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.
Canned Heat Blues
Tommy Johnson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Crying, canned heat, mama, sure, Lord killing me.
Takes alcorub to take these canned heat blues.
Crying, mama, mama, mama, you know, canned heat killing me.
Crying, mama, mama, mama, crying, canned heat is killing me.
Canned heat don't kill me, crying, babe, I'll never die.
Run here, somebody, take these canned heat blues.
Run here, somebody, and take these canned heat blues.
Tommy Johnson's song Canned Heat Blues is a mournful lament for the effects of alcoholism. The first line of the song is repeated throughout and sets up a rhythm to the song that is almost hypnotic. The repeated lines of "crying, canned heat, canned heat, mama, crying, sure, Lord, killing me" create a solemn and repetitive mood that mirrors the monotony of the singer's struggle with addiction. The phrase "canned heat" refers to a cheaply produced, high-alcohol-content drink that was popular among the poor in the early 20th century. The singer laments that the canned heat is killing him, but also seems to suggest that he cannot live without it, as he sings "takes alcorub to take these canned heat blues."
The second verse continues this theme, with the singer crying out for his mother and saying that the canned heat is killing him. However, he adds the line "canned heat don't kill me, crying, babe, I'll never die," as though he is attempting to convince himself that he is invincible. The final verse has the singer waking up in the morning with the canned heat surrounding him, and he pleads for someone to take away the blues that it is causing him.
Line by Line Meaning
Crying, canned heat, canned heat, mama, crying, sure, Lord, killing me.
I am crying and can feel the burning sensation of alcohol (known as canned heat) that is killing me. I am sure that Lord is punishing me for my sins.
Crying, canned heat, mama, sure, Lord killing me.
I am crying and feeling the effect of canned heat as it is killing me. I am sure that Lord is responsible for my misfortunes.
Takes alcorub to take these canned heat blues.
To overcome the effects of canned heat, I need to consume more alcohol.
Crying, mama, mama, mama, you know, canned heat killing me.
I cannot stop crying and feel the effects of canned heat that is slowly killing me. Mama, you know the pain that I am going through.
Crying, mama, mama, mama, crying, canned heat is killing me.
I am crying out for help while feeling the agonizing pain of canned heat that is slowly killing me.
Canned heat don't kill me, crying, babe, I'll never die.
Even though canned heat is causing me immense pain, I will never die. I am crying, but I am not afraid of death.
I woke up, this morning, crying, canned heat 'ourn my bed.
After drinking canned heat, I woke up crying and felt its effects all over my bed.
Run here, somebody, take these canned heat blues.
I am calling out for someone to help me overcome the effects of canned heat and ease my pain.
Run here, somebody, and take these canned heat blues.
I urgently need someone's help to get rid of the painful effects of canned heat on my body.
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing
Written by: TOMMY JOHNSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind