Editing William Manuel Johnson

{{Short description|American jazz banjo and double bass player (died 1972)}}
<!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Musicians -->
{{Infobox musical artist 
| name                = Bill Johnson
| image               = BillJohnson1909.jpg
| caption             = Johnson in 1909
| image_size          =
| background          = non_vocal_instrumentalist
| birth_name          = William Manuel Johnson
| birth_place         = [[Talladega, Alabama]]
| birth_date          = Disputed<ref>[http://www.doctorjazz.co.uk/draftcards2.html "When he registered for the draft at Local Board No. 3 in Chicago on 12th September 1918, Bill &#91;Johnson&#93; gave his date of birth as 10th August 1874, which confirms the details for his birth year recorded in the 1880 U.S. Census in the entry for the Johnson family in Montgomery, Alabama. Other birth dates on U.S. Census records (1876, 1879 and 1882) and the date on his death certificate (1872) would appear to be incorrect."]</ref>
| death_place         = [[New Braunfels, Texas]], U.S.
| death_date          = December 3, 1972
| occupation          = Musician
| instrument          = [[Double bass]]
| genre               = [[Jazz]], [[dixieland]]
| years_active        = 1880s–1950s  
| past_member_of     = The Original Creole Orchestra, [[Joe "King" Oliver|King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band]], Bill Johnson's Louisiana Jug Band
}}

'''William Manuel''' "'''Bill'''" '''Johnson''' (died December 3, 1972) was an American [[jazz]] musician who played [[banjo]] and [[double bass]];<ref>{{Cite book|last=Brothers|first=Thomas|title=Louis Armstrong: Master of Modernism|publisher=W.W. Norton & Company|year=2014|isbn=978-0-393-06582-4|location=New York, NY|pages=18}}</ref> he is considered the father of the "[[Slapping (music)|slap]]" style of double bass playing.<ref name="Singleton2011">{{cite book|last=Singleton|first=Joan|title=Keep It Real: The Life Story of James "Jimmy" Palao "The King of Jazz"|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oas0SKXqBjQC&pg=RA1-PT12|year=2011|publisher=iUniverse|isbn=978-1-4620-0721-9|pages=1–}}</ref>

In New Orleans, he played at Lulu White's legendary house of prostitution, with the Eagle Band, and with the Excelsior Brass Band.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Brothers|first=Thomas|title=Louis Armstrong: Master of Modernism|publisher=W.W. Norton & Company|year=2014|isbn=978-0-393-06582-4|location=New York, NY|pages=20}}</ref> Johnson claimed to have started "slapping" the strings of his bass (a more vigorous technique than the classical [[pizzicato]]) after he accidentally broke his bow on the road with his band in northern [[Louisiana]] in the early 1910s. Other [[New Orleans]] string bass players picked up this style, and spread it across the country with the spread of New Orleans Jazz.<ref name="Gushee2010">{{cite book|last=Gushee|first=Lawrence|title=Pioneers of Jazz: The Story of the Creole Band|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M8Zw7lmvLvAC&pg=PT65|date=April 29, 2010|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-988979-2|pages=65–}}</ref><ref name="memim">{{cite web | url=https://memim.com/william-manuel-johnson.html | title=William Manuel Johnson | publisher=Memim Encyclopedia}}</ref>

Johnson was founder and manager of the first jazz band to leave New Orleans and tour widely in the 1910s, The Original Creole Orchestra.<ref name="memim"/> They participated in vaudeville skits centered around the "Uncle" character and the "boys," performing in the Midwest, Northwest, and Canada.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Brothers|first=Thomas|title=Louis Armstrong: Master of Modernism|publisher=W.W. Norton & Company|year=2014|isbn=978-0-393-06582-4|location=New York, NY|pages=26}}</ref> He brought the Creole Band to Chicago in 1915.<ref name=":0" /> Johnson and his band played an instrumental role in establishing [[Lincoln Gardens|Royal Gardens]] (later known as Lincoln Gardens), as one of the great jazz clubs in Chicago; a location they were residence at beginning in 1918.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |date=2001 |title=Nightclubs and other venues; Lincoln Gardens [Royal Gardens]|encyclopedia=[[The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians|Grove Music Online]] |series=Oxford Music Online |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.J330000}}</ref>

In [[Chicago]] during the early 1920s he assembled [[Joe "King" Oliver|King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band]], considered perhaps the best of the early ensemble style jazz bands. He taught younger Chicago musicians (including [[Milt Hinton]]) his "slap" style of string bass playing. He made many recordings in Chicago in the late 1920s.<ref name="Gushee2010"/> He notably says "Oh play that thing" into the horn during the recording of "Dippermouth Blues" in 1923 with King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Brothers|first=Thomas|title=Louis Armstrong: Master of Modernism|publisher=W.W. Norton & Company|year=2014|isbn=978-0-393-06582-4|location=New York, NY|page=150}}</ref>

Johnson continued to play with various jazz bands and orchestras into the early 1950s, sometimes working under other names. He was also involved in the import/export business along the [[Mexico–United States border]].<ref name="memim"/>

Johnson's younger half-brother [[Dink Johnson|Ollie "Dink" Johnson]] was also a noted musician. [[Jelly Roll Morton]]'s common law wife from 1917 to 1922, Anita Gonzales (Bessie Johnson), was Bill Johnson's half-sister.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Levin |first1=Floyd |title=Classic Jazz: A Personal View of the Music and the Musicians |date=2000 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=0520213602 |page=114 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NbEwDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA114 |accessdate=October 11, 2020}}</ref>

Bill Johnson died in [[New Braunfels, Texas]] in 1972.<ref name="memim"/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.doctorjazz.co.uk/genealogy.html#anifam William Manuel Johnson's family]
* [http://www.doctorjazz.co.uk/draftcards2.html#musdcwmj William Manuel Johnson's WWI Draft Registration Card and essay]
* [https://syncopatedtimes.com/bill-johnson-1872-1972/ Bill Johnson (1872-1972)] at The Red Hot Jazz Archive

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Bill}}
[[Category:Dixieland jazz musicians]]
[[Category:Jazz musicians from New Orleans]]
[[Category:People from New Braunfels, Texas]]
[[Category:American jazz double-bassists]]
[[Category:American male double-bassists]]
[[Category:African-American jazz musicians]]
[[Category:Musicians from New Braunfels, Texas]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:1972 deaths]]
[[Category:Slap bassists (double bass)]]
[[Category:American male jazz musicians]]
[[Category:The Eagle Band members]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American musicians]]