Earl Johnson was born
in August 24, 1886 in Gwinnett County, Georgia. He learned violin
techniques under the tutelage of his father and a correspondence course
and formed his first group with his brother and sister(guitar and banjo).
When both his brother and sister died in 1923, he played second
fiddle with the then well known Fiddlin John
Carson and his band the Virginia
Reelers, and reportedly even played with
the popular Georgia Yellow Hammers on occasion. Eventually, he joined up with brilliant guitarists
Byrd Moore and banjoist Emmet Bankston to form his own group,
the Dixie Entertainers.
When Lee "Red" Henderson replaced Byrd Moore as the guitar player, the
group became known as the Clodhoppers.
They recorded some of the wildest and most exciting versions of standard
breakdowns that have ever been released. Later sessions employed
his wife Lula Bell and guitarist Bill Henson.
The following is in part
from Jane Keefer's Folk Song Database.
Earl Johnson's Dixie
Entertainers(Clodhoppers)
Appearance as principal performer
- Ain't Nobody's Business
- Red Hot Breakdown, County 543 (1976), cut # 2
- Earl Johnson Vol. 1, Document Doc-8005,
track # 1
- Alabama Girl Ain't You Comin'
Out To-Night?
- Earl Johnson Vol. 2, Document Doc-8006,
track # 5
- All Night Long
- Southern Dance Music, Vol. 2, Old-Timey
LP 101 (1965), cut # 2
- Earl Johnson Vol. 1, Document Doc-8005,
track # 15
- Arkansas Traveler
- Hell Broke Loose in Georgia, County 514 (197?), cut # 4
- Red Hot Breakdown, County 543 (1976), cut # 8
- Earl Johnson Vol. 2, Document Doc-8006,
track # 1
- Bloom Again For The Bootlegger
- Earl Johnson Vol. 2, Document Doc-8006,
track # 16
- Boil Dem Cabbage Down
- Earl Johnson Vol. 1, Document Doc-8005,
track # 8
- Bringing In The Sheaves
- Earl Johnson Vol. 2, Document Doc-8006,
track # 20
- Bully of the Town
- Red Hot Breakdown, County 543 (1976), cut # 11
- Earl Johnson Vol. 1, Document Doc-8005,
track # 4
- Buy A Half Pint And Stay In
The Wagon Yard
- Earl Johnson Vol. 2, Document Doc-8006,
track # 17
- Close Your Bright Eyes
- Earl Johnson Vol. 2, Document Doc-8006,
track # 22
- Dixie
- Earl Johnson Vol. 1, Document Doc-8005, track # 2
- Fiddlin' Rufus
- Earl Johnson Vol. 2, Document Doc-8006,
track # 11
- G. Rag
- Earl Johnson Vol. 2, Document Doc-8006,
track # 7
- Green Mountain
- Earl Johnson Vol. 2, Document Doc-8006,
track # 10
- Hen Cackle
- Earl Johnson Vol. 1, Document Doc-8005,
track # 3
- He's A Beaut
- Earl Johnson Vol. 2, Document Doc-8006,
track # 13
- I Don't Love Nobody
- Earl Johnson Vol. 1, Document Doc-8005,
track # 10
- I Know My Redeemer Liveth
- Earl Johnson Vol. 2, Document Doc-8006,
track # 21
- I Lost My Girl (New Cut Road)
- Work Don't Bother Me: Old Time Songs from North
Georgia, Rounder 1035 (1986), cut # 14
- Earl Johnson Vol. 2, Document Doc-8006,
track # 14
- I Get My Whisky from Rockingham,
- Old Time Fiddle Classics, County 507 (), cut # 2
- Red Hot Breakdown, County 543 (1976), cut # 7
- Earl Johnson Vol. 1, Document Doc-8005,
track # 12
- I'm Satisfied
- Earl Johnson Vol. 1, Document Doc-8005,
track # 5
- In The Shadow Of The Pine
- Earl Johnson Vol. 1, Document Doc-8005,
track # 22
- I Got A Woman On Sourwood
Mountain
- Earl Johnson Vol. 1, Document Doc-8005,
track # 14
- Johnny Get Your Gun
- Georgia Fiddle Bands, Vol. 2, County 544 (197?), cut # 11
- Earl Johnson Vol. 1, Document Doc-8005,
track # 22
- John Henry Blues
- Red Hot Breakdown, County 543 (1976), cut # 5
- Earl Johnson Vol. 1, Document Doc-8005,
track # 9
- Johnson's Old Grey Mule
- Red Hot Breakdown, County 543 (1976), cut # 4
- Earl Johnson Vol. 1, Document Doc-8005,
track # 7
- Laughin' Rufus
- Earl Johnson Vol. 2, Document Doc-8006,
track # 6
- Leather Breeches
- Red Hot Breakdown, County 543 (1976), cut # 1
- Earl Johnson Vol. 1, Document Doc-8005,
track # 19
- Little Grave in Georgia
- Red Hot Breakdown, County 543 (1976), cut # 9
- Earl Johnson Vol. 1, Document Doc-8005,
track # 21
- Mississippi Jubilee
- Earl Johnson Vol. 1, Document Doc-8005,
track # 18
- Mississippi Sawyer
- Old Time String Band Classics, County 531 (), cut # 5
- Earl Johnson Vol. 2, Document Doc-8006,
track # 12
- Nigger In The Cotton Patch
- Earl Johnson Vol. 2, Document Doc-8006,
track # 4
- Nigger On The Wood Pile
- Earl Johnson Vol. 2, Document Doc-8006,
track # 3
- Old Grey Mare Kicking Out of
the Wilderness
- Red Hot Breakdown, County 543 (1976), cut # 12
- Earl Johnson Vol. 1, Document Doc-8005,
track # 16
- Old Hen Cackle
- Red Hot Breakdown, County 543 (1976), cut # 3
- Poor Little Joe
- Earl Johnson Vol. 1, Document Doc-8005,
track # 20
- Red Hot Breakdown
- Red Hot Breakdown, County 543 (1976), cut # 6
- Earl Johnson Vol. 1, Document Doc-8005,
track # 13
- Rocky Palace
- Earl Johnson Vol. 2, Document Doc-8006,
track # 9
- She's A Beaut
- Work Don't Bother Me: Old Time Songs from North
Georgia, Rounder 1035 (1986), cut # 11
- Shortenin' Bread
- Red Hot Breakdown, County 543 (1976), cut # 10
- Earl Johnson Vol. 1, Document Doc-8005,
track # 11
- Sourwood Mountain
- Georgia Fiddle Bands, Vol. 2, County 544 (197?), cut # 5
- Take Me Back To My Mountain
Home
- Earl Johnson Vol. 2, Document Doc-8006,
track # 18
- There's No Place Like Home
- Earl Johnson Vol. 2, Document Doc-8006,
track # 19
- They Don't Roost Too High For
Me
- Earl Johnson Vol. 1, Document Doc-8005,
track # 17
- Three Night's Experience
- Earl Johnson Vol. 1, Document Doc-8005,
track # 6
- Twinkle Little Star
- Earl Johnson Vol. 2, Document Doc-8006,
track # 2
- Way Down in Georgia,
- Work Don't Bother Me: Old Time Songs from North
Georgia, Rounder 1035 (1986), cut # 16
- Earl Johnson Vol. 2, DocumentDoc-8006,
track # 23
- When The Roses
- Earl Johnson Vol. 2, Document Doc-8006,
track # 15
- Wire Grass Drag
- Earl Johnson Vol. 2, Document Doc-8006,
track # 8
Earl Johnson
Side Performer Appearance
Georgia Fiddle Bands, Vol. 2, County 544
Carson, Fiddlin' John / Old Hen Cackled and the
Rooster's Gonna Crow, Rounder 1003
Johnson, Earl; and his Clodhoppers / Red Hot Breakdown, County 543
Skillet Licker Music, 1955-1991. The Tanner Legacy,
Global Village C 310 |
