Blues singer Mary Johnson was born Mary Williams in Mississippi's Yazoo City in 1905. Ten years later, she moved with her mother to St. Louis, where she eventually worked with many of the area's artists. She was married to bluesman Lonnie Johnson from 1925 to 1932. She also recorded with bottleneck guitar great Tampa Red, with Judson Brown, an obscure barrelhouse pianist, and with the duo of pianist Henry Brown and trombonist Ike Rogers. In the 1950s, Mary Johnson abandoned the blues for religion. ~ Joslyn Layne