He was one of the musicians, session players, and songwriters who served as the backbone for New Orleans' output of jazz, funk, blues, soul, and R&B music.

[2][3] He started on trombone at an early age and took lessons from Yvonne Busch, an influential music teacher who happened to be the Johnsons' neighbor.

[2][5]: 141  After high school he joined James "Sugar Boy" Crawford’s band the Chapaka Shawee, also known as Cane Cutters.

[2][4] In 1957 Johnson joined Dave Bartholomew's band and replaced drummer Earl Palmer who had moved to Los Angeles.

[4][10] In 1963 Johnson's work with the band was featured as a soloist on the track "Portrait of a Drummer" in the album New Orleans House Party.

[5]: c23  Due to contractual conflicts, very few of the recordings were released;[5]: c23  however, Johnson's drumming left an impression on Berry Gordy and the Motown musicians.

[13][14][18] According to William Ruhlmann of AllMusic, the recordings define "a development from soul-jazz to funk" and are "a solid part of the history of New Orleans music.

[2][4][12] On weekends when in New Orleans he performed straight-ahead jazz in local clubs with saxophonist Fred Kemp, pianist Ed Frank, bassist Erving Charles and others.

[2] In 2010, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band recorded a new version of the song, with lyrics, to help raise relief funds for the BP Oil Spill.

Johnson and co-writer Wardell Quezergue had given 50 percent ownership to Tuff City Records and had made the label their agent.

Tuff City argued it had accrued significant losses associated with recuperating the royalties, but failed to provide convincing documents to support its argument.