When he was three, his mother placed him in an orphanage hoping he would "receive proper care and supervision." Unfortunately, the only thing he received was neglect, so his mother signed him out. Johnson left school at the age of 12 and worked odd jobs as a laborer.

Johnson's first instrument was the drums. Between 1922 and 1926, he worked with Louis "Good Bootie" Johnson. He learned to play the piano from his uncle Charles "Smash" Johnson. While in Kansas City, Pete was featured with Clarence Love's band and with Herman Walder's Rocket Swing Unit at the Spinning Wheel at 12th and Troost.

Pete Johnson

Johnson's long association with Big Joe Turner began when they met at a speakeasy called the Backbiters club in Kansas City's northeast area. Johnson and drummer Baby Lovett played an extended engagement at the Sunset Club. Joe Turner shouted the blues from his station behind the service bar.

Due to the popularity of Johnson and Turner, the Sunset became the after-hours gathering spot for local and visiting musicians. In a 1939 article for Down Beat, Sharon A. Pease described how patrons would flock to the Sunset to hear Johnson "`roll em' and eat ribs:"

They drank beer from huge jugs and stomped while Pete played the blues. With both hands pumping the keys and his right foot beating a pace on the floor, it was not unusual for Pete to play 50 consecutive choruses of the boogie.

Johnson and Turner achieved national recognition with their participation in John Hammond's "Spirituals to Swing" concert in 1938. Pete Johnson later formed the Boogie Woogie Trio with Meade Lux and Albert Ammons.

Pease, Sharon A.

"Swing Piano Styles: Pete Johnson Got his Start Shining Shoes in Kaycee." Down Beat. vi/15 (1939), page 22.

Johnson, Marge.

"My Man....Pete Johnson." Jazz Report. vol.2, No.8, April 1962.

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