Johnson (May 16, 1913 – July 20, 1990)[1] was an American gospel music singing preacher and pastor.

His mother died when he was young, and he with his elder and younger sister were raised by his paternal grandmother, Sarah Farley Johnson.

In his early twenties, he married Elizabeth Daniels; that union yielded four children: two boys and two girls.

In 1939, he began a 20-year effort to complete his formal education, studying for the ministry at Morehouse School of Religion, the American Theological Seminary, and the Carver Bible Institute, culminating in a Doctor of Divinity degree.

[2] Although he had been active in Georgia since his early years, he only gained wider prominence in 1964, when he came to the attention of Fred Mendelsohn, then executive producer at Savoy Records.