John Johnson (musician)
Encyclopedia
John Johnson is a musician (trombone,guitar, percussions), born 21 January 1964 in Dudley
, Worcestershire
, England.
, an Island in the Caribbean sea in the 1950s. Growing up, he was surrounded by musical talent in his family. John has been classically trained on the trombone from the age of eight. His earliest performances were in brass ensembles, classical orchestras and brass bands.
At sixteen a chance meeting at the legendary Rum Runner Club in Birmingham saw John join his first funk band, Wide Receiver.
He however had other plans to gain firsthand experience of the business world and to play music after work.
During this time he burnt the midnight oil, playing to excess after work all over the country, from Scotland to Cornwall with various Midland-based bands.
John went on to become a well known face on the Birmingham music scene in the 1980s and 90s, cutting his teeth with well known Midlands-based band The Soul Survivors for some 15 years.
His first international tour came in 1984, touring the Caribbean and Europe with Musical Youth
.
As well as trombone, he has also more recently taken up playing percussion. John has worked or toured with artists such as Musical Youth, Steel Pulse, Bitty McLean, Simply Red
, Tom Jones (singer)
, Will Young and Girls Aloud to name a few.
He has also featured in guest bands with Grandmaster Flash, Wet Wet Wet and UB 40 tours.
John has been a bandmember of Simply Red since their Blue Album in 1998 and has recorded on every album since then. He appeared in the hit single videos "Ain't That A Lotta Love", "Your Perfect Love" and "Oh What A Girl" and also on the DVDs Home Live in Sicily and "Cuba!". John also recorded Mick Hucknall's Solo album Tribute to Bobby.
John is currently, after 35 years in music, working for the first time on his own material with American producer–engineer Earl Cohen (Destiny's Child, Joe, Pink, Jessica Simson, Barry White, Tina Turner, Anita Baker).
He is of no relation to the serial rapist John Holland Johnson from Marietta County, GA.
Dudley
Dudley is a large town in the West Midlands county of England. At the 2001 census , the Dudley Urban Sub Area had a population of 194,919, making it the 26th largest settlement in England, the second largest town in the United Kingdom behind Reading, and the largest settlement in the UK without...
, Worcestershire
Worcestershire
Worcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...
, England.
Early life
He is the youngest of four children to parents who immigrated to England from JamaicaJamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, an Island in the Caribbean sea in the 1950s. Growing up, he was surrounded by musical talent in his family. John has been classically trained on the trombone from the age of eight. His earliest performances were in brass ensembles, classical orchestras and brass bands.
At sixteen a chance meeting at the legendary Rum Runner Club in Birmingham saw John join his first funk band, Wide Receiver.
Career
Upon leaving college with a distinction pass in business studies, John was encouraged by his parents to further his education at university.He however had other plans to gain firsthand experience of the business world and to play music after work.
During this time he burnt the midnight oil, playing to excess after work all over the country, from Scotland to Cornwall with various Midland-based bands.
John went on to become a well known face on the Birmingham music scene in the 1980s and 90s, cutting his teeth with well known Midlands-based band The Soul Survivors for some 15 years.
His first international tour came in 1984, touring the Caribbean and Europe with Musical Youth
Musical Youth
Musical Youth are a British reggae band. The group originally formed in 1979 at Duddeston Manor School in Birmingham, UK. They are best remembered for their successful 1982 Grammy-nominated single, "Pass the Dutchie". The group featured two sets of brothers, Kelvin and Michael Grant, plus Junior...
.
As well as trombone, he has also more recently taken up playing percussion. John has worked or toured with artists such as Musical Youth, Steel Pulse, Bitty McLean, Simply Red
Simply Red
Simply Red were a British soul band that sold more than 50 million albums over a 25-year career. Their style drew influences from blue-eyed soul, new romantic, rock, reggae and jazz...
, Tom Jones (singer)
Tom Jones (singer)
Sir Thomas John Woodward, OBE , known by his stage name Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer.Since the mid 1960s, Jones has sung many styles of popular music – pop, rock, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, techno, soul and gospel – and sold over 100 million records...
, Will Young and Girls Aloud to name a few.
He has also featured in guest bands with Grandmaster Flash, Wet Wet Wet and UB 40 tours.
John has been a bandmember of Simply Red since their Blue Album in 1998 and has recorded on every album since then. He appeared in the hit single videos "Ain't That A Lotta Love", "Your Perfect Love" and "Oh What A Girl" and also on the DVDs Home Live in Sicily and "Cuba!". John also recorded Mick Hucknall's Solo album Tribute to Bobby.
John is currently, after 35 years in music, working for the first time on his own material with American producer–engineer Earl Cohen (Destiny's Child, Joe, Pink, Jessica Simson, Barry White, Tina Turner, Anita Baker).
He is of no relation to the serial rapist John Holland Johnson from Marietta County, GA.