EDITH NORTH JOHNSON

Biography

Edith North Johnson (1903–1988) was born Edith North on January 2, 1903, in St. Louis, Missouri, where she spent her entire life. She married Jesse Johnson, a St. Louis record producer, and initially worked as a saleswoman at his Deluxe Music Store rather than pursuing music professionally. Despite lacking formal training as a singer or pianist, she entered the recording scene in the late 1920s, cutting eighteen sides between 1928 and 1929 for labels including QRS and Paramount. Her style was rooted in classic female blues, with notable tracks like 'Honey Dripper Blues,' 'Can't Make Another Day,' 'Eight Hour Woman,' and 'Nickel's Worth of Liver Blues,' which she wrote herself. She recorded under pseudonyms such as Hattie North and Maybelle Allen, including a session with Count Basie as Hattie North on 'Lovin' That Man Blues.'

Johnson's career was brief and non-professional; after her early recordings, including a 1929 Paramount session in Grafton, Wisconsin, attended by Charley Patton (though he did not play on her tracks), she stepped away from music. During World War II, she managed a taxicab operation in St. Louis, and following Jesse's death in 1946, she ran Johnson's Deluxe Café. In 1961, blues researcher Samuel Charters rediscovered her, recording her with pianist Henry Brown for the Folkways anthology The Blues in St. Louis, marking a late-career revival in the 1960s.

In her later years, Johnson engaged in social work in St. Louis until her death on February 28, 1988, at age 85. Her legacy endures through reissues, such as four tracks in the 2001 boxed set Screamin' and Hollerin' the Blues: The Worlds of Charley Patton, and her 'Honey Dripper Blues' inspired the nickname of pianist Roosevelt Sykes.

Fun Facts

• She was not a professional musician but recorded 18 blues sides in 1928-1929 while working at her husband's music store.
• A 1929 Paramount session placed her in the same room as Charley Patton, though he did not perform on her tracks.
• Under the pseudonym Hattie North, she recorded with a young Count Basie on 'Lovin' That Man Blues.'
• Rediscovered in 1961 at age 58 by Samuel Charters, leading to new recordings after decades away from music.

Musical Connections

Key Collaborators

• Henry Brown - Pianist who accompanied her on rediscovery recordings (The Blues in St. Louis (Folkways Records)) [1961]
• Count Basie - Accompaniment under pseudonym Hattie North (Lovin' That Man Blues (Vocalion)) [1920s]
• Jesse Johnson - Husband and record producer who facilitated her entry into recording (Deluxe Music Store connection; early recordings) [1920s]

Artists Influenced

• Roosevelt Sykes - Adopted nickname 'Honey Dripper' from her song (Honey Dripper Blues inspiration) [1920s onward]

External Links

• Spotify
• Wikipedia