Anderson Johnson was born August 1, 1915, 70 miles outside of Richmond, Virginia, out in the country on the farm. His parents were Richard & Lucy Wilson Johnson who were blessed with six children to this union, three other boys and two girls.

Anderson was drawn to music at the age of six after seeing his mother’s friend playing a guitar. Young Anderson Johnson began preaching after he was hit by lightning during a terrible thunderstorm in a cornfield in Lunenburg, Virginia. He became a child prodigy, and as early as age twelve, he pastored a church in Vineland, New Jersey.

Johnson started preaching at the age of eight, he earned enough money to buy his first guitar while working at a barbershop and traveled all over the country for some 40 years doing so. At age 19, he saw the U.S.A. in a beat-up Chevy; and in 1952, Johnson was singing gospel on a street corner in Miami when Henry Stone walked by and offered him a record deal.

He made a fine record of “God Don’t Like It” and others back in the 1958 in Miami, Florida, for the Angel, Glory and Delu Anderson Johnson was born August 1, 1915, 70 miles outside of Richmond, Virginia, out in the country on the farm. His parents were Richard & Lucy Wilson Johnson who were blessed with six children to this union, three other boys and two girls. Anderson was drawn to music at the age of six after seeing his mother’s friend playing a guitar. Young Anderson Johnson began preaching after he was hit by lightning during a terrible thunderstorm in a cornfield in Lunenburg, Virginia.

He became a child prodigy, and as early as age twelve, he pastored a church in Vineland, New Jersey. Johnson started preaching at the age of eight, he earned enough money to buy his first guitar while working at a barbershop and traveled all over the country for some 40 years doing so. At age 19, he saw the U.S.A. in a beat-up Chevy; and in 1952, Johnson was singing gospel on a street corner in Miami when Henry Stone walked by and offered him a record deal. He made a fine record of “God Don’t Like It” and others back in the 1958 in Miami, Florida, for the Angel, Glory and Deluxe labels.

He eventually settled in Newport News, Virginia where he built his church and became a respected outsider artist. His paintings were mainly of women’s faces.

He loved to play his steel guitar and sing but was also a fine pianist and drummer. Elder Anderson Johnson spent his career preaching and playing his steel guitar on the streets of America.