![\"Punk](\"https:\/\/cdn1.faroutmagazine.co.uk\/uploads\/1\/2025\/01\/Punk-Punk-Gig-Crowd-Punks-Punk-Rockers-Far-Out-Magazine-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/div>Here, we already have a comparison towards punk, as both artists in both periods of time were praised for their innovative musical approach. While bands like the Sex Pistols took the basics of rock music and made them sound thrashier, dirtier and less rehearsed, Johnson took sentimental songs and turned them into foot-stomping jigs.<\/p>\n
Johnson\u2019s music was incredibly ahead of its time; there was no one out there presenting songs in the same way that he did, and he was celebrated as a genius because of it. Some people have even listened to his compositions and opined that he was playing a rehashed version of jazz 100 years before the genre\u2019s documented origin in New Orleans (although this is hotly contested).<\/p>\n
Of course, it wasn\u2019t just the music itself, but\u00a0it was how Johnson performed. Homer Jackson, a modern visual artist, spoke about the other Johnson\u2019s performance style and how unique it was back then. \u201cHe definitely wasn\u2019t composing jazz, but the notes on the page are not the whole story,\u201d he said,\u201cWhen he performed, people described his playing as inventive, with embellishments, distortions and soul-stirring energy. When we performed his pieces, it was so easy to see how you could \u2018get happy\u2019 with that music, in the African American way, and make it swing.\u201d<\/p>\n
His performance style was so well regarded that one night, when he was playing at Masonic Hall in Philadelphia, a newly installed gas mount started a fire that caused the building to collapse. Rumours began circulating that it was Johnson\u2019s \u201chot\u201d playing style which started the fire, and given his reputation, those rumours became relatively substantiated.<\/p>\n
Finally, while he wasn\u2019t considered a political musician, his presence in the musical world doubled as a political statement. During periods of segregation, his music brought people of different skins together, as Johnson played to mixed crowds, preaching the unifying nature of good music.<\/p>\n
Innovation, a good performance style, and speaking up for those who could not speak for themselves\u2026tick, tick, tick. While he might not have been playing music that emulated the sound of the Sex Pistols, there is no escaping the fact that Frank Johnson was a true punk, and he was changing music long before it was cool.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Punk: An elusive beast, a mystery so often adorned in leather and hair gel, but the punk attitude stems back much further than\u00a0Johnny Rotten\u00a0and Co. … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3239,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"yoast_head":"\n