Biography

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Shirley Johnson – Killer Diller
Delmark DE 757 (2002)

With Robert Ward, John Primer, Johnny B. Moore, Maurice John Vaughn.

Shirley Johnson is an outstanding vocalist who finds herself in the vanguard of a remarkable revival of the Chicago female blues singer. For many years she has been an able ambassador, here and abroad, representing both the blues and gospel traditions. Shirley has a passionate, strong voice that can deliver a chugging Chicago blues shuffle with uncommon conviction, and infuse a slow ballad with the reassuring power of her own personal experience. Shirley Johnson is an entirely modern blues singer with ample talent, heart and class. Killer Diller is Shirley’s American debut CD.


1. Not For The Love Of You
(Nat Foster, recorded by Ronnie Milsap)
2. Killer Diller
(Willie Dixon, recorded by Betty Everett for Cobra)
3. Your Turn To Cry (Twist Turner)
4. Somebody Have Mercy (Sam Cooke)
5. As The Years Go Passing By (Deadric Malone)
6. No Deposit, No Return
(Vasti Jackson, recorded by Katie Webster on Alligator)
7. Hard Lovin' Mama
(Thomas/Biggs, recorded by Chubby Newsome)
8. The Blues Is All I've Got
(Shirley Johnson & Joe Williams & Tad Robinson)
9. Little Wing (Jimi Hendrix)
10. For You My Love
(Paul Gayten, recorded by Lavelle White on Black Top)
11. Love Abuse (Maurice John Vaughn)
12. It Hurts Me Too (Hudson Whitaker, aka Tampa Red)
13. Missed The Best Chance (Shirley Johnson)
14. (I'm) Saved
(Leiber/Stoller, recorded by LaVerne Baker, Ruth Brown)




Shirley Johnson, vocals
with
Robert Ward- guitar (3, 9, 11)
John Primer - guitar (4, 8, 13)
Maurice John Vaughn - guitar (1, 6, 14)
Johnny B. Moore - guitar (2, 5, 7, 10, 12)
Rockin' Johnny - guitar (2, 4, 7, 8, 10, 13)
Roosevelt Purifoy - organ, piano (except 2, 7, 10)
Willie "Vamp" Samuels - bass (except 5, 12)
Tim Austin - drums (except 5, 12)

Baldhead Pete - drums (5, 12)
Allen Batts - organ, piano (2, 7, 10)
Mike "Sleepy" Riley - bass (5, 12)
Kenny Anderson- trumpet (1, 6, 11) horn arrangements (6,11)
Hank Ford - tenor sax (1, 6, 11)
Willie Henderson- baritone sax (1,6,11) horn arrangement(1)
Roberta Thomas - additional vocals (14)
Kelly Littleton - bass drum (14)

Recorded at Riverside Studio, Chicago on February 21, 1996 (5, 12), July 22, 2000 (3, 9, 11), May 17, 2001 (4, 8, 13), May 22, 2001 (1, 6, 14) and October 15, 2001 (2, 7, 10).


Produced and recorded by Steve Wagner
Album Production: Robert G. Koester
Photos: Peter Amft
Design: Al Brandtner


Shirley Johnson is an outstanding singer who surprisingly finds herself in the vanguard of a remarkable revival of the Chicago female blues singer, a revival that is finding enthusiastic audiences in Chicago and around the world. For many years she has been an able ambassador, here and abroad, representing both the gospel and blues traditions, and after a smattering of recordings, the aptly named Killer Diller is finally her first full domestic release.
The scarcity of female blues singers on the Chicago scene throughout the 1960s, '70s and '80s seemed a warning signal to some observers of the imminent demise of that great tradition and a symptom of the general decline of blues. Gospel churches continued to be a fertile training ground for singers like Shirley Johnson, but it seemed few women publicly sang blues. Through the lean years musicians such as Sunnyland Slim, Erwin Helfer and Willie Kent have provided work and needed exposure to blues singers, and clubs like the Piano Man, B.L.U.E.S. and Blue Chicago helped, perhaps serendipitously, nurture a market for female blues singers, so that today this tradition is thriving in Chicago.
Shirley Johnson was born June 7, 1949 and raised in Norfolk, Virginia where her religious family encouraged her to take up singing gospel at the age of six. They were church-going people who loved music, but who frowned on blues.
"But, you know," says Shirley, "I always loved the blues as a little girl. We wasn't allowed to listen to them. But every chance I got, I did."
She made it a point to tune in Norfolk radio station WRAP, which broadcast an hour of blues every day, and it was through these shows that she first heard B.B. King, Etta James, Bobby Blue Bland and Ruth Brown, and later Koko Taylor and Z.Z. Hill.
When she was old enough to go out on her own, she branched out into soul music, opening for Aretha Franklin, Z.Z. Hill, Jerry Butler and others at theaters around Norfolk like The Dome as well as at the navy base there.
After making early forays into the pop and soul markets, recording 45s on two small regional labels, she came to Chicago in 1983 to sing blues.
On April 15th, I came here with $40 in my pocket. I knew a guy who came here [Chicago], and he said, "The kind of voice you got, you're a blues singer, you're not a pop singer." He said, "You should come to Chicago." So that's what I did. He sent me a plane ticket because he was gonna record me. And then when I got here, he didn't have any money to do it with. So I been here ever since."
The enterprising young singer worked with Buster Benton for a few years in south suburban Robbins. Following that she sang for a couple of years with Little Johnny Christian at the Checkerboard Lounge and later worked with Artie "Blues Boy" White before teaming up with keyboard player "Professor" Eddie Lusk who took her on the road. In the mid-'90s she went on her own and established a long-term base at Blue Chicago where owner Gino Battaglia has actively encouraged the revival of the tradition of female blues vocalists.
Shirley has matured into a singer with fine control and a passionate, strong husky voice that can deliver the lyrics of a chugging, up-tempo Chicago blues shuffle with uncommon heft and conviction, and infuse a familiar slow ballad with the smoky, reassuring power of her own personal experience.
She's not a shouter or a singer who will drag a song over the top. And she isn't going to go berserk in your face. Shirley Johnson is an entirely modern blues singer with ample talent, heart and class.
John Primer, veteran star of the Checkerboard, assists on the straight-ahead shuffles Somebody Have Mercy and The Blues is All I've Got (which along with Missed the Best Chance Shirley co-wrote), while ever-dependable guitar-slinger Johnny B. Moore helps Shirley lend a definite Chicago grounding to Chubby Newsome's Hard Lovin' Mama, Betty Everett's Killer Diller and even Paul Gayten's For You My Love.
Maurice John Vaughn has frequently worked with Shirley over the years and not only contributes guitar on three tracks, most notably on Ronnie Milsap's Not For the Love of You, but wrote one of the titles, Love Abuse. Rockin' Johnny Burgin also appears in a supporting role and plays the blistering guitar solo on Killer Diller.
But undoubtedly the biggest surprise is the pairing of Shirley Johnson with Robert Ward who helps her wring pure simmering southern soul out of Your Turn to Cry and Love Abuse. And together they reach out and touch the bluesy heart of Jimi Hendrix's classic Little Wing in a marvelous performance that is bound to be played again and again.
Home for a brief holiday visit between tours of Russia and Spain (two of nineteen foreign countries in which she has appeared), Shirley recently took a moment to reflect on Killer Diller.
"I'm very excited about it," she said. "And to have done it with a company like Delmark. I'm just thankful for all the good things that's happening all of a sudden."
I'm sure you'll find Killer Diller sufficiently killer, too.
- Justin O'Brien

1 Not For The Love Of You
Baritone Saxophone – Willie Henderson
Guitar – Maurice John Vaughn
Horn – Willie Henderson
Tenor Saxophone – Hank Ford
Trumpet – Kenny Anderson (2)
3:05
2 Killer Diller
Guitar – Johnny B. Moore, Rockin' Johnny
Organ – Roosevelt Purifoy
Piano – Allen Batts
3:26
3 You Turn To Cry
Guitar – Robert Ward
4:51
4 Someday Have Mercy
Guitar – John Primer, Rockin' Johnny
5:07
5 As The Years Go Passing By
Bass – Mike "Sleepy" Riley, Willie "Vamp" Samuels
Drums – Baldhead Pete, Tim Austin (4)
Guitar – Johnny B. Moore
5:44
6 No Deposit, No Return
Baritone Saxophone – Willie Henderson
Guitar – Maurice John Vaughn
Horn – Kenny Anderson (2)
Tenor Saxophone – Hank Ford
Trumpet – Kenny Anderson (2)
4:20
7 Hard-Lovin' Mama
Guitar – Johnny B. Moore, Rockin' Johnny
Organ – Roosevelt Purifoy
Piano – Allen Batts
3:27
8 The Blues Is All I've Got
Guitar – John Primer, Rockin' Johnny
4:55
9 Little Wing
Guitar – Robert Ward
3:27
10 For You My Love
Guitar – Johnny B. Moore, Rockin' Johnny
Organ – Roosevelt Purifoy
Piano – Allen Batts
4:55
11 Love Abuse
Baritone Saxophone – Willie Henderson
Guitar – Robert Ward
Horn – Kenny Anderson (2)
Tenor Saxophone – Hank Ford
Trumpet – Kenny Anderson (2)
7:04
12 It Hurts Me Too
Bass – Mike "Sleepy" Riley, Willie "Vamp" Samuels
Drums – Baldhead Pete, Tim Austin (4)
Guitar – Johnny B. Moore
4:13
13 Missed The Best Chance
Guitar – John Primer, Rockin' Johnny
4:33
14 Saved
Backing Vocals – Roberta Thomas
Bass Drum – Kelly Littleton
Guitar – Maurice John Vaughn




Kenny Anderson Horn Arrangements, Trumpet
Tim Austin Drums
Baldhead Pete Drums
Allen Batts Organ, Piano
Hank Ford Sax (Tenor)
Willie Henderson Horn Arrangements, Sax (Baritone)
Shirley Johnson Vocals
Kelly Littleton Drums (Bass)
Johnny B. Moore Guest Artist, Guitar
John Primer Guest Artist, Guitar
Roosevelt Purifoy Organ, Piano
Rockin' Johnny Guitar
Roberta Thomas Vocals
Maurice John Vaughn Guest Artist, Guitar
Robert Ward Guest Artist, Guitar,



AllMusic Review by Alex Henderson

Just as a bluegrass festival might attract a country singer who's too country for country radio, Chicago's blues scene is a good place to hear classic soul singing in the '60s/'70s sense. For decades, soul has been an important part of the menu in many of the Windy City's blues clubs -- Chicago is full of talented blues singers who are also talented soul singers, and few of the city's blues clubs are going to reject someone simply because he/she doesn't stick to the 12-bar format 100 percent of the time. Soul, in fact, is an important part of what Shirley Johnson does on her first Delmark release, Killer Diller, which was recorded in 1996, 2000, and 2001. The gritty, big-voiced Chicago resident (originally from Norfolk, VA) offers plenty of Chicago-style electric blues on this CD, including "The Blues Is All I've Got" and Willie Dixon's "Killer Diller." But for Johnson, being blues-oriented doesn't mean being a blues purist, and she brings a healthy appreciation of classic, pre-urban contemporary R&B to "No Deposit, No Return" and Sam Cooke's "Somebody Have Mercy." Another highlight of the album is Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing," which Johnson gives a somewhat Tina Turner-ish makeover. Johnson can also handle gospel, although she sticks to secular lyrics on Killer Diller (except for Leiber & Stoller's "Saved," which was a hit for LaVern Baker). No one will accuse Johnson of being an innovator; while Koko Taylor and Etta James were the leaders, Johnson is among the followers. But if Johnson is derivative, she's also expressive, highly enjoyable, and good at what she does. Anyone who has spent a lot of time listening to Taylor, James, and similar vocalists should have no problem getting into Killer Diller.

Other Delmark albums of Interest:
Karen Carroll, Had My Fun (680) with Johnny B. Moore
Talk To The Hand (707) with Walter Scott, Johnny B. Moore
Bonnie Lee, Sweetheart of The Blues (676) with Billy Branch, Willie Kent, Johnny B. Moore, Steve Freund
Zora Yound, Learned My Lesson (748) with Ken Saydak
Big Time Sarah, Lay It On ÕEm Girls (659) with Rico McFarland
Blues In The Year One-D-One (692)
A Million Of You (750) with Rico McFarland
Women Of Blue Chicago (690) with Shirley Johnson, Karen Carroll, Bonnie Lee, Lynne Jordan, Katherine Davis...
Johnny B. Moore, Live At Blue Chicago (688) with Karen Carroll, Melvina Allen
Junior Wells, Hoodoo Man Blues (612) with Buddy Guy
Magic Sam, West Side Soul (615)
Otis Rush, So Many Roads, Live In Japan (643)
Little Walter, The Blues World Of...(648) with Muddy Waters, Elmore James