Johnny Jenkins

Guitarist, singer, and songwriter Johnny Jenkins maintained a deep connection to blues throughout his life, even though long stretches passed between his recordings. He never pursued music as a full-time career and instead held steady day jobs that ranged from well digging and logging to mechanical repairs. At moments his playing recalled Elmore James, while at others it carried traces of Jimi Hendrix—an influence that ran in the opposite direction, since Jenkins had already shaped Hendrix’s approach years earlier.

Born in Macon, Georgia, in 1939, Jenkins spent his childhood in the rural Swift Creek community. A battery-powered radio introduced him to blues and classic R&B performers such as Bill Doggett and Bullmoose Jackson. At age nine he fashioned his first instrument from a cigar box strung with rubber bands and performed for tips outside a local gas station; after his older sister later purchased a proper guitar, he continued playing left-handed and upside down.

Phil Walden, founder of Capricorn Records, first encountered Jenkins on a local radio talent show in 1959 and began booking the guitarist’s band, the Pinetoppers, whose lineup featured Otis Redding as lead vocalist. In 1962 Redding received his initial major opportunity when he drove Jenkins to Stax Studios in Memphis for a follow-up session to the regional hit “Love Twist.” With leftover studio time the producer invited Redding to record “These Arms of Mine,” launching the singer’s ascent; Redding subsequently asked Jenkins to join his touring band, yet Jenkins declined because of his aversion to air travel.

After Redding died in a plane crash, Jenkins remained in Georgia, performing only in the region and supporting his family through day work. His distinctive guitar technique made a strong impression on the young Jimi Hendrix, who caught Jenkins’s shows while visiting relatives near Macon. The two later performed together in 1969 at The Scene, the New York club owned by Steve Paul. In 1970 Walden arranged a studio session pairing Jenkins with several members of the Allman Brothers Band, yielding the debut album Ton Ton Macoute, among the first releases on the fledgling Capricorn label. Although the album appeared to strong reviews in 1972, the label’s attention stayed fixed on the rising Allman Brothers.

Walden persuaded Jenkins to return to the studio in 1996 for the comeback album Blessed Blues, which featured keyboardist Chuck Leavell and Muscle Shoals percussionist Mickey Buckins. The following year Capricorn reissued the now-legendary Ton Ton Macoute on compact disc.