi Johnson was always to some extent in Al Green’s shadow commercially, if not artistically.
