[5][6] His father, Ellis Johnson, was a sharecropper, and his family picked cotton, but he was also a working musician, leading a band at local functions and playing fiddle and mandolin in country and blues styles.

His earliest professional playing, apart from his father's band, was with Earnest Roy, Sr., C. V. Veal & the Shufflers, and Johnny Dugan & the Esquires.

[10] Johnson's first solo album, The Oil Man, including the song "Catfish Blues", was released by Earwig in 1987.

[9][10] He recorded solo and as a member of the Jelly Roll Kings[6] and Big Jack Johnson and the Oilers (with the poet and musician Dick Lourie).

[9] According to family members, he had struggled with health problems in his final years, worsening to the point that there were erroneous reports of his death in the days leading up to it.