Remembering Dewitt Johnson (1945-2023)

This past Friday, the Nashville gospel music community was shaken by the passing of one of the city’s most accomplished and beloved singer-songwriters, James Dewitt Johnson, co-organizer of the B.C.&.M Mass Choir and founder of the Johnson Ensemble.

As a teenager, Johnson—a Nashville native—served as pianist and composer at his church, Mount Gilead Baptist. Working with choirs inspired him to gather youths from the Baptist, Catholic, and Methodist churches “to bind the youth of the South Nashville area in a harmonious manner.” In 1965 at the Fairfield Baptist Church, he co-founded what was initially just known as the “Mass Choir” under the direction of Carolyn Armstrong Jennings and Johnson. A year later, they renamed themselves B.C. & M Mass Choir, and by 1969, the choir was recording on Nashville’s Creed Records, the contemporary division of Nashboro Records with Velma Smith and Johnny Whittaker sharing directorial duties.

He scored the choir a massive gospel hit in 1970 with his composition, “I Made a Vow,” which put the choir on the map nationally, resulting in appearances on major gospel programs around the country, establishing Johnson’s reputation as one of gospel’s premiere songwriters. “I Made a Vow” would become a hit again in 1973 when Willie Neal Johnson and the Gospel Keynotes covered it (They recorded it a second time in 1985).

In 1969, Johnson formed The Johnson Ensemble, under the direction of Everett Drake. Their debut was recorded for Chicago’s famed Jewel Records, and its release was celebrated with a first anniversary concert at Nashville’s War Memorial Auditorium with the Edwin Hawkins Singers.

Their sophomore album in 1973 marked the beginning of their association with Creed Records. They recorded The Harvest Is Plentiful with Rev. Isaac Douglas the following year. The title song, written by Johnson, propelled the album to the #4 position on Billboard’s Gospel LP’s chart, was one of the Top 10 best-selling gospel albums of the entire year, and it remained on the chart for a staggering 138 weeks. That year, the group appeared in the Golden Globe-nominated film Nashville with Lily Tomlin and was named Choir of the Year at the Gospel Music Workshop of America.

Johnson’s 1979 hit, “I’ve Been Touched,” marked a new chapter for the group, now recording for John Daniels’ Tomato/New Birth Records. The song was a signature Johnson composition, comprised of a relatable lyric and a heart-tugging melody that lingered in the mind. He told the Tennessean, “If I dream about a song, I get up and write the words, for the tune stays in my mind. Then I get a tape recorder and tape what I have in my mind.”

The hits continued as the eighties progressed and he joined the roster of Savoy Records, finding success with songs like “Things Have Got To Get Better” and “Use Me.” In the more recent years, he continued to work internationally with a strong foundation in his home base in Nashville, recording a series of singles and albums including “Calvary Settled It All.” He kept the B.C. & M. Mass Choir alive through a number of reunions and recordings and hosted a weekly television show, Touching the World, which aired on Newschannel 5 Plus.

God’s Music Is My Life sends our condolences to the Johnson family and the extended musical family that he was such an integral part of around the world and, especially, in Nashville. We’re grateful for all that he gave to the gospel music community.

Source: Southern Folk Cultural Revival Collection, University of North Carolina Special Collections