Herman Johnson was an Oklahoma fiddler who won the Grand National Championship at the National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest in Weiser, Idaho, five times: 1968, 1969, 1973, 1977, and 1978. He won the Grand Master Fiddler Championship in Nashville in 1974 and the Oklahoma State Championship five times. The National Fiddler Hall of Fame inducted him in 2012. He entered Weiser for the first time at age 48 and never lost there.
Why Johnson matters
Johnson set the standard for calm, clean contest fiddling. Other champions played faster or flashier. Johnson played every note in place, at a tempo a judge could follow, with a tone that never broke. His tune Herman’s Rag became a contest test piece. One fellow competitor said that when Herman showed up, everyone else was playing for second.
Life and career
Johnson was born in 1920 in Sparks, Oklahoma, the youngest of fourteen children. His father, grandfather, and uncles all played fiddle. His father kept an old Stainer fiddle hidden behind the family organ, and Herman learned on it in secret with his mother’s help, starting around age eight. He played his first contest at age twelve. He and his brothers formed the Johnson Boys, with Herman and his brother Cecil on twin fiddles.
Bob Wills was his inspiration, and in the 1940s Johnson led and played in western swing groups: Herman and the Melodiers, the Oklahoma Ragtimers, and the Harmony Boys in Sherman, Texas. He served in the Army in the mid-1940s and played for troops in Germany. After the war he left full-time music to support his family, but he kept playing at home and at contests.
Around 1960 he began traveling to contests in Oklahoma and Texas with guitarist Ralph McGraw. In 1968 the two made their first trip to Weiser, where more than 300 fiddlers entered. Johnson won the Grand National title on that first try. He won again in 1969, 1973, 1977, and 1978. In 1974 he won the Grand Master Fiddler Championship in Nashville, and he also won the World Championship in Crockett, Texas. He recorded the album Champion Fiddlin’ for American Heritage Music Corporation. He retired from competition and spent his later years teaching young fiddlers at his home.
Playing style
Johnson played the Texas contest style: long bow strokes, a relaxed tempo, and variations that grow from the melody instead of replacing it. His peers at Weiser remembered his calm manner and flawless delivery. He did not rush a breakdown, and his rags carry the even swing of his dance band years.
His Champion Fiddlin’ album lays out the full contest set: Grey Eagle and Sally Johnson for breakdowns, Red Fox Waltz and Westphalia Waltz for waltzes, and Herman’s Rag, Peacock Rag, and Spanish Two Step for the tune of choice. On the 1990 Bethel videos the bow stays close to the string and the left hand stays quiet.
Influences and legacy
Johnson grew up in a fiddling family and modeled his swing on Bob Wills. In Texas he competed against Benny Thomasson, Texas Shorty Chancellor, Louis Franklin, Major Franklin, and Sleepy Johnson. Sleepy Johnson told him the Texas fiddlers considered him one of their own, and after that he began winning in Texas too.
At Weiser his five titles put him level with Loyd Wanzer and ahead of Dick Barrett and Byron Berline. Fiddlers traveled hundreds of miles to study with him. Oklahoma fiddler Greg Burgess names him beside Berline and Barrett as a formative influence.
Signature tunes and songs
Herman’s Rag Grey Eagle Sally Johnson Red Fox Waltz Westphalia Waltz Peacock Rag Dusty Miller Tom and Jerry.
Essential recordings
Champion Fiddlin’ (American Heritage Music Corporation)
Awards and honors
National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest Grand National Champion (1968, 1969, 1973, 1977, 1978) Grand Master Fiddler Championship (1974) Oklahoma State Championship (five wins) World Championship, Crockett, Texas National Fiddler Hall of Fame (2012)
Watch and listen
Johnson plays The Grey Eagle at Bethel, Missouri, in 1990. Watch how little his bow arm moves for how much sound comes out.
The National Fiddler Hall of Fame’s 2012 introduction video, with tributes from fiddlers who competed against him.
What to learn from Johnson
Learn Herman’s Rag. It is the tune contest fiddlers use to prove they can play a rag, and it teaches the syncopated bowing and chromatic runs of the Texas style. The technique to steal is his composure. Record yourself playing Grey Eagle at a tempo where every note is clean, then play it at that same tempo in front of people. Johnson won Weiser at 48 on his first try by playing the tune he could play, not the tune he wished he could play.
Sources
Herman Johnson, National Fiddler Hall of Fame Grand Champions, National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest, University of Idaho Library Past winners, Grand Master Fiddler Championship 2019 National Fiddler Hall of Fame inductions, Bluegrass Today 2019 Oklahoma State Fiddling and Picking Contest, Bluegrass Today Fiddling, The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture Herman Johnson, Champion Fiddlin’, Discogs
Related players
See the fiddle players hub and the fiddle guide for more players, and the fiddle contests guide for how Weiser works. Johnson competed against Benny Thomasson and Major Franklin in Texas. Dick Barrett and Byron Berline shared the Weiser champion’s list with him, and Mark O’Connor came up through the junior divisions during Johnson’s run.