James Johnson

Johnson was a bass and lead guitarist based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA. He taught himself to play bass from records while at high school and played with a local band called Big Poppa And The Canecutters. It was Big Poppa who introduced him to Slim Harpo (James Moore) and Johnson worked with him during the 60s, initially on bass but later replacing Rudi Richard as lead guitarist; Johnson is best-known for playing the lead on Harpo’s big hit ‘Baby Scratch My Back’. After Harpo’s death in 1970, Johnson virtually stopped playing and has a full-time job outside music. However, at the beginning of the 90s he was playing bass with Raful Neal in Baton Rouge on a part-time basis.