Earl "Lil' Choo-Choo" Johnson
Earl "Lil' Choo-Choo" Johnson was born in Corfu, Mississippi on November 15, 1919. Earl learned guitar from his Uncle Houndtooth. He left home at the age of 10 with his father's guitar and the clothes on his back. For the next decade, he traveled the Mississippi Delta, learning from and playing with many of the area's greatest bluesmen- Big Choo-Choo Williams, Charley Patton, Willie Brown, Son House, and Robert Johnson. After serving in World War II, Johnson returned to the Delta and teamed up with Howlin' Wolf to form the Houserockers. Johnson and Howlin' Wolf were staples of the post-war Memphis and Chicago blues scenes. Their music was very influential in the growth of rock and roll music in the late 1950s. After a tragic accident, Lil' Choo-Choo retired from music and moved to Cleveland with his family, but was coaxed back into the music world during the blues revival of the 1960s. Earl "Lil' Choo-Choo" Johnson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992, and passed away in Mississippi in 1993.