Soul of the South: James "Super Chikan" Johnson Born to Play the Blues: James "Super Chikan" Johnson, Clarksdale, Mississippi By Joe Rada / Photography by Joseph De Sciose
Every day, sure as sunup, he cocks his head back and crows like a rooster. Make that sundown, when
he's more often up to his usual (that is, unusual) onstage antics.
James "Super Chikan" Johnson, a Mississippi Delta native and a unique talent rising out of cotton
field-and-juke joint obscurity, keeps his own personal branch of the blues alive and, in his case,
clucking.
"When I was growing up on a farm near Clarksdale, I tended chickens," he says. "I got good at
imitating their moves and sounds, so people started calling me 'Chicken Boy' or just 'Chikan,'
and the name stuck." The other half of his nickname came later, when he drove trucks and taxis and
earned a reputation for getting places superfast.
Downhome Blues
From making up songs behind the wheel to playing guitar and harmonica at house parties and in dives,
Chikan slowly grew his career. His signature humor--chicken sounds, lyrics about amorous
roosters--pleases crowds. After five tough-life decades and four hard-to-find CDs on small labels,
he's finally earning a modest living in music.
"I've played all over the country and in Europe and Asia, too, in tiny clubs and at big festivals,
but mostly I stay here in The Delta," says the father of six. In a ramshackle workshop behind his
house, Chikan also creates odd guitars using 5-gallon gas cans, hubcaps, and cigar boxes for bodies
and ax handles or pool cues for necks. On them he paints folk art drawn from his imagination.
"People try to buy my homemade guitars from me right off the stage," he says, incredulous.
Sop That Gravy
Fans often bark catchphrases from Chikan's songs, shouting, "Sop that gravy!" (a nod to the
good life) or "Shoot that thang!" (curing one's blues). He obliges by flashing a grin, dancing
a shuffle, and belting out lots of down-home, honest blues. "Shoot that thang!" he yells, "but
don't shoot my rooster, 'cuz he crow better than he used-ter."
Super chikan's picks: His latest CD, Chikan Supe, is available from the artist at his shows. Some
of his favorite blues CDs include Charlie Musselwhite's Sanctuary and B.B. King's 80. Other rising
talents worth a listen include Arkansas' Kory Montgomery, Georgia's EG Kight, and Virginia's
Deborah Coleman.
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