Louis Johnson is an American bass guitar

Bass guitar

The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

ist.

Johnson is best known for his group The Brothers Johnson and his session playing

Session musician

Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...

 on several hit albums of the 1970s and '80s including the "best selling album of all time" Thriller

Thriller (album)

Thriller is the sixth studio album by American recording artist Michael Jackson. It was released on November 30, 1982, by Epic Records as the follow-up to Jackson's critically and commercially successful 1979 album Off the Wall...

. His signature sound is from the Music Man StingRay

Music Man StingRay

Music Man StingRay is an electric bass guitar by Music Man, introduced in 1976.- History :In 1971, Fender employees Forrest White and Tom Walker, unhappy with the way CBS was managing the company, left their positions with Fender to start their own venture. First known as Tri-Sonic and then later...

 bass which Leo Fender

Leo Fender

Clarence Leonidas "Leo" Fender was an American inventor who founded Fender Electric Instrument Manufacturing Company, or "Fender" for short...

 especially made for him to first use and promote, and from his slapping

Slapping

In music, the term slapping is often used to refer to two different playing techniques used on the double bass and on the bass guitar.-Double bass:...

 technique.

Biography

His work appears on many well-known records by prominent artists. Johnson played on Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson

Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...

's albums Off the Wall

Off the Wall (album)

Off the Wall is the fifth studio album by the American recording artist Michael Jackson, released August 10, 1979 on Epic Records, after Jackson's critically well received film performance in The Wiz. While working on that project, Jackson and Quincy Jones had become friends, and Jones agreed to...

, Thriller

Thriller (album)

Thriller is the sixth studio album by American recording artist Michael Jackson. It was released on November 30, 1982, by Epic Records as the follow-up to Jackson's critically and commercially successful 1979 album Off the Wall...

and Dangerous, and hit songs "Billie Jean

Billie Jean

"Billie Jean" is a dance-pop/R&B song by American recording artist Michael Jackson. It was written, composed, and co-produced by Jackson, and produced by Quincy Jones from the singer's sixth album, Thriller . Originally disliked by Jones, the track was almost removed from the album after he and...

" and "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough

Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough

"Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" is a single by American recording artist Michael Jackson. Released under Epic Records on July 28, 1979, the song is the first single from Jackson's fifth studio album, entitled Off the Wall. Written by Jackson, it is in the key of B major and in common time...

". He also played on George Benson

George Benson

George Benson is a ten Grammy Award winning American musician, whose production career began at the age of twenty-one as a jazz guitarist....

's Give Me the Night

R&B number-one hits of 1980 (USA)

These are the Billboard magazine R&B singles chart number one hits of 1980:See also: 1980 in music, List of number-one R&B hits -Chart history:-Chart comparisons:...

. He was one of three bassists on Herb Alpert

Herb Alpert

Herbert "Herb" Alpert is an American musician most associated with the group variously known as Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass, or TJB. He is also a recording industry executive — he is the "A" of A&M Records...

's 1979 album Rise, which included its top-10, Grammy-winning disco/jazz title-track.

Due to his distinctive style, he was nicknamed "Thunder-Thumbs". Many slap bassists

Slapping

In music, the term slapping is often used to refer to two different playing techniques used on the double bass and on the bass guitar.-Double bass:...

 have been given the moniker, but Johnson was the original. His slap bass playing arrived soon after Larry Graham

Larry Graham

Larry Graham, Jr. is an African American bass guitar player, both with the popular and influential psychedelic soul/funk band Sly & the Family Stone, and as the founder and frontman of Graham Central Station...

 brought it into the mainstream, and both are considered the "grandfathers" of slap-bass playing.

His slap bass lines figure prominently in his work with Stanley Clarke

Stanley Clarke

Stanley Clarke is an American jazz musician and composer known for his innovative and influential work on double bass and electric bass guitar as well as for his numerous film and television scores...

 on the Time Exposure album, his work with Grover Washington, Jr.

Grover Washington, Jr.

Grover Washington, Jr. was an American jazz-funk / soul-jazz saxophonist. Along with George Benson, John Klemmer, David Sanborn, Bob James, Chuck Mangione, Herb Alpert, and Spyro Gyra, he is considered by many to be one of the founders of the smooth jazz genre.He wrote some of his material and...

 (Hydra), George Duke

George Duke

George Duke is a multi-faceted American musician, known as a keyboard pioneer, composer, singer and producer in both jazz and popular mainstream musical genres. He has worked with numerous acclaimed artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and professor of music...

 (Guardian of the Light, Thief in the Night), Jeffrey Osborne

Jeffrey Osborne

Jeffrey Linton Osborne is an American funk and R&B musician, songwriter, lyricist, and former lead singer of the band, L.T.D.-Early life and career:...

 (Jeffrey Osborne, and Stay with Me Tonight).

An excellent example of his thumb playing can be heard on the Earl Klugh

Earl Klugh

Earl Klugh is an American smooth jazz/crossover jazz/jazz fusion guitarist and composer.At the age of 13, Klugh was captivated by the guitar playing of Chet Atkins when Atkins made an appearance on the Perry Como Show. Klugh was a performing guest on several of Atkins' albums...

 song "Kiko". Without any plucking at all, Johnson sets a complicated funky bass line using a combination of counterpoint slapping with right hand using right thumb, counterpoint with left hand middle finger as a mute tec., called a slap choke, thus creating a percussive sound like drums, adding to the bass notes.

His style incorporates more funk plucks in combination with his thumping, which along with the Music Man StingRay sound gives a very funky, unique sound.

He was the bassist on Earl Klugh's 1976 jazz/pop album "Living Inside Your Love

Living inside Your Love

Living inside Your Love is the second studio album by Earl Klugh released in 1976.-Track listing:#"Captain Caribe"#"Living inside Your Love"#"The April Fools"#"I Heard It Through the Grapevine"#"Kiko"#"Felicia"#"Another Time, Another Place"...

" and 1977 jazz/pop album "Finger Paintings

Finger Paintings

Finger Paintings is the third studio album by Earl Klugh released in 1977.-Track listing:#"Dr. Macumba" - 4:27#"Long Ago and Far Away" - 5:37#"Cabo Frio" - 3:32#"Keep Your Eye on the Sparrow" - 4:37#"Catherine" - 4:11#"Dance with Me" - 3:26...

", as well as Quincy Jones

Quincy Jones

Quincy Delightt Jones, Jr. is an American record producer and musician. A conductor, musical arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter. His career spans five decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend...

' 1975 Mellow Madness.

Collaboration

Louis Johnson has recorded and performed with the following artists (list in alphabetical order):

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Solo releases

Year	Title	Format	Label	Additional info
1981	Passage	Album	A&M A&M Records A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...	Gospel-directed album by this group, including Louis Johnson, Valerie Johnson (ex-wife) & former Brothers Johnson-percussionist/vocalist Richard Heath
1985	"Kinky"/"She's Bad"	Single	Capitol Capitol Records Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...	Europe-exclusive solo release by Louis Johnson
1985	Evolution	Album	Capitol Capitol Records Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...	Europe-exclusive solo release by Louis Johnson
1985	Star Licks Master Sessions	VHS Video	Star Licks Productions Star Licks Productions Star Licks Productions was an instructional music publishing company conceived by Mark Freed and co-founded by Andrew Cross and Robert Decker...	Louis Johnson instructional video re-issued on DVD by the Hal Leonard Company