Performers

Woodrow Wilson Johnson was born in Darlington in 1915. He took to music at an early age, becoming adept at the piano beginning at the age of five. He graduated from Mayo High in 1934, and by the time he was in his early twenties, headed for New York where he soon found work as a pianist with the traveling show The Cotton Club Revue.

He soon put together a small band that played blues tunes and riff-based jump and boogie dance numbers. In 1939, he secured a recording contract with Decca Records. His very first recording was “Jammin’ in Georgia” and “Stop Pretending” featuring Buddy on vocal accompanied by The Mack Sisters.

The Buddy Johnson band was one of the great attractions of the time. Johnson began the year 1950 with an extended engagement at Philadelphia’s Earle Theater sharing the bill with Ella Fitzgerald.

Soon after the ’60s began, Johnson suffered failing health. The big band of Buddy Johnson then passed into history when Buddy passed away in February of 1977.

In 2001, family and friends of Johnson erected a plaque in his honor, at the corner of Chestnut and Pine Streets in Darlington.

Note: Information from www.allaboutjazz.com. Photo from www.kalamu.com.

Chubby Checker is best known for his popular dance style, The Twist. He was born in 1941 as Ernest Evans just outside of Williamsburg County, and was raised in South Philadelphia where he formed a street corner harmony group by age eight. In high school, he entertained his friends with impressions of Elvis Presley and Fats Domino.

His jobs after school at the poultry and produce markets kept the customers smiling with his songs and jokes. The Produce Market owner gave him the nickname Chubby, and the Fresh Farm Poultry Market owner arranged for a private recording with American Bandstand’s Dick Clark. It was Clark’s wife who completed his name, Chubby Checker.

In June of 1959, Chubby recorded “The Twist” and 14 months later in the summer of 1960, it was a hit. The Twist was not only a #1 song but it introduced the concept of “dancing apart to the beat.”

“The Twist” re-entered the charts and was back at the #1 position in 1962, making Chubby Checker the only artist to have a song hit #1 twice! No other record before or since has accomplished this feat.

Chubby continues to twist on a regular basis.

Keep up with him at www.chubbychecker.com.

Note: Photo courtesy of Jacqueline Larma with Associated Press.

Possessing one of the most elegant baritone voices in the annals of recorded music, Chuck Jackson set a benchmark for aspiring vocalists of all genres.

From his early days at Scepter Records to his Motown Records’ productions, Jackson’s discography consists of some of the most memorable hits ever arranged such as “I Keep Forgettin'” and “Any Day Now.” He often shared the stage with other incredible vocalists like Dionne Warwick.

His last project, Chuck Jackson: The Motown Anthology, contains 48 new tracks. Jackson passed away in 2023.

Note: Information and photo from
www.chuckjackson.org.

Drink Small, the “Blues Doctor” was born in Bishopville in 1933. He first played music on an old pump organ when he was eleven years old. Then he switched up to a one-string guitar. He was a member of the Spiritualaires, and he currently plays at large blues festivals across the U.S. He is known for his bottleneck, ragtime, Piedmont Blues and Chicago Blues, and our all-time favorite songs are “Bishopville is my Hometown” and “Drink Small Boogie.”

Gwendolyn Bradley is an American soprano who continues to perform on many opera and concert stages.

Mrs. Bradley grew up in Bishopville and was trained at the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem and the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia. Her debut was as Nannetta in Verdi’s opera Falstaff at the Lake George Opera in 1976.

She established herself with the N.Y. Metropolitan Opera, performing for seven seasons. She performed also in other American opera houses like the Memphis Opera, the Michigan Opera Theatre and the Central City Opera. Mrs. Bradley was a frequent guest on the stage of the Los Angeles Opera as Oscar, Blondchen, Zerbinetta, Romilda, Zerlina, and in the 1997-98 season as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte.

She made her European debut in 1983 with the Netherlands Opera in the title role of Handel’s Rodelinda. In 1988 she became a member of the Deutsche Oper Berlin where she made her debut in 1987 as Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto.

Note: Photo from www.fotofama.com.

Although born in Newberry in 1934, Houston Person was raised in Florence and is a graduate of Wilson High School.

Person is a tenor saxophonist and record producer who has recorded and produced 75 albums. He first received moderate national attention with a series of soulful albums recorded for Prestige Records back in the 1960s, during which time he began a sympathetic and successful musical partnership with the great Etta Jones that lasted over 30 years.

A mural of Houston Person can be found in downtown Florence.

Note: Information from www.allaboutjazz.com. Photo from www.capemaycountyherald.com.

Maxine Ella Brown was born in Kingstree in August 1939. She started singing as a child, performing with two New York based gospel groups. While performing with the popular Charles Taylor Singers (1950’s), the young artist gained a mountain of experience and richly honed her craft in preparation for what was to follow a sensational solo career!

It was in 1960 that an embraceable recording on the Nomar label changed her life forever. “All In My Mind” is the super-tune that rocketed to #2 on the R&B charts, received power-play rotation, and commenced the charting of a hit-making course that would extend into the 2000s. That enormous production was quickly followed up by a series of dominating hits that are consistently heard the world-over.

Note: Information and photo from www.maxinebrown.com.

Williamsburg County native Teddy Pendergrass emerged into the limelight as the baritone lead of the R&B troupe Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, and headed up such hits as “Turn Off the Lights” and “If You Don’t Know Me By Now.”

Theodore Pendergrass first hit the music world as the gifted drummer for the Cadillacs — the group that would one day become Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes. With The Blue Notes he performed lead vocals on numerous #1 hits before going solo in the late ’70s.

In 1982, the brakes on Pendergrass’ Rolls Royce failed and, while in a spin out, his car struck two trees. Pendergrass’ passenger escaped with minimal injury, but the accident left Pendegrass paralyzed from the waist down. He remained an active force in the music industry, releasing over a dozen albums until he announced his retirement in 2006.

Throughout his career, Pendergrass belonged to a class of R&B singers with a bent for positivity, and in their ranks, Pendergrass’ singing voice, a heavy, husky baritone, and his stage presence of beaming good vibrations, made him a beloved and cherished musical presence.
In 2009, he passed away at the age of 59.

Note: Information and photo from www.citypages.com.

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