Billy Johnson

From the generation of electric blues musicians who emerged in the '90s there of course had to be at least a few people named Bill Johnson, although in the case of this talented guitarist the credit used is most often Billy Johnson. He is not someone who played in the Howlin' Wolf band of the early '50s -- he is neither the pianist Bill Johnson nor the guitarist Willie Johnson -- and he is not the bassist named Bill Johnson who works with Otis Rush. He is the guitarist who was a member of John Lee Hooker's last bands, bringing a sense of taste back to a road show that in the previous two decades had been dominated by overzealous contributions from young guitarists, and also figured into '90s incarnations of Santana. Johnson also recorded with Hooker's daughter, Zakiya Hooker, on the tasty Flavors of the Blues album. He collected sideman credits throughout the '90s, one of which is an unfortunate Don Johnson album that might be hard to find used, since people who bought it seemed to have a habit of smashing it. Johnson toured with Santana between 1991 and 1994 and is featured on the group's Supernatural album. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, All Music Guide