Biography
Kentucky native and original banjoist for the progressive bluegrass ensemble New Grass Revival earned acclaim for launching extended improvisations that stretched beyond five minutes and appeared to exhaust every conceivable combination of notes the instrument could produce. He first picked up guitar at age seven yet did not encounter the banjo until he turned twenty-five. Among his earliest and most significant inspirations from the old-time and bluegrass tradition stood Ralph Stanley, founder of the Clinch Mountain Boys. During the late 1960s—an interval marked by widespread experimentation and boundary-breaking across musical styles, bluegrass among them—Johnson entered the bluegrass outfit Poor Richard's Almanac. Another participant in that ensemble, mandolinist Sam Bush, would likewise exert a lasting influence on progressive bluegrass; the pair quickly formed a close musical bond and soon departed to join the Bluegrass Alliance, a pioneering progressive bluegrass group that attracted a devoted audience. Additional personnel in the Alliance comprised fiddler Lonnie Peerce and bassist Ebo Walker. Guitarist Curtis Burch became the next addition in 1971.
The following year brought further realignment when the Alliance paused its activities because of Peerce’s declining health. Johnson, Bush, and Burch then assembled the New Grass Revival. With that band Johnson cut multiple albums for Flying Fish and maintained a steady touring schedule throughout the 1970s, during which the group also served as Leon Russell’s backing unit. Russell, stepping away from rock-star stature, was turning toward a bluegrass repertoire in hopes of shedding the persona of a boisterous, inebriated Joe Cocker. Johnson departed New Grass Revival in 1981; the ensemble paid him tribute by recruiting the gifted young banjoist Bela Fleck as his successor.
Thereafter Johnson worked chiefly as a session musician, contributing to Doc Watson’s album Memories and joining Fleck onstage at the 1992 Tennessee Banjo Institute. In 1996 he received a lung-cancer diagnosis, prompting a large-scale benefit concert held in Nashville several months afterward.
The following year brought further realignment when the Alliance paused its activities because of Peerce’s declining health. Johnson, Bush, and Burch then assembled the New Grass Revival. With that band Johnson cut multiple albums for Flying Fish and maintained a steady touring schedule throughout the 1970s, during which the group also served as Leon Russell’s backing unit. Russell, stepping away from rock-star stature, was turning toward a bluegrass repertoire in hopes of shedding the persona of a boisterous, inebriated Joe Cocker. Johnson departed New Grass Revival in 1981; the ensemble paid him tribute by recruiting the gifted young banjoist Bela Fleck as his successor.
Thereafter Johnson worked chiefly as a session musician, contributing to Doc Watson’s album Memories and joining Fleck onstage at the 1992 Tennessee Banjo Institute. In 1996 he received a lung-cancer diagnosis, prompting a large-scale benefit concert held in Nashville several months afterward.
Albums