Fred Johnson Biography

The somewhat specialized electric drum sounds of Fred Johnson are a part of the final modernistic freak-out era of Motown hitmaking, among other significant musical trends. Electronic percussion proponents can also take pride in the fact that Johnson is one of the only human beings to obtain a “lindrum” credit in Tom Lord’s complete discography of jazz. Nifty drum programmers such as Johnson certainly did find their way onto jazz fusion productions of the ’80s with lindrums and other gadgets, but this artist is probably best known for savvy use of said arsenal throughout the two volumes of singer/songwriter Bobby Womack’s Poet II series. Nobody could feel lonely at the types of sessions Johnson participates in, including late period Temptations, the procedures sometimes involving a half-dozen synthesizer programmers and an equal number of producers.