Many of the blues numbers originating from this period indulged in cleverness for its own sake, sometimes with more than a dash of smut; but there is no denying the potential philosophical impact of Johnson's better recordings, titles often overlooked as consumers flock to the tried-and-true Dead Drunk Blues. Some of her other recordings include Who'll Chop Your Suey (When I'm Gone) (from the same genre of song that contains the classic country number Who'll Take the Garbage Out When I'm Gone?), Folks in New York City Ain't Like Folks Down South (a cousin to the Buck Owens number I Wouldn't Live in New York City If They Gave Me the Whole Damn Town), and When a 'Gator Holler, Folks Say It's a Sign of Rain (a song unique enough to inhabit a class of its own).
The Document label holds a pretty full deck when it comes to her '20s recordings, offering a set of her complete works as well as a separate collection of the material with Leecan and Cooksey, released under their name. As is true of much of the classic blues material from the '20s and '30s, Johnson's recordings have also been folded into more than a dozen compilations originating in almost as many different countries. Another difference between Johnson and the colleagues featured on these recordings was that she didn't drop off the music scene once the public taste for classic blues momentarily dwindled. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, Rovi