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Johnson

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Johnson

Composer + Singer + Conductor

Male

Born Mar 26, 1953

Hometown Thrissur

Died Aug 18, 2011

Death Place Chennai

Genres World music + Fil...

Instruments Accordion + Violi...

Johnson was an Indian film score composer and music director who has given music to some of the most important motion pictures of Malayalam cinema, including those for Namukku Parkkan Munthiri Thoppukal, Oru Minnaminunginte Nurunguvettam, Vadakkunokkiyantram… Read More

Timeline

Learn about the memorable moments in the evolution of Johnson.

CHILDHOOD

1953 Birth Johnson was born in a musically affluent Christian family in Nellikkunnu, Thrissur, Kerala, on 26 March 1953. … Read More

His father was a bank employee. Johnson was a singer in the choir of Nellikkunnu St. Sebastian's Church. He obtained training in guitar and harmonium from his colleagues during this early periods itself. He used to sing in youth festivals and musical shows and joined the orchestra team of some local troupes and played harmonium in many concerts. He also used to sing in female voice in ganamelas(a stage show where film songs are sung by local or professional artists). Read Less

TEENAGE

1968 15 Years Old In 1968, Johnson and his friends formed a club named Voice of Thrissur. … Read More

Johnson was the main instrumentalist in the club where he played wide varieties of instruments - guitar, harmonium, flute, drums and violin.

Within a few years, the club became one of the most sought after musical troups in Kerala, and had more than fifty members. This club used to give accompaniment music to playback singers Jayachandran and Madhuri in their musical shows. It was Jayachandran who introduced Johnson to G. Devarajan, one of the most prolific composers of South Indian cinema then. Read Less

TWENTIES

1974 21 Years Old Devarajan literally adopted Johnson and brought him to Chennai in 1974. … Read More

Johnson bought an accordion, during this period, from R. K. Shekhar (A. R. Rahman's father), and began assisting Devarajan in filmscoring and composing.

Johnson began his independent career by composing the film scores of Bharathan's Aaravam (1978), Thakara (1980) and Chamaram (1980). He composed his first soundtracks for the film Inaye Thedi, debut film of director turned still photographer Antony Eastman and actress Silk Smitha. It was Devarajan himself, who suggested Johnson to the director. Then came Bharathan's Parvathi and Balachandra Menon's Premageethangal. Premageethangal was a notable success with four of its songs - "Swapnam Verumoru Swapnam", "Nee Nirayoo Jeevanil", "Muthum Mudipponnum" and "Kalakalamozhi" attaining cult status.

He came to prominence through his collaboration with Malayalam author and director Padmarajan. Koodevide was their first venture, which had one of the most famous songs of Johnson "Aadivaa Kaatte", a pathbreaking song in Malayalam music history. It was one of the first songs in Malayalam to so many western classical elements. The song was born out of Padmarajan's need for a western song for his innovative film. Song composition took place in Woodland's Hotel, Chennai. Another notable feature of this song was the lyrics by O. N. V. Kurup, who for the first time wrote lyrics for a pre-composed song. Johnson worked for 17 films with Padmarajan, including his last film Njan Gandharvan. This productive collaboration saw the detailed screenplay and cinematography of Padmarajan become a fertile ground for expressive musical narration and thematic scores for Johnson. Read Less

THIRTIES

1991 38 Years Old …

This is seen in some of the greatest motion pictures of Malayalam cinema, like Oru Minnaminunginte Nurunguvettam (1987), Nombarathipoovu (1987) and Perumthachan (1990). Another notable collaboration of Johnson was with director Sathyan Anthikkad, with whom he associated in almost 25 films. He was able to provide some of his most popular songs with Anthikkad and this combo is widely accepted to be one of the greatest director-composer collaborations in Malayalam cinema. Acclaimed Malayalam director Bharathan also collabrated with him in multiple films including Parvathy, Palangal, Ormakkayi, Kattathe Kilikkoodu, Ente Upasana, Oru Minnaminunginte Nurunguvettam, Ozhivukalam, Malootty, Chamayam and Churam. His major other collaborations with directors include Mohan (Oru Katha Oru Nunakkatha, Sakshyam, Pakshe and Angane Oru Avadhikkalathu), Sibi Malayil (Kireedam, Chenkol, Dasaratham and Nee Varuvolam), Sreenivasan (Vadakkunokkiyantram and Chinthavishtayaya Shyamala), Lohithadas (Bhoothakkannadi and Arayannangalude Veedu), Kamal (Peruvannapurathe Visheshangal, Shubhayathra, Ee Puzhayum Kadannu and Paavam Paavam Rajakumaran), and Balachandra Menon (Shesham Kazhchayil, Premageethangal, Kilukilukkam and Kelkatha Shabdam).

He is also noted for his collaboration with the Malayalam lyricist Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri. Their association began in 1989 with Sathyan Anthikkad's social satire Varavelpu. Most of Jonhnson's notable works came in late eighties and early nineties. Read Less

In 1991, he scored a record number of 31 films, including 29 with Kaithapram. … Read More

Johnson won National awards for two consecutive years. Read Less

FORTIES

1994 41 Years Old He won his first National Award in 1994 for the motion picture Ponthan Mada (1993). … Read More

The next year he got his second award for Sukrutham. Both the awards were for the background score in films.

After an extremely successful career of more than a decade, Johnson took a sabattical from film scoring by the end of nineties. The quality and quantity of his works began perishing during this time. By the beginning of 2000s, he didn't sign any new projects that even his most noted collaborator Sathyan Anthikkad had to find a new composer. Read Less

FIFTIES

2004 51 Years Old In 2004, he sang the song "Theekuruvi" from Kangalal Kaidhu Sei, which was composed by A. R. Rahman. … Read More

Perhaps it is the only song recorded by him for any composer. Read Less

2006 53 Years Old He returned strongly to the field with Photographer in 2006, which fetched him numerous awards. … Read More

Johnson has released four non-film albums. His first album Sneha Deepika was released in 1989 on Tharangini audios. It had nine Christian devotional songs - "Aathma Swaroopa", "Unni Yesu Pirannu", "Manninum Poovinum", "Thumbapoo Polulla", "Bhoomikku Pulakam", "Manassakumengil", "Kulir Choodum", "Arthungal Innoru" and "Vidarnna Punchiri". The featured artists were K. J. Yesudas, K. S. Chithra and Sujatha. His second album Onathappan, a collaboration with M. G. Radhakrishnan and Berny-Ignatius, consisted of nine festival songs. The track "Mundon Paadam" was composed by Johnson, sung by M. G. Sreekumar and had lyrics penned by Bichu Thirumala. His third album Nannipoorvam Johnson, consisted of twelve tracks - "Chandanakkavilinnu", "Panineeru Peyyum", "Vasundhare", "Virunnu Vanna", "Prapanjam Sundaram", "Enthe Nee Varathe", "Nilasandhyayil", "Veruthe Onnu", "Ponnazhikkuttu", "Pranayappirave", "Kalindhi", and an introductory speech by Sreenivasan. In 2009, he released his second Christian devotional album entitled Parishudhan. It had eleven tracks - "Vazhiyum Sathyavum Nee Thanne (Vijay Yesudas), "Mullukal Kuthi" (Chithra), "Ariyathe Polum" (G. Venugopal), "Neethimanayavane" (Sujatha), "Traditional song" (Louis), "Mazhayum Veyilum" (Rimi Tomy), "Oru Viral Sparshathal (Sudheep), "Loka Palaka" (Chithra), Neethanthamam (Vijay Yesudas), and "Kannukalil Theliyum" (Manjari). Read Less

2007 54 Years Old …

Johnson won the National Film Award for Best Background Score for the films Ponthan Mada (1994) and Sukrutham (1995). Johnson is the only composer to receive this rarely given award twice. He was the first Malayalee music composer to receive an award in music category and is also the only Malayalee music director who received two national awards in music category. Actually his first national award for Ponthan Mada, not only for background score but also for Best Music Composer. This film has one song Adimarunge ayyayya (അടിമരുങ്ങേ അയ്യയ്യാ) lyrics by O. N. V. Kurup and sung by K. S. Chithra and chorus composed by Johnson. This is a folk song. National film award committee noted that he brilliantly conceive western folk tunes into this song. So award given for best music direction and background score of this film. He has received three Kerala State Film Award for Best Music Director, for the films Ormakkayi (1982), Vadakkunokkiyantram and Mazhavil Kavadi (1989), and Angane Oru Avadhikkalathu (1999). He was awarded the Kerala State Film Award for Best Background Music for the films Sadayam (1992) and Sallapam (1996). He has thus received five Kerala State Film Awards in music category, an achievement he shares with Devarajan. He has received the Kerala Film Critics Awards four times, the most recent in 2008 for Gulmohar. Read Less

In 2007, he won the Mathruboomi Award for Best Music Director for Photographer (2006). … Read More

He won the Mullasserry Raju Music Award for the song "Enthe Kannanu Karuppu Niram", also from the same film. In addition, he has received numerous other awards and nominations including Devarajan Master Memorial Award and Raveendran Master Memorial Award. Read Less

2011 58 Years Old 1 More Event

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Johnson, popularly known as 'Johnson Master' died in Chennai on 18 August 2011 at the age of 58, due to a heart attack. … Read More

The Government of Kerala gave all official honours for his funeral which was held in his hometown, Thrissur. He is survived by his wife - Rani Johnson, daughter - Shan Johnson and son - Renn Johnson. On 25 February 2012, Renn Johnson, an engineer by profession, worked at Connectivity Data Systems LLC died in a motor bike accident at Chennai.

The following lists out the films in which Johnson composed the background score but not songs.

In an interview with Malayala Manorama, Johnson listed the following 13 songs as his favourite songs. Read Less

…

Johnson (Malayalam: ജോൺസൺ) (26 March 1953 - 18 August 2011) was an Indian film score composer and music director who has given music to some of the most important motion pictures of Malayalam cinema, including those for Koodevide, Namukku Parkkan Munthiri Thoppukal, Oru Minnaminunginte Nurunguvettam, Vadakkunokkiyantram, Perumthachan, Njan Gandharvan, Ponthan Mada, and Bhoothakkannadi. He was noted for his lyrical and expressive melodies together with simple but rich tonal compositions of thematic music. Johnson is a recipient of National Film Awards twice and Kerala State Film Awards five times.

He started his career as an assistant to G. Devarajan in 1970s, and debuted as an independent composer in late seventies with Aaravam. He was a recurrent collaborator for directors Padmarajan, Bharathan, Sathyan Anthikkad, T. V. Chandran, Kamal, Lohithadas, Balachandra Menon and Mohan. He has composed music for more than 300 Malayalam films, the most by any composer except for Devarajan. He was the first Music Director from Malayalam Film Fraternity to be honored with the National Award. Read Less

He died of a heart attack in Chennai on August 18, 2011.

Original Authors of this text are noted on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnson_(composer).
Text is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.

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