finetune artist: Johnny Young

b. 1 January 1918, Vicksburg, Mississippi, USA, d. 18 April 1974, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Although he was a more than competent guitarist, Young regarded the mandolin as his main instrument. He learned both instruments, as well as harmonica, from uncle Anthony Williams, while living with him in Rolling Fork, birthplace of Muddy Waters. When he returned to Vicksburg, he played house parties with cousin Henry Williams, influenced by the records of Charlie McCoy and the Mississippi Sheiks. He also claimed to have worked with Robert Nighthawk and Sleepy John Estes before moving to Chicago in 1940. He joined the musicians who frequented the Maxwell Street market area, with Floyd Jones, Snooky Pryor and another cousin, Johnny Williams. In 1947 he made his first record, "Money Takin' Woman", with Williams, for Ora Nelle, run by Maxwell Radio Shop owner Bernard Abrams. A year later, with Williams and Pryor, he recorded "My Baby Walked Out" and "Let Me Ride Your Mule" for Planet, as Man Young. Apart from two unissued songs for JOB, Young did not record again until the 60s, when he taped a number of sessions for Testament, Arhoolie, Vanguard, Milestone, Blues On Blues, Bluesway and Blue Horizon, in the company of artists such as Otis Spann, Walter Horton, Little Walter and James Cotton. From 1969 until his death, he was a member of the Bob Riedy Chicago Blues Band. In 1972 he toured Europe as a part of the American Folk Blues Festival.

Listen to Johnny Young at Finetune.

(1998) Shed Your Skin

Kidman Blues