Biography
William Luther "Bill" Johnson (Jacksonville, Florida, USA, 30 September 1912 – 5 July 1960) was an American alto saxophonist, clarinetist, and arranger.
Johnson studied piano as a child and began playing the alto saxophone at the age of 16. After working with lesser-known bands he studied in conservatories in Wisconsin and Illinois, then attended Marquette University. While in Milwaukee he played with Jabbo Smith and others. He worked with Baron Lee and Tiny Bradshaw, and in 1936 joined Erskine Hawkins, with whom he performed into the early 1940s. His recordings with Hawkins include "Uptown Shuffle"' (1939, Bb 10504) and "Bear Mash Blues" (1942, Bb 30-0813); he also arranged the former title, as well as "Uncle Bud" (1941, Bb 11372), and he composed "Tuxedo Junction" with Hawkins. He appears with the latter’s band in the short film Deviled Hams (1937).
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There's a record on Alert from around mid-1946 by "Bill Johnson and Orchestra," which is the beginning of his subsequent group, the Musical Notes. The members, as given on the label, were: Bill Johnson (alto sax), Ray Turner (tenor sax), Gene Brooks (drums), Clifton "Skeeter" Best (guitar), Jimmy Robinson (bass), and Egbert "Sharkie" Victor (piano). The song was "If I Was A Itty Bitty Girl," with vocals by Grace Smith (who had a couple of subsequent releases on National and Avalon).
Presumably those sides were recorded a bit earlier, since, by the Spring of 1946, several of the members had become the Musical Notes: Bill Johnson (tenor lead, alto sax and clarinet), West Indian Egbert Victor (baritone and piano), Clifton "Skeeter" Best (second tenor and guitar; he, too, seems to have been with Erskine Hawkins for a while), Jimmy Robinson (baritone/bass and bassist), and Gus Gordon (lead tenor and cocktail drums).
Bill Johnson and the Musical Notes recorded for Harlem, RCA, King, Regal, Tru-Blue, Ronnex (as the Bill Johnson Quartet), Jubilee (Ronnex masters), and Baton (Bill Johnson Quintet). Over the years, there were many personnel changes, but Bill and Gus Gordon were on all the recordings.
Johnson was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1957, which caused the breakup of the group, although he re-formed it on a couple of occasions. He died in 1960 in New York City.
William Luther Johnson was born in Jacksonville, Florida in 1912. He came to New York in 1935 and spent a few months each with Baron Lee's Blue Rhythm Band and Tiny Bradshaw's Band. Joining the Erskine Hawkins Orchestra in 1936 as a clarinetist and alto sax player, he also stood out as an arranger. Along with Hawkins and tenor saxman Julian Dash, he wrote the music to "Tuxedo Junction" in 1939 (words were added by Buddy Feyne). As of 1952, ASCAP also credited him with writing "Dolomite" (which also had lyrics by Buddy Feyne), "Swingin' On Lenox Avenue," "Uptown Shuffle," and "Weddin' Blues."
There's a record on Alert from around mid-1946 by "Bill Johnson and Orchestra," which is the beginning of the Musical Notes.
The Musical Notes hooked up with Joe Glaser's Associated Booking Corp., and stayed with them for their entire career. They were not only booked by ABC, but managed by them too.
The Musical Notes first recorded for J. Mayo Williams' Harlem label. The two songs that they did were "Don't You Think I Oughta Know" with Gus in the lead and the instrumental, "Stuff In D Flat." Recorded at an unknown date, they were released in March 1947. Also in March (on the 5th), they held their first session for RCA Victor. It was a double one, with eight songs recorded: "Pretty Eyed Baby" (led by Bill), "Don't You Think I Oughta Know" (Gus), "That Night We Said Goodbye" (Gus), "You Didn't Have To Say I Love You" (Gus), "Shorty's Got To Go" (Bill), "Half A Love" (Gus), "Leave It To Fate, Gate" (Bill), and the instrumental "Sharkie's Boogie."
By late 1950, there was a big shakeup in the group. By the time the dust had settled, guitarist Skeeter Best had left. He'd been drifting more and more into jazz and wanted to go back to Juliard to study. Bassist Jimmy Robinson wandered away for a while, and pianist Lonnie Slappey was gone too. Now, the Musical Notes consisted of Bill Johnson (vocals and alto sax), Gus Gordon (vocals and drums), soprano Shirley Moore (vocals and piano), and alto Eileen "Bassy" Chance (vocals and bass; she'd been in Tiny Davis' Hell-Divers and her voice sounded a lot like Gus'). A December 1950 ad has them at the Rose Room of the Majestic Hotel in Cleveland. They were back there in May 1951, by which time they'd been all over the country, as well as having had a month-long engagement in Hamilton, Ontario.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.