George W. Johnson

Not in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

Eligible since: 1921

First Recording: 1895

Previously Considered? No  what's this?

George W. Johnson
HALL OF FAME INDICATORS
🔲Rolling Stone 500 Albums
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🔲Saturday Night Live
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🔲Songwriters Hall of Fame
🔲“Big Four” Grammys
R&B Hall of Fame

George W. Johnson @ Wikipedia

Will George W. Johnson be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame?
"Musical excellence is the essential qualification for induction."
Yes: 
No :


Comments

4 comments so far (post your own)

George W. Johnson is not household name but his importance to music history is undeniable, in the 1890s when segregation was how society worked, he became the most successful black man in the US and was the first black artiest to be marketed as himself and not under a pseudonym or a fake image.

Johnson was also one of first big names in music to use gramophone record, a major technological milestone in sound recording,

I could talk about how prolific the man was but all of what i said i already, shows how he needs to be inducted into the rock hall.

Posted by Timothy on Friday, 05/19/2017 @ 00:04am


By that logic, the U.S. Marine Band should be inducted, Timothy. Being important to the music industry is not entirely the same as being important to rock and roll's evolution.

Posted by Philip on Friday, 05/19/2017 @ 21:42pm


the legends of Vaudeville music need to be in the hall, what started as just another genre of theater became the seed of modern day entertainment, racial tension was cut when Sissieretta Jones and George W. Johnson came and influenced the next generation of musicians,

if you looking for direct proof on who he ended up being an influence to, well you not going to get it, a large amount of that kind of info has unfortunately been lost to history, it's not uncommon occurrence with vaudeville legends.

Posted by Timothy on Sunday, 07/16/2017 @ 22:48pm


Gonna have to disagree with you on that again, Timothy. You can say the same thing about movies and television with Vaudeville.

However, while you can say that entertainers like Jones and Johnson cut some racial tension, their roles as Vaudevillians on records weren't so much as introducers of a decidedly Black culture to a White audience, which is what most of the Black inductees in the Early Influence category did, as they were assimilating to a White culture, and not really helping to create a new style of music.

Also, usually, when the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame enshrines "Early Influence" inductees, they induct those that predate rock and roll, but were directly influential to rock and roll artists. Johnson, as far as we know, wasn't so much that influential to acts like Fats, Ray, Elvis, etc. If anything, and this is just best case scenario, he was an early influence to Early Influence inductees. And while it is sad that much of history has been lost, we can't just assume the evidence we would otherwise would automatically support our hypothesis. So, if we can't prove that his music influenced the likes of Ma Rainey or Leadbelly, let alone the Impressions or Jerry Lee Lewis, then we don't have proper grounds to induct George W. Johnson.

Posted by Philip on Monday, 07/17/2017 @ 00:39am


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Future Rock Legends is your home for George W. Johnson and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, including year of eligibility, number of nominations, induction chances, essential songs and albums, and an open discussion of their career.


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