Soul, funk and blues performer Syl Johnson, whose work became among the most-sampled in hip-hop history, died Feb 6 at the age of 85.
“He lived his life as a singer, musician and entrepreneur who loved black music,” wrote his family. “A fiery, fierce, fighter, always standing for the pursuit of justice as it related to his music and sound, he will truly be missed by all who crossed his path.”
Born Sylvester Thompson in Mississippi in 1936, Mr. Johnson moved to Chicago with his family at 14. His brothers, Jimmy and Mack Thompson, became prominent blues players, and Syl started out playing guitar with blues artists, most notably Junior Wells and Jimmy Reed before embarking on a solo career. It’s said that a record executive chose his showbiz name for him.
Johnsons’ earliest songs were loca and regional releases that showed traces of the early Chicago Sound, the post-doo-wop style also heard in that era from the Impressions and Major Lance and other Chicago-based artists, and his style evolved and continued through the funky soul in the vein of James Brown and later into a Memphis Sound, many of Johnson’s songs were written and produced by Johnson himself.
The late ’60s into the 70’s brought a more somber, socially conscious groove, and saw Johnson produce some of his best and most notable work which included “Different Strokes,”Is It Because I’m Black” and later into a different Memphis inspired sound in his “Take Me To The River”in 1975.
All told, It was 1967 before “Come On Sock It To Me” provided his first national recognition. He went on to amass 19 R&B chart entries over the next 15 years, Johnson’s biggest soul hit was when a cover of Green’s “Take Me To The River” reached No.7 in 1975.
Johnson became more noted in later years for the vast number of samples of his work in the burgeoning hip-hop field, to his ire and anger, when the brass line in his 1967 R&B Top 20 hit “Different Strokes” was used by the Wu-Tang Clan, and its vocals were appropriated by Kanye West and Jay-Z on “The Joy.” The track also formed part of De La Soul’s “The Magic Number, ”Eric B & Rakim’s “I Know You Got Soul” and Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power.”
According to
Johnson was protective of his work. He filed a lawsuit against JAY-Z and Kanye West in 2011 for using portions of his song in “The Joy” without proper clearance. The suit was settled. Johnson also sued Michael Jackson, Cypress Hill, and others for sampling his music without permission.
Johnsons’ “Is It Because I’m Black?,” attracted samples by Wu-Tang Clan, Snoop Dogg, and Cypress Hill. The latter’s allegedly uncleared use of it promoted Johnson to sue, but he lost the case in 2008 and again on appeal three years later. In 2012, he did reach a settlement with West and Jay-Z over their use of “Different Strokes.”
Johnson retired in the late 1980s to develop a fried fish restaurant, Solomon’s Fishery, which became a chain, chiefly in the Chicago area. But he made a comeback to music a few years later and recorded his last album entitled “Back In The Game” in 1989 with his daughter Syleena Johnson.
A documentary about his life, Syl Johnson: Any Way The Wind Blows, directed by Rob Hatch-Miller, is now available on demand for the first time exclusively on Vimeo.
