Syl Johnson age 85 RIP

[Blackpoolsoul]

Sad news indeed an another legend lost.

Edited February 6, 2022 by Blackpoolsoul

[Daved]

 

RIP Syl. Lots of great songs to chose from

 

 

[Soul Shrews]

A true Soul giant.

Like Daved says so many great songs

A personal favourite of mine

Thanks for the mucic Mr Johnson

Cheers Paul

[Goldsoul]

A dear friend and live appearance at SoultripUSA 2009 in Chicago. Wonderful talent. 
 

[Blackpoolsoul]

34 minutes ago, Goldsoul said:

A dear friend and live appearance at SoultripUSA 2009 in Chicago. Wonderful talent. 
 

So sorry Kev, he was some man, a trailblazer of the highest order

 

[Smudger]

RIp.   Syl         my favourite track posted at same time as above

Edited February 6, 2022 by Smudger

[Petered]

RiP Syl

Those albums he made for Hi in the mid '70s are among my favourites of the era.  "We Did It" is just sublime - if I had to describe soul music to someone who'd never heard it then this is the track I would choose.

[Keamus]

Every collection should include ‘We did it’. Timeless and sublime. Syl RIP

[Chalky]

His visit to Frobisher along with Jackie Ross to celebrate the birthday of Dave Box was one of the best gigs I've seen, fantastic.

Legendary singer who wasn't afraid to speak out about the injustice towards black America.

His talent didn't go unrecognised in future years as his songs were heavily sampled, especially Different Strokes.

R.I.P Thank you for the music. 

Photos from his visit with Jackie Ross in 2006 (Click the phot and it will take you to the album on Flickr)

 

 

Edited February 6, 2022 by Chalky

[Tomangoes]

First heard of Syl via the 70s soul bowl soul packs.

Picked this out straight away and was blown away by the energy and vocal skill.

RIP Sir. Your contribution to our world will always be cherished.

Ed

 

 

[Midnight Drifter]

Very sad news indeed.. RIP, Syl Johnson.. huge talent as already stated. I hear the love chimes being one of my favourites by him. 

[Uk Soul]

1 hour ago, Chalky said:

His visit to Frobisher along with Jackie Ross to celebrate the birthday of Dave Box was one of the best gigs I've seen, fantastic.

Legendary singer who wasn't afraid to speak out about the injustice towards black America.

His talent didn't go unrecognised in future years as his songs were heavily sampled, especially Different Strokes.

R.I.P Thank you for the music. 

Photos from his visit with Jackie Ross in 2006 (Click the phot and it will take you to the album on Flickr)

 

 

Great photos  Many thanks for uploading 

[Mike]

sad news RIP
 

 

[Mr Fred]

So So sad to hear of Syl Passing. Such a nice person and we'll never forget when Dave & Val box brought Syl and Jackie Ross over from the states for a one night performance on the 25th March 2006 Live  at the Frobisher suite which Jacque & myself co promoted with Dave & Val. Syl was a true professional extremely talented in both singing and playing the guitar and on stage simply had us all in the palm of his hand. As a young soulie years before I'd heard and soon after acquired a copy of  We Did It  and to see him right there singing the song was truly a very moving experience, one which I'll never forget                                                                                         Deepest condolences go out to Syl's family .                                                                                                                        R.I.P. Syl.                                                                                                                                                                                      Jacque & Fred Ward.

                                                                                                                                                        

 

 

[Tomangoes]

Is that true about his brother Jimmy passing the week before?

So sad.

Nice live clip here.

Ed

 

[The Yank]

55 minutes ago, Tomangoes said:

Is that true about his brother Jimmy passing the week before?

So sad.

Nice live clip here.

Ed

 

                  Yes- Syl's brother Jimmy passed away January 31, 2022. 

[Petered]

22 hours ago, Tomangoes said:

Is that true about his brother Jimmy passing the week before?

So sad.

Nice live clip here.

Ed

 

That's great thanks for posting

[Chas]

Superb output from the man, whether mid tempo magic or tearing up the dance floor. How can you go wrong? 

[kim]

Saw him and Jackie Ross at Dave Box's 60th at the Frobisher 

[Soulgalore]

55 minutes ago, kim said:

Saw him and Jackie Ross at Dave Box's 60th at the Frobisher 

T'was a brilliant night.

[Imperial C]

One of my favourite Syl tracks to add to this tribute, just brilliant

 

[Mike]

via Numerical Digest Vol. 18 Issue 6

Syl Johnson 1936-2022

 

We lost a great one this week. If you've been following us over at our Instagram, we've been trying to share the tributes as they've come in. Major tributes from some of the biggest names in media are a testament to the impact Syl left on the musical landscape these past 80+ Years (Pitchfork, The Guardian, Rolling Stone, NYTimes).

And even after all these years, we still get folks contacting us asking for more Syl or telling us they just discovered him through a Wu-Tang song, a Snoop Video or any number of Historical docs around Pop, Soul, Hip Hop, Blues, etc...

Thought this was a good time to post up the liner notes on the Numero Stories Page from our MASSIVE tribute box set Syl Johnson: The Complete Mythology. Warning: You're going to need to spend some time with this one.

https://numerogroup.com/blogs/stories/syl-johnson-complete-mythology

Might as well queue up the stream...

https://songwhip.com/syl-johnson/complete-mythology

For those that like to keep things Physical, Check out the massive 6xLP + 4CD + Book Boxset and really dive in to what a legendary scale we are talking about with Syl.

[Candiman]

So sad to hear of Syl's passing. Had sometime to myself today so spent all afternoon listening to his records. So much quality output from his Federal days right through to the 70s when he was on Hi.  I think it was probably Dave Simmons'  Radio 1 show that first made me aware of him and I was lucky to find two of his Hi albums (Diamond In The Rough and Total Explosion) in a record shop sale back in '75-76 I think. Still have them and they are cherished possessions.

Kris Holmes dedicated his whole show (The Long Way Home) to him last week. A great listen.

https://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/112537

RIP Syl.

 

        

[Mal C]

Syl Johnson really was the real deal, one cool dude.

Rest in peace Syl, we love your music ...

 

Edited February 15, 2022 by Mal C

[Blackpoolsoul]