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Jai Johanny Johanson
Jaimoe performing with The Allman Brothers Band in 2009
Background information
Birth name
John Lee Johnson
Also known as
Jaimoe
Johnny Lee Johnson
Born
(1944-07-08) July 8, 1944 (age 79) Ocean Springs, Mississippi, U.S.
Genres
Blues rock
jam band
Southern rock
jazz
Occupation(s)
Musician
Instrument(s)
Drums, percussion
Years active
1966–present
Labels
Capricorn
Arista
Polydor
Epic
Sony
Sanctuary
Member of
Jaimoe's Jasssz Band
Formerly of
The Allman Brothers Band, Sea Level, Les Brers
Musical artist
John Lee Johnson (born July 8, 1944), frequently known by the stage names Jai Johanny Johanson and Jaimoe, is an American drummer and percussionist.[1][2] He is best known as one of the founding members of the Allman Brothers Band and, with the death of Dickey Betts on April 18, 2024, he is the last surviving original member of the band.
Johanson played with a number of Muscle Shoals and Memphis soul acts in the early-to-mid 1960s, such as Otis Redding and Sam and Dave, as a session and touring drummer. While recording and touring he would meet the various members of what would become the Allman Brothers Band. One of the few bands at the time to employ two drummers, alongside Butch Trucks, they drew on R&B, blues, jazz, country, and rock to create a unique variety of southern rock. Upon the death of founding bassist Berry Oakley in 1972, Johanson brought in frequent collaborator Lamar Williams to replace him.
While on hiatus from the Allman Brothers Band in the late 1970s, he formed the band Sea Level around a core of former Allman Brothers Band members including Williams and pianist/vocalist Chuck Leavell. He briefly rejoined the Allman Brothers in 1979, but left again in 1980 due to back problems, and spent much of the 1980s playing in local Macon, Georgia-area bands. He rejoined the Allman Brothers Band in 1989, as the band transitioned from a southern rock sound to a more jam band feel, having added a third drummer/percussionist Marc Quiñones. The band continued to perform until formally retiring in 2014.
Johanson has since fronted his own jazz outfit, Jaimoe's Jasssz Band, and appeared with former Allman Brothers Band members for one-off reunions and in a number of different side projects. Along with the other members of the Allman Brothers Band, Johanson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995.
^"Allman Brothers Drummer Jaimoe Remembers Gregg Allman". Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone. June 2, 2017. Archived from the original on October 21, 2019. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
^"Founding Allman Brothers Drummer Jai Johanny Johanson AKA Jaimoe Turns 74". drummagazine.com. DRUM!. Archived from the original on September 4, 2019. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
8, 1944), frequently known by the stage names Jai Johanny Johanson and Jaimoe, is an American drummer and percussionist. He is best known as one of the...
songwriting), Berry Oakley (bass), Butch Trucks (drums), and Jai Johanny "Jaimoe" Johanson (drums). Subsequently, based in Macon, Georgia, they incorporated...
Betts, bassist Berry Oakley, and drummers Butch Trucks and Jai Johanny "Jaimoe" Johanson. The band went through multiple personnel changes and broke up...
band included Duane, Dickey Betts on guitar, Berry Oakley on bass, and Jaimoe and Butch Trucks on drums. The group remade blues numbers like "Trouble...
Around 1965, he met drummer Jai Johanny Johanson (later to be known as Jaimoe) in high school and began playing in bands with him. They played in a number...
Haynes on guitar and vocals, Allen Woody on bass, Butch Trucks on drums, Jaimoe on drums, and Marc Quiñones on congas and percussion. Where It All Begins...
side projects. With the death of Betts on April 18, 2024, Jai Johanny "Jaimoe" Johanson is the last living founding member of the Allman Brothers Band...
with Atlantic Records. Allman introduced Trucks to Jai Johanny Johanson (Jaimoe), who would also be a drummer in the band. Together, the two developed a...
drummer Butch Trucks. The band also includes other Allman Brothers alumni Jaimoe, Oteil Burbridge, Jack Pearson and Marc Quinones along with Bruce Katz and...
songwriting), Berry Oakley (bass guitar), Butch Trucks (drums), and Jai Johanny "Jaimoe" Johanson (drums). The band incorporated elements of Southern rock, blues...
with him. As a result, the band finally broke up; Leavell, Williams, and Jaimoe continued playing together in Sea Level, Betts formed Great Southern, and...
released in 1974. The album contains contributions from Dickey Betts and Jaimoe of The Allman Brothers Band. Billboard wrote that the band "sound like a...
Wanee Music Festival. The lineup at the Peach Festival was Butch Trucks and Jaimoe Johanson on drums, Marc Quiñones on percussion, Dave Yoke and Vaylor Trucks...
Trucks. The band also consists of his former Allman Brothers bandmates Jaimoe, Marc Quiñones and Jack Pearson along with Pat Bergeson, Bruce Katz and...
Gregg Allman, and drummers and percussionists Butch Trucks and Jai Johanny "Jaimoe" Johanson. Oakley's bass guitar, nicknamed "the Tractor Bass", was a Fender...
and I went down to Jacksonville and was jamming with Berry and Dickey. Jaimoe came with me from Muscle Shoals, he's originally from Macon. Gregg was in...
practiced it multiple times to prepare. He later found Allman Brothers drummer Jaimoe and had him perform congas on the demo. In the final studio recording, Duane...
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