Syl Johnson

Syl Johnson began the ’60s a blues singer and session guitarist and concluded it having synthesized his own brand of gritty Chicago soul. Their first signee, Syl Johnson set the tone at Twinight Records, writing and producing fifteen 45s during his four year tenure with the label. This double LP neatly bundles each side of each of Johnson's Twinight 45s, from the heavily-sampled grunts on “Different Strokes,” to the ghetto-conscious “Concrete Reservation.”

After the Hi years ended, Johnson produced two worthy LPs for his own Shama label, the latter of which, Ms. Fine Brown Frame from 1982, was picked up for distribution by Boardwalk Records and produced Johnson's last hit record, the title cut.

Joining Otis, Wilson, and Percy, plus both Sam and Dave, is a new deity in the eternal soul pantheon. Take it from Syl Johnson himself: “This box set is the history of a masterful artist whose time has just arrived.” The self-proclaimed “most sampled artist ever,” Syl finally gets his due on this 4CD box covering his most productive period, 1959 through 1972. Collected for the first time are all of Syl’s Federal, Twinight, Zachron, Special Agent, Cha Cha, and TMP-Ting 45s, plus period cuts from his Japan-only LP Goodie Goodie Good Times, and a murderer’s grip of previously unreleased and little-heard out-takes. Lovingly remastered from the original source tapes, these 81 songs never sounded sharper, clearer, or funkier. And historian Bill Dahl’s comprehensive track-by-track annotations bring deep-research backstory to every one.

This 2CD 44-track compilation rounds up Johnson's four 1970's albums for Hi, 'Back For A taste Of Your Love', 'Diamond In The Rough', 'Total Expansion' & 'Uptown Shakedown', along with nine non-album singles, four of which appear on CD for the first time.

Sylvester Johnson (born Sylvester Thompson; July 1, 1936 – February 6, 2022) was an American blues and soul singer, musician, songwriter and record producer. His most successful records included "Different Strokes" (1967), "Is It Because I'm Black" (1969) and "Take Me to the River" (1975).

“There are many great soul singers, but few have inspired hip hop from its early beginning to now. Syl Johnson is a unsung pioneer of musical fusion.” Syl Johnson began the ‘60s a blues singer and session guitarist and concluded it having synthesized his own brand of gritty Chicago soul. Their first signee, Syl Johnson set the tone at Twinight Records, writing and producing fifteen 45s during his four year tenure with the label. This double LP neatly bundles each side of each of Johnson’s Twinight 45s, from the heavily-sampled grunts on “Different Strokes,” to the ghetto-conscious “Concrete Reservation.”

Sylvester Johnson (born Sylvester Thompson; July 1, 1936 – February 6, 2022) was an American blues and soul singer, musician, songwriter and record producer. His most successful records included "Different Strokes" (1967), "Is It Because I'm Black" (1969) and "Take Me to the River" (1975).