Ken Snakehips Johnson
A collection of articles that tell the story of Britain's first black swing bandleader.
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Ken Snakehips Johnson |
Ken Snakehips Johnson was Britain's first black swing bandleader. He was inspired by the sounds of the orchestras he heard on a trip to the United States. The material presented here was gathered together during April and May 2000 to satisfy the new-found curiosity about the life and times of this extraordinary man.
The material gathered here comes from a variety of sources, but there are certain people who have been instrumental in researching and authenticating the life of Ken Johnson. I would like to express my sincere thanks and deep gratitude to Val Wilmer, Howard Rye, Jeff Green and Stephen Bourne for all the work they have done in bringing this story to a wider audience.
| The story of Ken Snakehips Johnson. | Ken Johnson |
| The bands associated with Ken Snakehips Johnson. | The Bands |
| The recordings made by Ken Johnson and The West Indian Orchestra. | Recordings |
| How The Times of Monday 10 March 1941 reported the bombing of the Cafe de Paris. | The Times |
| Material gathered from The London Metropolitan Archive detailing incidents on the night of Saturday 8 March 1941. | War Archives |
| If one musician could be said to have continued in the tradition of American swing, it was Carl Barriteau. | Carl Barriteau |
| Post scripts to the Ken Johnson story. | Post Scripts |
| The National Sound Archive and Topic Records are planning a British swing CD. | August 2000 News |
| Swingland's Blaire Palmer's account of how social dancer Gary Boon discovered a recording of Snakehips Swing by Ken Snakehips Johnson. | Blaire Palmer's article |
| Test your knowledge of Ken Johnson in the quiz. | Ken Johnson Quiz |
| Details of sources of information and links to web sites associated with the life and times of Ken Johnson. | Sources and sites |
Please note that copyright exists in the material and images presented here. Please do not download or reproduce it. Any enquiries can be submitted to Ken Johnson pages.
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