Toronto Blues Society | » Johnny Copeland – March 27, 1937 – July 3, 1997

Johnny Copeland – March 27, 1937 – July 3, 1997

Published August 1, 1997 in Features
Johnny Copeland

Johnny Copeland

Johnny Copeland

Johnny Copeland passed away on July 3, 1997, at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. Johnny underwent heart surgery a week before his death in order to repair a leaky heart valve. He died from the results of complications from that surgery. His longtime friend and agent Steve Hecht shares his recollections in this tribute.


Johnny fought hard the last few years, undergoing eight heart surgeries since March of 1995, including a New Years day 1997 heart transplant. In April, after recuperating from the transplant Johnny began working again, and performed both regionally in the Northeast and as far away as Houston, TX and Memphis TN.

Johnny was a man loved by all who knew him. He enriched the lives of all whom he came into contact with. Aside from his stature in the hierarchy of blues artists, he was a magnificent person who didn’t have an enemy in the world. He was a generous family man who was always there to help his friends and fellow musicians.

Johnny was born in Haynesville, Louisiana and moved to Texas at the age of thirteen. From the early fifties he was an important figure on the Texas blues circuit. He scored a regional hit in 1958 with “Rock n’ Roll Lilly”. As the Houston market for his brand of blues declined, he moved to New York’s Harlem in 1975.

In 1981 his career gained new momentum as he signed to Rounder Records. His debut release was the supercharged Copeland Special. A series of successful releases for Rounder followed, including Bringing It All Back Home which was inspired by Johnny’s recent 10-country tour of West Africa.

In 1986 he collaborated with Albert Collins and Robert Cray for the W.C. Handy and Grammy award-winning Showdown album on Alligator Records. In the 1990s his career continued to grow, fuelled by strong touring and two excellent CDs on Verve Records. Johnny recorded his final Verve CD, Jungle Swing, which was released while he awaited his transplant.

The blues community stood firmly behind Johnny after his heart condition became critical during a tour in Colorado in March of 1995. Their generous support through fund-raising, benefit concerts and donations was reassuring and strengthening to him. Johnny continued to perform sporadically while on the LVAD (a battery powered pump that was embedded in his chest, and remained there for 18 months before the transplant). His strength and determination was an inspiration to all. His desire to keep performing while on the heart pump landed both him and the pump national exposure on Good Morning America, CNN and other nationwide avenues.

Johnny Copeland will be sorely missed. The intensity and sincerity of his artistry had a long-lasting and powerful effect on people. Watching him close the 1993 Chicago Blues Festival, where tens of thousands of people swayed and cheered to his every guitar lick and vocal phrase, as he stalked like a confident predator across the stage, will forever be embedded in my memory as a testimony to his ability to communicate with audiences, his power to move people, and his lofty place in the blues world. He was a leader in the blues community. His songs were refreshingly his own. His trademark style fresh and original. The emotion and conviction in his playing, and the poignant sentiments of his lyrics, and his ability to blend influences; albeit jazz, jump blues, Texas blues or African rhythms and instrumentation, secure his ongoing legacy for generations to come. As long as there is blues, there Johnny “Clyde” Copeland will be, a defining artist, the consummate performer, forever etched in the annals of the blues.

– Steve Hecht

Any donations, condolences, or cards should be sent to: Johnny Copeland Heart Fund, c/o Manny’s Car Wash, 1558 Third Ave, New York City, NY 10128. A benefit concert is scheduled for August 21 at Manny’s Car Wash.

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