Edith North Johnson

The wife of record producer Jesse Johnson, Edith North Johnson was not a professional singer or piano player, but she tracked 18 great blues sides in 1928 and 1929, including a session with Charley Patton in Grafton, WI, for Paramount Records, although it is doubtful Patton actually appeared on any of her songs. She made her home in St. Louis, where she ran a fleet of taxis during World War II and owned a popular diner. Sam Charters recorded her with Henry Brown in 1961 for his anthology called The Blues in St. Louis for Folkways Records. Johnson also recorded under the pseudonyms Hattie North and Maybelle Allen. Born January 2, 1903, in St. Louis, she died there on February 28, 1988. ~ Steve Leggett