Johnny 'Man' Young
Encyclopedia
Johnny Young was an American
blues
singer, mandolin
player and guitarist, significant as one of the first of the new generation of electric blues
artists to record in Chicago after the Second World War, and as one of the few mandolin players to have been active in blues music in the post-war era. His nickname, "Man", came from his use of the mandolin.
, Mississippi, and played in string bands in Mississippi in the 1930s. He also claimed to have worked with Sleepy John Estes
in Tennessee before moving to Chicago in 1940. By 1943 he was working with John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson
and Muddy Waters
and in the late 1940s he became a regular player on Maxwell Street
, often with his cousin, guitarist Johnny Williams
, as well as playing in clubs with Williams and Little Walter
. His first recording was made in 1947 for the Ora Nelle label and featured Young singing "Money Taking Woman" on the A-side
, accompanied by Williams, who sang "Worried Man Blues" on the B-side
. A second session in late 1948, with Young and Williams joined by Snooky Pryor on harmonica
, resulted in a single being released under the name "Man Young" on the Planet label. A further session for the J.O.B.
label was unissued, and after a session playing guitar behind Snooky Pryor for Vee-Jay Young retired from performance for a time in the 1950s.
The rise of white interest in blues in the early 1960s resulted in Young emerging from retirement in 1963, and he recorded for a number of labels including Vanguard
, Testament, Arhoolie
and Blue Horizon
in the 1960s and early 1970s.
Young died in Chicago in 1974 from a heart attack and was buried in Lincoln cemetery, Urbana, Illinois.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
singer, mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
player and guitarist, significant as one of the first of the new generation of electric blues
Electric blues
Electric blues is a type of blues music distinguished by the amplification of the guitar, bass guitar, drums, and often the harmonica. Pioneered in the 1930s, it emerged as a genre in Chicago in the 1940s. It was taken up in many areas of America leading to the development of regional subgenres...
artists to record in Chicago after the Second World War, and as one of the few mandolin players to have been active in blues music in the post-war era. His nickname, "Man", came from his use of the mandolin.
Life and career
Young was born in VicksburgVicksburg
Vicksburg is the name of some places in the United States of America:* Vicksburg, Florida* Vicksburg, Indiana* Vicksburg, Michigan* Vicksburg, Mississippi** The Vicksburg Campaign, an American Civil War campaign...
, Mississippi, and played in string bands in Mississippi in the 1930s. He also claimed to have worked with Sleepy John Estes
Sleepy John Estes
John Adam Estes , best known as Sleepy John Estes or Sleepy John, was a American blues guitarist, songwriter and vocalist, born in Ripley, Lauderdale County, Tennessee.-Career:...
in Tennessee before moving to Chicago in 1940. By 1943 he was working with John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson
Sonny Boy Williamson I
Sonny Boy Williamson was an American blues harmonica player and singer, and the first to use the name Sonny Boy Williamson.-Biography and career:...
and Muddy Waters
Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
and in the late 1940s he became a regular player on Maxwell Street
Maxwell Street
Maxwell Street is an east-west street in Chicago, Illinois that intersects with Halsted Street just south of Roosevelt Road. It runs at 1330 South in the numbering system running from 500 West to 1126 West. The Maxwell Street neighborhood is considered part of the Near West Side and is one of the...
, often with his cousin, guitarist Johnny Williams
Johnny Williams (blues musician)
Johnny Williams was an American Chicago-based blues guitar player and singer, who was one of the first of the new generation of electric blues players to record after World War II.-Early life and career:...
, as well as playing in clubs with Williams and Little Walter
Little Walter
Little Walter, born Marion Walter Jacobs , was an American blues harmonica player, whose revolutionary approach to his instrument has earned him comparisons to Charlie Parker and Jimi Hendrix, for innovation and impact on succeeding generations...
. His first recording was made in 1947 for the Ora Nelle label and featured Young singing "Money Taking Woman" on the A-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
, accompanied by Williams, who sang "Worried Man Blues" on the B-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
. A second session in late 1948, with Young and Williams joined by Snooky Pryor on harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
, resulted in a single being released under the name "Man Young" on the Planet label. A further session for the J.O.B.
J.O.B. Records
J.O.B. Records was a Chicago based record label, founded by businessman Joe Brown and bluesman St. Louis Jimmy Oden in 1949. It specialized in Southern Blues and city based R&B. In 1952, the label's recording of "Five Long Years" by Eddie Boyd became a hit and reached number one in the R&B chart....
label was unissued, and after a session playing guitar behind Snooky Pryor for Vee-Jay Young retired from performance for a time in the 1950s.
The rise of white interest in blues in the early 1960s resulted in Young emerging from retirement in 1963, and he recorded for a number of labels including Vanguard
Vanguard Records
Vanguard Records is a record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York. It started as a classical label, but is perhaps best known for its catalogue of recordings by a number of pivotal folk and blues artists from the 1960s; the Bach Guild was a subsidiary...
, Testament, Arhoolie
Arhoolie Records
Arhoolie Records is a small record label run by Chris Strachwitz. The label was founded by Strachwitz in 1960 as a way for him to record and publish previously obscure "down home blues" artists such as Lightnin' Hopkins, Snooks Eaglin and Bill Gaither...
and Blue Horizon
Blue Horizon
Blue Horizon was a British blues record label founded by Mike Vernon in the mid 1960s.Its roots lay in Vernon's mail order label Purdah Records, which released just four 7" singles; including "Flapjacks" by Stone's Masonry ; and another by John Mayall and Eric Clapton "Bernard Jenkins", and...
in the 1960s and early 1970s.
Young died in Chicago in 1974 from a heart attack and was buried in Lincoln cemetery, Urbana, Illinois.
Singles
- "Money Taking Woman/"Worried Man Blues" (Ora Nelle, 1947)
- "My Baby Walked Out"/"Let Me Ride Your Mule" (Planet, 1948)
Albums
- Johnny Young and his Chicago Blues Band (Arhoolie, 1966)
- Chicago/The Blues/Today! Vol 3 (Vanguard, 1967 - shared with Johnny ShinesJohnny ShinesJohnny Shines was an American blues singer and guitarist. According to the music journalist Tony Russell, "Shines was that rare being, a blues artist who overcame age and rustiness to make music that stood up beside the work of his youth...
) - Chicago Blues (Arhoolie, 1968)
- Fat Mandolin (Blue Horizon, 1970)
- I Can't Keep My Foot from Jumping (Bluesway, 1973)
- Johnny Young and his Friends (Testament, 1975)