Super Chikan
Blues ruler of the roost

by Scott Barretta • photography by Jay Adkins

Clarksdale-based James “Super Chikan” Johnson has achieved acclaim for both his blues and his artwork, which he’s blended in his one-of-a-kind “Chikantars.” He constructs the elaborately adorned—and playable—stringed instruments from items such as military gas cans, hubcaps and cigar boxes, and is happy to personalize them for prospective buyers. The ranks of Chikantar owners include Paul Simon and Steven Seagal, and Johnson’s multiple talents were officially recognized in 2004 when he received a Mississippi Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts.

Johnson was born in Darling, just outside of Clarksdale, in 1951, and was raised by his grandmother. He created his first instrument, a one-string guitar or “diddley bow,” out of a board, sardine and Prince Albert tobacco cans, and baling wire, and played it with an Ex-Lax bottle that he used as a slide. He was equally inventive in finding an audience, which landed him his first nickname, “Chikan Boy.” “I used to play my diddley bow for the chickens, and I cackled while I played it,” he says. “And the chickens would gather around and cackle along with me.” His nickname was later amended with “super” in tribute to his speedy habits as a taxi driver.

During his teens Johnson began playing bass for his uncle Big Jack Johnson, a locally renowned performer, but for the next several decades he largely stayed out of the limelight. He worked for many years as a land leveler for local Mennonite farmers, and later, while driving an 18-wheeler, took advantage of the solitude to write songs. His inventive, often quirky, compositions eventually garnered him broader attention, and in 1997 he recorded his debut CD, “Blues Come Home To Roost,” for Clarksdale’s Rooster Blues label. He’s since released four more CDs, including the recent “Sum’ Mo’ Chikan” on the Vizztone label.

In 2002 Johnson traveled to Senegal to the Bouki Blues Festival, where he performed together with a variety of African musicians. He was particularly surprised to discover instruments there that were similar to those he had created on his own as a child. “When I heard them play their music, I could hear my music being born,” he says. “I heard blues licks from Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Albert King and everybody else.” Back home, his songs are often inspired by local lore. “Robert Johnson,” for instance, is based loosely on the story of the tale of a bluesman selling his soul to the devil at a crossroads.

“After playing at the Ground Zero one night I went home and had a dream I was still playing there, and the voice out of nowhere said, ‘Meet me at the crossroads.’ I said, ‘Who is this?’ And he said, ‘Well you know the place, it’s not very far. Come on down and bring a homemade guitar.’””I’m the reincarnation of Robert Johnson,” says Johnson. “I’m picking up where he left off. I’ve been having hellhounds on my trail since I’ve lived in Clarksdale, and all we do around here is give each other hell.”

His songs often make light of the difficult social conditions faced by many in the Delta. “When they’re talking about crack houses, they must be talking about my house where I grew up,” says Johnson. “Cause I grew up in a crack house. My house had so many cracks in the wall we had to stuff cotton in the cracks to keep the snow out. I started off with nothing and still got most of it left.”

Today Johnson frequently tours abroad, most recently in Norway, with his band the Fighting Cocks, which includes female keyboardist LaLa (Laura Craig) and his daughter Jamiesa “Pinky” Tuner on drums, who has been playing with him since she was fourteen. “I’ve been wanting an all-girl band,” he says, “cause I’m the only rooster in my barnyard.” It’s a metaphor he’s not shy about employing. “When you get older you get wiser and you’re smarter and you can make the hens think different than what the young man does,” he observes. “And he finds himself losing and he wants to shoot the old rooster. ”

“But don’t shoot your rooster, ‘cause he can crow better than he used to.” DM