Death Ray Boogie - Pete Johnson ~ 1941

Описание: Kermit Holden "Pete" Johnson was born on March 25, 1904 in Kansas City, Missouri. He was mainly raised by his mother, however he was placed in an orphanage at age three due to money issues. Missing home so bad, he ran away and returned home. By 12, he dropped out of school and was seeking out work to help the family financially. He held various jobs in factory work, at a print shop, and even as a shoe-shiner.

In 1922, he began his musical career as a drummer in town, however he had played both piano and drums about he same amount of time, learning both from a church while he was working as a water boy for a construction company. From 1926 to 1938, he worked as a pianist, usually with Big Joe Turner. An encounter with record producer John Hammond in 1936 led to an engagement at the Famous Door in New York City. In 1938, Johnson and Turner appeared in the From Spirituals to Swing concert at Carnegie Hall. After this show the popularity of the boogie-woogie style was on the upswing. Johnson worked locally and toured and recorded with Turner, Meade Lux Lewis, and Albert Ammons during this period. Ammons and Johnson would appear in the short film "Boogie-Woogie Dreams" in 1941.

In 1938, Johnson and Turner recorded "Roll 'Em Pete" which helped fuel the boogie woogie craze and begin paving the way to what would become Rock and Roll. The duo would also pen "Rocket 88 Boogie" which would go on to influence the Ike Turner classic 'Rocket 88".

Johnson would continue recording and performing through the 1940's, including a gig at Niagara Falls where he had to climb a ladder just to get to the platform his piano was on. In 1950, he moved to Buffalo, New York. Sadly, he would fall on some hard times, losing part of a finger in an accident and becoming partially paralyzed by stroke. He still continued to perform on the side, but took a jobs washing trucks for an ice cream company, and then washing hearses at a mortuary for his main source of income.

In July 1953, however, he landed a six-week residency at the St. Louis Forest Park Hotel. Some of those performances would be broadcast on a radio program called "Saturday at the Chase". Work would remain sparse for the next four years. He continued to record and even toured Europe in 1958 with the Jazz at the Philharmonic ensemble. While on that tour, he got an invite to appear at the Newport Jazz Festival upon his return.

Unfortunately, he would get news of a heart issue and diabetes and would suffer a series of strokes causing loss of mobility in his hands. His only source of income became his royalty checks in which he constantly had "difficulty" getting except from Blue Note and Victor, but in June of 1964, he was finally accepted as a member of ASCAP which ensured he would get the royalties he deserved which helped ease his financial woes at least. Johnson would pass away in 1967 just before his 63rd birthday.

Today's song, "Death Ray Boogie", was written by Johnson himself along with Dave Dexter. The recording took place on May 8, 1941 with just Pete on piano, A. G. Godley on drums and Al Hall on string bass.