Johnson was born near Terry, Mississippi, and moved around 1910 to Crystal Springs where he lived for most of his life. He learned to play the guitar and, by 1914, was supplementing his income by playing at local parties with his brothers Major and LeDell. In 1916 he married and moved to Webb Jennings' Plantation near Drew, Mississippi, close to the Dockery Plantation. There he met other musicians including Charley Patton and Willie Brown.
By 1920 he had become an alcoholic and itinerant musician, based in Crystal Springs but traveling widely around the South, sometimes accompanied by Papa Charlie McCoy.
In 1928 he made his first recordings with McCoy for Victor Records.The recordings included "Canned Heat Blues", in which he sang of drinking methanol from the cooking fuel Sterno. The song features the refrain "canned heat, mama, sure, Lord, killing me." The blues group Canned Heat took their name from this song. Johnson's "Big Road Blues" inspired Canned Heat's song, "On the Road Again". A significantly different version of the song appears as "Canned Heat" on the "Big Road Blues" album by K.C. Douglas.
He recorded two further sessions, in August 1928, and for Paramount Records in December 1929. He did not record again, mistakenly believing that he had signed away his right to record. This resulted in a legal settlement with The Mississippi Sheiks who had used Johnson's "Big Road Blues" melody in their successful "Stop and Listen". Johnson was party to the copyright settlement, but was too drunk at the time to understand what he had signed to.
Johnson's recordings established him as the premier Delta blues vocalist of his day, with a powerful voice that could go from a growl to a falsetto. He was also an accomplished guitarist. His style influenced later blues singers such as Robert Nighthawk and Howlin' Wolf, whose song "I Asked for Water (She Brought Me Gasoline)" was based on Johnson's "Cool Water Blues". He was a talented composer, blending fragments of folk poetry and personalized lyrics into set guitar accompaniments to craft striking blues compositions such as "Maggie Campbell".
To enhance his fame, Johnson cultivated a sinister persona. According to his brother LeDell, he claimed to have sold his soul to the devil in exchange for his mastery of the guitar. This story was later also associated with Robert Johnson, to whom Tommy Johnson was unrelated. Tommy Johnson also played tricks with his guitar, playing it between his legs and behind his head, and throwing it in the air while playing.
Johnson remained a popular performer in the Jackson area through the 1930s and 1940s, sometimes performing with Ishman Bracey. He was highly influential on other performers, partly because he was willing to teach his style and his repertoire.
He died of a heart attack after playing at a party in 1956. He is buried in the Warm Springs Methodist Church Cemetery outside of Crystal Springs, Mississippi. In 2001 a headstone was commissioned through the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund, a Mississippi non-profit corporation, by the family of Tommy Johnson and paid for by musician Bonnie Raitt. The large, granite memorial engraved with Johnson's portrait was not placed on Johnson's grave for several years afterward, however, due to an ongoing dispute between Tommy Johnson's family (led by his niece, Vera Johnson Collins), the owners of farm property encircling the cemetery, and the Copiah County Board of Supervisors in regard to a deteriorated road preventing access to the burial site. This issue was resolved in October 2012, when it was announced that the headstone would reach its final destination on October 26. The headstone had been on public display in the Crystal Springs, Mississippi Public Library since being unveiled on October 20, 2001. On the night of Saturday, February 2, 2013, the headstone was desecrated, apparently smashed by a sledge hammer or some similar device.
An annual Tommy Johnson Blues Festival is now held in Crystal Springs, on every third weekend in October. The inaugural edition was held in Jackson and Crystal Springs in 2006.
Tommy Johnson's influence on local traditions is discussed by David Evans in Tommy Johnson and ''Big Road Blues. Tradition & Creativity in the Folk Blues.
In the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), a character named Tommy Johnson is played by Chris Thomas King. This character describes selling his soul to the devil to play guitar. In the film, Tommy Johnson plays a number of songs originally recorded by blues musician Skip James, and also accompanies the Soggy Bottom Boys, a fictitious band consisting of the film's three main protagonists plus Johnson, on "Man of Constant Sorrow". The story of Tommy Johnson selling his soul to the devil was first told by Tommy Johnson's brother, LaDell Johnson, and reported by David Evans in his 1971 biography of Johnson.
Big Road Blues
Tommy Johnson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Now don't you hear me talkin', pretty mama?
Lord, ain't goin' down this big road by myself
If I don't carry you, gon' carry somebody else
Cryin', sun gonna shine in my back door someday
Now, don't you hear me talkin', pretty mama?
Lord, sun gon' shine in my back door someday
Baby, what makes you do me like you do do do, like you do do do?
Don't you hear me now?
What makes you do me like you do do do?
Now you think you gon' do me like you done poor Cherry Red
Taken the poor boy's money now, sure, Lord, won't take mine
Now don't you hear me talkin' pretty mama?
Taken the poor boy's money; sure, Lord, won't take mine
Taken the poor boy's money now; sure, Lord, won't take mine
Cryin', ain't goin' down this big road by myself
Now, don't you hear me talkin', pretty mama?
Lord, ain't goin' down this big road by myself
If I don't carry you, gon' carry somebody else
Cryin', sun gon' shine, Lord, my back door someday
Now don't you hear me talkin', pretty mama?
Lord, sun gon' shine in my back door someday
And the wind gon' change, blow my blues away
Tommy Johnson's song "Big Road Blues" is a classic blues tune that tells the story of a man who is walking down a big road all alone. He laments about his loneliness and how he doesn't want to travel this road without his woman, asking her to come along with him. He pleads with her and warns that if he doesn't carry her, he will carry someone else. He acknowledges that life isn't easy, but the sun is going to shine in his backdoor someday, and the wind will blow his blues away.
The song's lyrics are a typical blues storytelling, telling the story of a man who is struggling in life and is looking for someone to share his troubles with. He is expressing his pain and desires to his love interest, hoping that she will understand him and not abandon him. His heartbreak is evident in the lines, "what makes you do me like you do do do?" as he cannot comprehend why his woman treats him badly.
Overall, the song is a typical blues tune that epitomizes the life of the black American community during the early 20th century. It deals with themes such as loneliness and heartbreak, but also includes a glimmer of hope and optimism that things will get better.
Line by Line Meaning
Cryin', ain't goin' down this big road by myself
I am upset and I do not want to travel alone on this difficult journey.
Now don't you hear me talkin', pretty mama?
I hope you are listening to what I'm saying, dear.
Lord, ain't goin' down this big road by myself
I cannot travel alone, Lord.
If I don't carry you, gon' carry somebody else
If I can't carry you with me, I will take someone else with me.
Cryin', sun gonna shine in my back door someday
Though I'm sad now, I know that someday, things will get better for me.
And the wind gon' change, gon' blow my blues away
The winds of change will come and help me forget my troubles.
Baby, what makes you do me like you do do do, like you do do do?
Sweetheart, why do you treat me so badly?
Don't you hear me now?
Are you listening to me?
What makes you do me like you do do do?
Why do you treat me so poorly?
Now you think you gon' do me like you done poor Cherry Red
I know you want to treat me like you did Cherry Red, but I won't let you.
Taken the poor boy's money now, sure, Lord, won't take mine
You may have taken money from a poor boy, but you won't do the same to me, Lord willing.
Taken the poor boy's money; sure, Lord, won't take mine
You may have stolen from someone else, but I won't let you steal from me.
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing
Written by: Tommy Johnson
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@maor9368
(Verse 1)
Cryin', ain't goin' down this big road by myself
Now don't you hear me talkin', pretty mama?
Lord, ain't goin' down this big road by myself
If I don't carry you, gon' carry somebody else
(Verse 2)
Cryin', sun gonna shine in my back door someday
Now, don't you hear me talkin', pretty mama?
Lord, sun gon' shine in my back door someday
And the wind gon' change, gon' blow my blues away
(Verse 3)
Baby, what makes you do me like you do do do, like you do do do?
Don't you hear me now?
What makes you do me like you do do do?
Now you think you gon' do me like you done poor Cherry Red
(Verse 4)
Taken the poor boy's money now, sure, Lord, won't take mine
Now don't you hear me talkin' pretty mama?
Taken the poor boy's money; sure, Lord, won't take mine
Taken the poor boy's money now; sure, Lord, won't take mine
(Verse 5)
Cryin', ain't goin' down this big road by myself
Now, don't you hear me talkin', pretty mama?
Lord, ain't goin' down this big road by myself
If I don't carry you, gon' carry somebody else
(Verse 6)
Cryin', sun gon' shine, Lord, my back door someday
Now don't you hear me talkin', pretty mama?
Lord, sun gon' shine in my back door someday
And the wind gon' change, blow my blues away
@fastburn3292
Deals with the devil brought me here.
@alexcarrion4450
Me to i just watched it
@rdgzunleashed2749
Me too
@john_doe_smith
I feel so unoriginal right now. Me three.
@ReXGaming11
Same
@lokos289
hahaha me too
@Mikemorales95
And all this time I thought the devil was more of a heavy metal type of guy
@NJNinni
No, not at all he was mainly into Jazz and later got into Disco. That's how the song Disco Inferno got inspired.
@bbqchickenwingsofredemptio449
Metal needs electricity, he was buying his time. Without the blues , there wouldn't be rock, there wouldn't be metal. I wouldn't be surprised if he planned it this way.
@solarpanel8195
He makes popular the music that will resonate with the times