Merline Johnson

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Merline Johnson (born Merline Baker , * ca.1912 or 1918; † unknown) was an American blues singer who was known as The Yas Yas Girl in the 1930s and 1940s .

Live and act

Merline Johnson was an aunt of LaVern Baker and grew up in Carrington, Callaway County, Missouri. The first recordings were made in 1937, accompanied by Eddie Miller (piano) ("Make Me a Pallet On the Floor" and "I'm Leaving You"). Her best-known songs included “I'll Try to Forget”, which was covered by Piano Red as “Goodbye” after World War II , “Good Old Easy Street” and “Sold It To The Devil”. Overall, Johnson took until 1941 u. a. for Vocalion and Conqueror Records on over ninety songs, mostly juke joint songs like "Don't You Make Me High", "I'd Rather Be Drunk" and "Love With a Feeling". During her recordings she was u. a. accompanied by blues and jazz musicians such as Big Bill Broonzy , Lonnie Johnson , Josh Altheimer , Fred Williams , Blind John Davis , Buster Bennett and Punch Miller . Her last recordings were made in 1947, but initially remained unpublished.

Discographic notes

  • The Yas Yas Girl (1937-1947) (Document)

Web links

Notes and individual references

  1. ^ "Day 140: Merline Johnson" ( Memento from December 28, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Artist names such as Yas Yas Girl (Merlien Johnson) or Yas Yas Man (Jimmy Strange), but above all popular titles such as The Duck's Yas Yas Yas (by Stump Johnson, Tampa Red , Georgia Tom ) or Blind Boy Fuller 's Get Yer Yas Yas Out , played with linguistic taboo zones and circumvented the censorship with expressions such as Dirty Mother for You (which camouflaged the diatribe motherfucker by shifting the ck into sonic nowhere ) or Yas yas yas (for ass ) See topic no. 1 : Sex and popular music , edited by Dietrich Helms, Thomas Phleps, 2014, p. 55
  3. ↑ Tom Lord The Jazz Discography (online, accessed January 6, 2014)
  4. ^ Bob L. Eagle, Eric S. LeBlanc Blues: A Regional Experience . 2013, page 140
  5. ^ Tony Russell: The Blues - From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray . Dubai: Carlton Books Limited, 1997, p. 127 ISBN 1-85868-255-X
personal data
SURNAME Johnson, Merline
ALTERNATIVE NAMES The Yas Yas Girl
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American blues singer
DATE OF BIRTH 1912 or 1918
DATE OF DEATH 20th century or 21st century