Herman Johnson - "National Champion"
I'm still here! It's been a very busy several months (eight??!) since I last updated this little project of mine. I've been steadily adding to the collection over at the Missouri State Old Time Fiddlers Association Bandcamp page. If you're not familiar, head on over and take a listen! MSOTFA Bandcamp Page.
I've been holding onto this recording for far too long and am excited to finally share it here for everyone’s enjoyment. A big thanks to my dear friend Rachel Krause for surprising me with this LP last year.
Now, let me ramble on a bit about the gentleman himself—Mr. Herman Johnson.
If you’ve spent any time in the contest fiddle world or just hung around old-time players who kept one foot in tradition and the other in pure tone and taste then you’ve probably heard the name Herman Johnson spoken with the kind of reverence usually reserved for pastors and fiddle contest judges.
Born in 1920 near Sparks, Oklahoma, Herman Johnson came up playing music the old way, by ear, by heart, and by listening hard to the fiddlers around him. Oklahoma has long been a fertile crossroads of Southern, Western swing, and old-time sounds, and Herman soaked it all in. But make no mistake he wasn’t just repeating what he heard. He took that foundation and built something so smooth, so graceful, and so clean that it made jaws drop from Weiser to Wichita.
Weiser, Idaho the hallowed ground of fiddling in the United States. Herman didn’t just show up there he owned the National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest. Five-time champion! When the contest scene was heating up and the tunes were getting flashier, Herman stayed cool and smooth as ever. His playing was like sipping a good whiskey, smooth, full of character, and it lingered long after the last note.
It’s one thing to play a tune fast and fancy. It’s another to make something like “Soppin' the Gravy” sound like it was written just for your bow hand. Herman had a way of stretching a phrase without breaking it, swinging without swaying too far, and adding sparkle without showboating. His versions of standards like “Kelly Waltz” and “Waynesboro Reel” are masterclasses in tone, timing, and taste.
Herman wasn’t just a contest guy. He was a teacher, a mentor, and a true gentleman. He passed on what he knew without fanfare, helped young players find their voice, and never lost sight of the music's joy. You can still hear echoes of his influence in contests, fiddle halls and jam circles all across the Midwest and beyond.
He was inducted into the National Fiddler Hall of Fame, but truth be told, he’s been in the heart of the fiddle community a lot longer than that. Every note he played reminds us that you don’t have to be loud to be heard. And that style, when it’s rooted deep in tradition, never goes out of style.
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| Herman Johnson at the Bethel Youth Fiddle Camp in 1987 Photo credit: Charlie Walden |
"Today each person, day and place, sooner or later must be heard to exclaim that “in the middle of our time we are lost,” and in this dilemma we are fortunate indeed to have an art form such as music. For in its mysterious and delicate balance, music lets man seek and discover order and discipline within himself and relate these discoveries to the world in which he lives.
It has been said that the most important thing about music is the musician. And perhaps this is true, because there can be no music without the musician. A violin (or fiddle) has little meaning without the guiding hand of the musician.
It is within this context of thought that we wish to present Herman Johnson.
Although his home is in Shawnee, Oklahoma, he was born in Sparks, Oklahoma (north central Oklahoma) where his father was a fiddler and where Herman learned to play the fiddle. He had little formal training on the violin but developed a style of bowing which is unique and unmistakably his. His arrangements are well thought out, accurate and skillful. His rhythmic sense and intonation are precise and his tone full and rich.
In 1969, Herman Johnson was invited to compete in the National Oldtime Fiddlers Contest at Weiser, Idaho, and placed 5th. He returned in 1970 and placed 2nd. In 1971, 1972, and 1973 he won the National Championship three times in a row and then retired from competition. It is important to know that no one has ever matched this record.
It is also important to know that Herman Johnson has won every major contest he has entered. He has won the State Championship of Oklahoma five times, and retired from competition. He also won the Grand Championship of the Tri-State Contest in Neosho, Missouri.
In 1969 Herman also played with the Oklahoma Playboys over radio and television. In 1960 he moved to Shawnee and resumed playing with a small group of musicians who met regularly. His knowledge and skill are now influencing and encouraging many other fiddlers.
This album contains 12 selections. Some are waltzes, others are hoedown tunes. All are representative of the kind of fiddle music played in the mid-west and southwestern United States. The arrangements are those worked out by Herman and are not necessarily exactly as written in standard fiddle tune books.
This recording is important. It is important because it offers fiddle music of unusual beauty and skill. It is important because it represents one of the few records available which presents fiddle music as it is played in the mid-west and southwestern states. It is important because it gives us a portrait of a remarkable and very special kind of man—Herman Johnson, National Champion.
Herman and Mary have four sons. Two are married. In 1960 all were at home in Oklahoma City. With a growing family, Herman realized the need for increased income. He began a program of self-study. With the aid of correspondence courses, he prepared himself for work as a typist. He was later promoted to key-punch operator and still later to computer programmer. He is now employed by Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City as a computer programmer. His wife Mary is a medical records technician at Mission Hill Hospital in Shawnee. Their home is located in Shawnee where Herman is an active member of the Immanuel Baptist Church and serves as a Sunday School teacher.
This album was recorded with Ralph McGraw (Guitar), Oklahoma Champion, who is well known and widely admired as one of the finest guitarists for fiddle music. Ralph has accompanied many of the great fiddlers in Oklahoma.
Steve Gillian, second fiddle, is from Chandler, Oklahoma. He is a serious student of violin and his playing is a tribute to the influence of Herman Johnson.
The selections on this album represent the kind of music which has brought Herman Johnson National Championship three times."
– Dr. Gary Loganback, Tulsa
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