Bill Johnson

Who was Bill Johnson?

Bill Johnson was an American alto saxophonist, clarinetist, and arranger.

Johnson studied piano as a child and began playing the alto saxophone at the age of 16. After working with lesser-known bands he studied in conservatories in Wisconsin and Illinois, then attended Marquette University. While in Milwaukee he played with Jabbo Smith and others. He worked with Baron Lee and Tiny Bradshaw, and in 1936 joined Erskine Hawkins, with whom he performed into the early 1940s. His recordings with Hawkins include "Uptown Shuffle"' and "Bear Mash Blues"; he also arranged the former title, as well as "Uncle Bud", and he composed "Tuxedo Junction" with Hawkins. He appears with the latter’s band in the short film Deviled Hams.

There's a record on Alert from around mid-1946 by "Bill Johnson and Orchestra," which is the beginning of his subsequent group, the Musical Notes. The members, as given on the label, were: Bill Johnson, Ray Turner, Gene Brooks, Clifton "Skeeter" Best, Jimmy Robinson, and Egbert "Sharkie" Victor. The song was "If I Was A Itty Bitty Girl," with vocals by Grace Smith.