Johnny Dyer (December 7, 1938 – November 11, 2014) was an American

electric blues Electric blues is blues music distinguished by the use of electric amplification for musical instruments. The guitar was the first instrument to be popularly amplified and used by early pioneers T-Bone Walker in the late 1930s and John Lee Ho ...

harmonicist The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica include ...

and singer. He made numerous

recordings A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, re ...

, both as a solo performer and with other musicians. He was nominated for a

Blues Music Award The Blues Music Awards, formerly known as the W. C. Handy Awards (or "The Handys"), are awards presented by the Blues Foundation, a non-profit organization set up to foster blues heritage. The awards were originally named in honor of W. C. Handy, " ...

Biography

Dyer grew up in Rolling Fork,

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

, and learned to play the

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

from the age of seven. His initial inspiration came from hearing

Little Walter Marion Walter Jacobs (May 1, 1930 – February 15, 1968), known as Little Walter, was an American blues musician, singer, and songwriter, whose revolutionary approach to the harmonica had a strong impact on succeeding generations, earning him ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

from

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, and by his teenage years he was playing acoustic harmonica and had formed his own band. He started playing amplified harmonica in the early 1950s, when he first performed alongside Smokey Wilson. Dyer relocated to Los Angeles,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, in January 1958, where he met

George "Harmonica" Smith George "Harmonica" Smith (born Allen George Smith, April 22, 1924 – October 2, 1983) was an American electric blues harmonica player. Apart from his solo recordings, Smith is best known for his work backing both Muddy Waters and Big Mama Thornt ...

. Together they played concerts with a "father and son" billing. Dyer commented on that time stating, "Smith was the hottest thing around and the blues was really swinging! He taught me a lot. Everybody loved George." Following this Dyer set up his own combo, Johnny Dyer and the Blue Notes, and played with

Jimmy Reed Mathis James Reed (September 6, 1925 – August 29, 1976) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His particular style of electric blues was popular with a wide variety of audiences. Reed's songs such as "Honest I Do" (1957), "Baby Wha ...

, J.B. Hutto, and

Jimmy Rogers Jay or James Arthur "Jimmy" Rogers (June 3, 1924December 19, 1997) was an American Chicago blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player, best known for his work as a member of Muddy Waters's band in the early 1950s. He also had a solo career and ...

. Dyer left the music industry in the 1960s. Resurfacing in the 1980s, he found work with other harmonica players, such as Shakey Jake Harris,

Harmonica Fats Harmonica Fats (born Harvey Blackston, September 8, 1927 – January 3, 2000) was an American blues harmonica player who was active in the 1950s through to the 1990s. Fats first achieved success with his cover version of the Hank Ballard song "T ...

, and

Rod Piazza Rod Piazza (born December 18, 1947, Riverside, California) is an American blues harmonica player and singer. He has been playing with his band The Mighty Flyers, which he formed with his pianist wife Honey Piazza, since 1980. Their boogie sound ...

. Dyer released a couple of

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

, including "Overdose of Love" and, in 1983, issued the album ''Johnny Dyer and the LA Jukes'' album. The Dutch

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

Black Magic featured Dyer on the album ''Hard Times: L.A. Blues Anthology''

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

. Dyer later collaborated with the guitarist

Rick Holmstrom Rick Holmstrom (born May 30, 1965) is an American electric blues and rhythm and blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. Holmstrom has previously worked with William Clarke, Johnny Dyer, and Rod Piazza. He is currently the bandleader for Mavis ...

, and together they issued two albums for

Black Top Records Black Top Records was an American, New Orleans, Louisiana-based independent record label, founded in 1981 by brothers Nauman S. Scott, III and Hammond Scott. The label specialized in blues and R&B music. The first release was "Talk To You By Hand" ...

: ''Listen Up'' (1994) and ''Shake It!'' (1995). ''Listen Up'' included Dyer's

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of the

blues standard Blues standards are blues songs that have attained a high level of recognition due to having been widely performed and recorded. They represent the best known and most interpreted blues songs that are seen as standing the test of time. Blues s ...

Driftin' Blues "Driftin' Blues" or "Drifting Blues" is a blues standard, recorded by Johnny Moore's Three Blazers in 1945. The song is a slow blues and features Charles Brown's smooth, soulful vocals and piano. It was one of the biggest blues hits of the 1940s ...

". The album, ''Jukin, also released in 1995, was a reissue of Dyer's debut LP with additional tracks. It contained Dyer's version of "

Baby What You Want Me to Do "Baby What You Want Me to Do" (sometimes called "You Got Me Running" or "You Got Me Runnin'") is a blues song that was written and recorded by Jimmy Reed in 1959. It was a record chart hit for Reed and, as with several of his songs, it has appeal ...

". He appeared on the bill at the

Long Beach Blues Festival The Long Beach Blues Festival, in Long Beach, California, United States, was established fully in 1980, and was one of the largest blues festivals and was the second oldest on the West Coast (first being the San Francisco Blues Festival). It w ...

in 2000, where he sang alongside

James Cotton James Henry Cotton (July 1, 1935 – March 16, 2017) was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, who performed and recorded with many fellow blues artists and with his own band. He also played drums early in his career. ...

. Over the years he was a featured performer on Mark Hummel's annual Blues Harmonica Blowout tours. Dyer received a

nomination in 2004, in the 'Blues Song Of The Year' category, for the track "Hard Times Won." He has also spent time playing with

The Mannish Boys The Mannish Boys is an United States, American blues band based in Los Angeles. They play classic blues in West Coast blues, West Coast, Texas blues, Texas and Chicago blues, Chicago styles. Founded by bandleader Randy Chortkoff, the band is n ...

, and has appeared on a number of their album releases. His final album was ''Rolling Fork Revisited'' (2004), recorded with Mark Hummel. The album contained reworkings of songs by another Rolling Fork native,

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913April 30, 1983), better known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician who was an important figure in the post-World War II blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of moder ...

. Dyer died at home in

San Dimas, California San Dimas (Spanish language, Spanish for "Penitent thief, Saint Dismas") is a city in the San Gabriel Valley of Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 34,924. It historic ...

, on November 11, 2014, at the age of 75.

Discography

Albums

References

External links

Dyer photographs at Google.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dyer, Johnny 1938 births 2014 deaths American blues harmonica players American blues singers American male singers Songwriters from Mississippi Harmonica blues musicians Electric blues musicians Blues musicians from Mississippi People from Rolling Fork, Mississippi American male songwriters

Biography

Discography

Albums

See also

References

External links