Joseph "Smokey" Johnson was a New Orleans drummer who was long associated with
Fats Domino and made many recordings as a sideman for
Dave Bartholomew at Imperial Records in the 1960s. Johnson also cut a series of instrumentals for Nola Records in the '60s, using local musicians such as guitarist George Davis and horn player Wardell Quezerque. The swinging material on
It Ain't My Fault defines a development from soul-jazz to funk, all of it with a familiar New Orleans flavor. A part of Night Train International's "Bosses of the Big Easy Beat" series, the album bears the subtitle "Legendary 60s Recordings" on its cover, and that's a fair statement. The recordings deserve to be heard as a precursor to the work of
the Meters and
the Neville Brothers, a solid part of the history of New Orleans music. ~ William Ruhlmann