Gordie Johnson
Encyclopedia
Gordie Johnson is a Canadian
musician, best known as the front man for the reggae
-rock
band Big Sugar
, and later southern rock
band Grady
.
, Manitoba
. He grew up in Medicine Hat
Alberta, & Windsor
, Ontario
,where he frequently crossed the river to play in Detroit, Michigan
. He is a vocalist and guitar
ist for the reggae-rock band Big Sugar
and the cowboy metal band Grady
, where he now uses his nickname "Grady" Johnson. Johnson is also known for wearing Hugo Boss
clothing, as part of a long-term sponsorship deal with the designer.
Johnson is a sought after producer having done albums for other artists, including Gov't Mule
, Taj Mahal
, The Trews
, The Joel Plaskett Emergency, Wide Mouth Mason
, The Respectables
, Reel Big Fish
, Tim Chaisson & Morning Fold, and Chris Kirby among others. He is also the songwriter/ cowriter of numerous hit songs in many genres.
Splitting his time between Alberta and Texas
, Johnson is a proud Canadian, evident in his version of the Canadian national anthem "O Canada
" and frequent discussions/interviews over the years. More recently the Texas influence can be heard through his songwriting for Grady. He stays very busy either playing live or working in the studio. Summer 2010 will see him playing his first instrument- the bass- with his friends in Wide Mouth Mason as part of the ZZ Top
tour. Johnson reformed Big Sugar in 2010 for some concert dates. The band released their new studio album, Revolution Per Minute, in 2011.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
musician, best known as the front man for the reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
-rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band Big Sugar
Big Sugar
Big Sugar is a Canadian blues-rock band, they were active from 1991 to 2004 and again since April 2010. The band has sold more than half a million albums in Canada.-History:...
, and later southern rock
Southern rock
Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music, and genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country music, and blues, and is focused generally on electric guitar and vocals...
band Grady
Grady (band)
Grady is a cowboy metal band based in Austin, Texas.-History:Grady originally consisted of Canadian vocalist and guitarist Gordie Johnson , Canadian bass guitarist "Big" Ben Richardson, and Chris Layton on drums...
.
Biography
Johnson was born in WinnipegWinnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
, Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
. He grew up in Medicine Hat
Medicine Hat, Alberta
Medicine Hat, known to locals as "The Hat", is a city of 61,097 people located in the southeastern part of the province of Alberta, Canada. It is enclaved within Cypress County along with the nearby Town of Redcliff, although neither is part of the county....
Alberta, & Windsor
Windsor, Ontario
Windsor is the southernmost city in Canada and is located in Southwestern Ontario at the western end of the heavily populated Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. It is within Essex County, Ontario, although administratively separated from the county government. Separated by the Detroit River, Windsor...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
,where he frequently crossed the river to play in Detroit, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. He is a vocalist and guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
ist for the reggae-rock band Big Sugar
Big Sugar
Big Sugar is a Canadian blues-rock band, they were active from 1991 to 2004 and again since April 2010. The band has sold more than half a million albums in Canada.-History:...
and the cowboy metal band Grady
Grady (band)
Grady is a cowboy metal band based in Austin, Texas.-History:Grady originally consisted of Canadian vocalist and guitarist Gordie Johnson , Canadian bass guitarist "Big" Ben Richardson, and Chris Layton on drums...
, where he now uses his nickname "Grady" Johnson. Johnson is also known for wearing Hugo Boss
Hugo Boss
Hugo Ferdinand Boss was the founder of clothing company Hugo Boss.-Early life:Boss was born in Metzingen, Germany. After completing his apprenticeship and one year of employment, he founded his own company in Metzingen in 1923.-Support of Nazism:Boss joined the Nazi Party in 1931, two years before...
clothing, as part of a long-term sponsorship deal with the designer.
Johnson is a sought after producer having done albums for other artists, including Gov't Mule
Gov't Mule
Gov't Mule is a Southern rock jam band formed in 1994 as an Allman Brothers Band side project by Warren Haynes and Allen Woody.The band released their debut album Gov't Mule in 1995...
, Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal (musician)
Henry Saint Clair Fredericks , who uses the stage name Taj Mahal, is an American Grammy Award winning blues musician. He incorporates elements of world music into his music...
, The Trews
The Trews
The Trews are a Canadian rock band from Antigonish, Nova Scotia, consisting of vocalist Colin MacDonald, guitarist John-Angus MacDonald, bassist Jack Syperek, and drummer Sean Dalton...
, The Joel Plaskett Emergency, Wide Mouth Mason
Wide Mouth Mason
Wide Mouth Mason is a Canadian blues-based rock band, consisting of Shaun Verreault , Safwan Javed , and Gordie Johnson . Former bassist Earl Pereira was also co-founder of Wide Mouth Mason...
, The Respectables
The Respectables
Les Respectables are a French Canadian rock band founded in Montreal in the early 1990s.-History:Returning home after a long journey to the United States, guitarist and singer Sébastien Plante got back in touch with Pascal Dufour, his partner of a decade of the Moonlight Drive...
, Reel Big Fish
Reel Big Fish
Reel Big Fish is an American ska punk band from Huntington Beach, California, best known for the 1997 hit "Sell Out". The band gained mainstream recognition in the mid-to-late 1990s, during the third wave of ska with the release of the gold certified album Turn the Radio Off. Soon after, the band...
, Tim Chaisson & Morning Fold, and Chris Kirby among others. He is also the songwriter/ cowriter of numerous hit songs in many genres.
Splitting his time between Alberta and Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, Johnson is a proud Canadian, evident in his version of the Canadian national anthem "O Canada
O Canada
It has been noted that the opening theme of "O Canada" bears a strong resemblance to the "Marsch der Priester" , from the opera Die Zauberflöte , composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and that Lavallée's melody was inspired by Mozart's tune...
" and frequent discussions/interviews over the years. More recently the Texas influence can be heard through his songwriting for Grady. He stays very busy either playing live or working in the studio. Summer 2010 will see him playing his first instrument- the bass- with his friends in Wide Mouth Mason as part of the ZZ Top
ZZ Top
ZZ Top is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "That Little Ol' Band from Texas". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based boogie rock, has come to incorporate elements of arena, southern, and boogie rock. The band, from Houston Texas, formed in 1969...
tour. Johnson reformed Big Sugar in 2010 for some concert dates. The band released their new studio album, Revolution Per Minute, in 2011.
Big Sugar
- 1991 - Big SugarBig Sugar (album)Big Sugar is the eponymous debut album by Canadian blues-rock band Big Sugar, released 1991 on Hypnotic Records.-Track listing:# "Sleep in Late" # "Come Back Baby" Big Sugar is the eponymous debut album by Canadian blues-rock band Big Sugar, released 1991 on Hypnotic Records.-Track listing:# "Sleep...
- 1993 - Five Hundred PoundsFive Hundred PoundsFive Hundred Pounds is an album by Canadian blues-rock band Big Sugar, released in 1993 on Hypnotic Records.Based on Big Sugar's burgeoning reputation as a live band, the album sold 10,000 copies solely by word of mouth before it garnered any significant radio airplay.In 1995 the album was released...
- 1995 - Dear M.F. (EP)
- 1995 - Ride Like HellRide Like HellRide Like Hell is an EP album by Canadian blues-rock band Big Sugar. It was released in 1995 on Hypnotic Records.-Track listing:#"Ride Like Hell"#"Dear Mr. Fantasy"#"I'm a Ram"#"Burning Bush "#"Cass Corridor "...
(EP) - 1996 - Hemi-VisionHemi-VisionHemi-Vision is an album by Canadian blues-rock band Big Sugar, released in 1996. The album was nominated for Best Rock Album at the 1997 Juno Awards.The primary singles from the album were "Diggin' a Hole", "If I Had My Way" and "Opem Up Baby"...
- 1998 - Heated
- 1999 - Chauffe à blocChauffe à blocChauffe à bloc is an EP by Canadian blues-rock band Big Sugar, released in 1999.In 1996, Big Sugar decided to record a French language version of the single "Opem Up Baby", from the album Hemi-Vision, for radio airplay in Quebec...
(EP) - 2000 - Extra Long LifeExtra Long LifeExtra Long Life is an album by Alkaline, a dub music side project of the Canadian blues-rock band Big Sugar and reggae singer Whitey Don. The album was released in 2000 on Universal Records...
(as Alkaline) - 2001 - Brothers and Sisters, Are You Ready?Brothers and Sisters, Are You Ready?Brothers and Sisters, Are You Ready? is an album by Big Sugar, released in 2001. It was released concurrently with a separate album containing French language versions of the same songs, Brothers and Sisters, Êtes Vous Ready?. The album was nominated for Best Rock Album at the 2002 Juno Awards...
- 2001 - Brothers and Sisters, Êtes Vous Ready?Brothers and Sisters, Êtes Vous Ready?Brothers and Sisters, Êtes Vous Ready? is an album by Big Sugar, released in 2001. It contains French language versions of songs from their concurrently-released album Brothers and Sisters, Are You Ready?, along with 4 songs found only on the French release - "La Bombe", "Busté", "Harmonie" and "À...
- 2003 - Hit & RunHit & Run (album)Hit & Run is a greatest hits album by Canadian blues/rock band Big Sugar, released in 2003.The album comprises two discs: the first, Hit, compiles the studio versions of the band's singles, along with three previously unreleased songs; the second, Run, is a live concert performance by the...
- 2011 - Revolution Per Minute (album)