Harold A. Johnson

Hal or “Shorty” Johnson passed away on October 27, 2021 just a few months shy of his 90th birthday. Hal was born on January 17, 1932 in Britten, South Dakota. The son of Peter and Edith Johnson, Hal’s family moved to Portland, OR and as a young man he set his cap to be a professional musician on tuba. His first professional opportunity was with a well-known Portland jazz ensemble, the Castle Jazz Band, led by Portland legend Monte Ballou. Hal was intensely interested in Traditional Jazz but was too young to get into the nightclub where the Castle Jazz band worked. Always a creative problem solver, Hal learned that the restroom of the local movie theater backed up to the club where Monte played and the men’s restroom in the theater backed up to the bandstand of the club! By placing himself in one of the stalls in the restroom Hal could listen through the wall to the band... and he learned all of Monte’s tunes in just that way. When he reached the legal age he auditioned and was hired for the tuba position! A few years of apprencticeship in Monte’s band gained Hal the experience and a reputation impressive enough to be summoned to San Francisco to work for legendary RCA recording artist Turk Murphy. He joined Turk in Las Vegas and eventually played at Turk’s well known nightclub in San Francisco - Earthquake McGoon’s. After a few years of playing and recording with Turk, Hal sought to take advantage of a new musical craze sweeping the nation... the Banjo/Sing-Along parlors. Hal studied and learned that business in the town where it began... San Francisco. By 1964 Hal packed up his family and headed for New Orleans and a banjo/sing-along parlor called The Red Garter. His playing in New Orleans brought him to the attention of most of the New Orleans Jazz musicians and landed him a recording spot with a talented stride pianist, Bob Greene, where he recorded an album with Greene and cornetist Ernie Carson. The trio soon embarked on a World tour with Greene’s show ”The World of Jelly Roll Morton.” In 1966 Hal moved his family to Atlanta to accept the position of tuba in a new banjo/sing-along club called “Ruby Red’s Warehouse.” Within a few months he was promoted to bandleader and built a formidable reputation as the leader of the Ruby Reds Band. In 1969 Ruby Red’s Warehouse was the first club to move to and open in Underground Atlanta and was a huge success. In the ensuing decades Hal navigated the band through 2 seasons of playing at every Atlanta Braves home game as well as playing often for the Atlanta Falcons and the Atlanta Hawks. The band became very popular with the public and was also popular with the Atlanta business community. The Ruby Reds Band began to cultivate an impressive list of clients outside of the club, appearing at private and corporate parties, commercial events like store openings, topping-off (construction) ceremonies, political rallies, land auctions, parades, country club events, golf tournaments, concerts and more. The nightly work at the Underground Atlanta location and the increasing demand for the band outside of the club prompted Hal to create as many as 5 bands all working under the Ruby Reds Band name, providing hundreds of work opportunities for freelance musicians throughout the city. In 1975 the construction of the MARTA East Line took out a swath of buildings in Underground Atlanta and essentially doomed the entertainment district. But at the same time the State of Georgia embarked on a building project to compete with Chicago, New York, and Las Vegas for corporate conventions - the Georgia World Congress Center. This brought thousands of Conventions to Atlanta and those conventions were ‘themed’ around their destination... in Atlanta the predominant theme was “Old South”, “Gone With The Wind”, banjo music and Dixieland Jazz bands - the Ruby Reds Band was perfectly positioned to fill that demand. About this time Hal also went to work for the Ray Bloch Entertainment Agency which opened an office in Atlanta to take advantage of the tremendous opportunities that national conventions offered for entertainers and show planners. Hal worked for the agency for many years selling, providing and coordinating national and local talent for these conventions. He handled many nationally known acts including many Nashville-based Country Music artists. In 1991 the City of Atlanta revitalized Underground Atlanta and wanted many of the original clubs and restaurants from 1969 to return. Hal joined with some of the original owners and relaunched the Ruby Red’s Warehouse in the NEW Underground Atlanta. In 1992 he formed a partnership with Marty Martin and Rocky Ball in a show bar named Fanny Moon’s Beer Hall in the Kenny’s Alley section of Underground. They operated for 4 years as owners and performed nightly as the house band and then closed the facility to meet the entertainment demands of the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta that year. After the Olympics Hal joined Don Erdman’s Hotlanta Jazz Band on record and on several World Tours and finally retired from music in 2019 after 58 years as a professional musician, talent agent, producer and bandleader. Hal sold the Ruby Reds Band name to its current owners to ensure that the band would continue. In 2026 the band will reach a milestone of 60 years of continuous operation! Hal played and recorded with some of the finest Traditional Jazz musicians in the country and was a legend in the Traditional Jazz world. He is preceded in death by his wife Maxine Johnson. He is survived by his children Kevin Johnson, Debbie Johnson-Phillips, Cathy Johnson-Hut, Susie Johnson-Bare. And, in loving memory of his sons Kenny Johnson and Ronnie Davis. He leaves a rich musical legacy to the Atlanta community, to the world of Jazz, and beyond. Hal and Maxine were married for almost 50 years. A life well lived filled with his music, his wife Maxine and his loving children. A funny, sweet, quiet and gentle man who lived his life to the fullest! He had it all !