ALFRED JOHNSON (Brief Bio)
Alfred Johnson is a prolific songwriter/pianist who has written over 200 performable songs while working over 30 years in engineering. A few examples of the musical “company” he keeps include Rickie Lee Jones, with whom he cowrote two songs on her platinum-selling, premier album (the album which included her hit song “Chuck E’s In Love”). The album received a Grammy for Best Album of the Year.
An article by the National Academy of Songwriters states of Alfred: “A talent of this caliber is a rare treat. He wrote “Company” with Rickie Lee Jones, which is an almost unbearably beautiful song that has lost none of its power with the passing years. “His songs hold a lot more than one expects songs to hold,” Harriet Schock, (writer of “That Ain’t no Way to Treat a Lady”), says of Alfred.
She goes on to say, “Alfred Johnson is one of those songwriters who, like Cole Porter, Marie Caine, and Stephen Sondheim, takes your breath away with the sheer craft of it, and makes you proud to be in this often under-acknowledged profession of songwriting”.
A few of his musical highlights include recording tracks in the Main studio in Abbey Road (The Beatles Studio in London, with Zack Starkey (Ringo’s son and drummer with The Who), John Entwistle bassist also for “The Who”), the legendary Georgie Fame, DJ Fontana, Gallagher and Lyle, and others in a group called the “Wiseguys”).
Alfred opened for like Stoller of what is perhaps one of the most famous cowriting teams in rock music history: Leiber and Stoller, who penned, “Stand By Me,” “Goin’ to Kansas City,” “Jailhouse Rock,” “Ruby Baby,” “Spanish Harlem,” “Love Potion Number 9,” to name a very few.
Alfred’s songs have been published on a number of occasions, including by Diane Reeves (on her “Never Too Far” album, with George Duke and Stanley Clarke, and the legendary Jerry Riopelle (writer, performer, and producer) to name a few.
Most recently, Alfred performed in a video accompanying Rolling Stone, Ronnie Wood’s entitled “Mad Lad” (Ronnie’s Chuck Berry tribute album).
Alfred has, (during his avocational career), performed for over 40 years, both domestically as well as internationally, from Mexico to Madrid, Berlin, and Bristol to Barstow, Rio (De Janeiro, Brazil) to Riverside (California), and from France to Fontana.
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