Biography
Born on December 26, 1935, in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, Philadelphia soul legend Herb Johnson moved to the City of Brotherly Love upon reaching the age of nine. At eighteen he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, where he performed R&B covers during USO package tours as part of the group the Lyrics. After his discharge he returned to Philadelphia and joined the vocal group the Ambassadors. Around the same period he auditioned for the role of lead vocalist with Lionel Hampton & His Orchestra but lost the position to the renowned Little Jimmy Scott. Johnson encountered additional career setbacks when he failed to replace the Flamingos’ Nate Nelson—losing the spot to Billy Paul—and was later overlooked as a replacement for Franklin Peaker in Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes because he could not dance. In spring 1960 he signed as a solo artist to Len “Buddy” Caldwell’s Len label and worked with the Cruisers on the two-sided hit “Guilty”/“Have You Heard,” a local smash that sold more than 50,000 copies in Philly alone yet never reached a national audience. The following year he appeared on Caldwell’s V-Tone imprint with the singles “Remember Me” and “Deep Down Love,” then cut “Help” for Caldwell’s Palm label in 1962. Johnson and his backing unit the Impacts—guitarist Bobby Eli, bassist Wally Osborne, keyboardist Charlie “Teach” Peoples, drummer Howard “Little” Rice, and saxophonist Curtis Brooks—moved among several labels, including Arctic, where they recorded “Gloomy Day” and “Carfare Back,” and Swan, where they issued “Two Steps Ahead of a Woman.” In 1968 Osborne launched his own Toxan label and Johnson recorded his most enduring track, “I’m So Glad,” which Brunswick distributed nationally; although it failed to chart at the time, the song later attained classic status in Britain’s Northern Soul scene. The disappointment prompted Johnson to open an ice cream shop in Philadelphia and sharply reduce his performing schedule. In 1972 he released his final single, “Damph F’Aint,” a James Brown-inspired funk cult classic featuring extemporaneous lyrics. More than a decade afterward, an interview with Philadelphia radio station WXPN led to an invitation to sing with the local a cappella group the Zip Codes. A few years later he joined the doo wop combo A Moment’s Pleasure, which performed regularly at city-sponsored events on the recommendation of then-Mayor and devoted fan Ed Rendell. After the group disbanded, Dave Brown—drummer for Philadelphia dream pop combo the Clock Strikes Thirteen and owner of the Philly Archives reissue label—contacted Johnson. Brown proposed both reissuing Johnson’s vintage recordings on CD and assembling a new version of the Impacts that included original guitarist Bobby Eli. The revived lineup became a fixture on the Philadelphia nightclub circuit, and in 2002 Philly Archives released Remember Me, a collection of Johnson’s strongest singles. In 2003 he recorded his last new song, “Make You Wanna Holler,” with Finland’s Soul Investigators for the Timmion label. On January 19, 2004, Johnson succumbed to cancer after a prolonged illness.