Johnny Jenkins, a flashy left-handed blues guitarist who helped to propel the singing career of his former driver, Otis Redding, died Monday in Macon, Ga., after a stroke. He was 67.
Mr. Jenkins was a self-taught guitarist, a fixture on the Macon scene known for his Chuck Berry-like walks and behind-the-head guitar picking. He started out with a small blues band called the Pinetoppers that played the college circuit and first heard Redding at a talent show at a Macon theater.
“I heard Otis at the Douglass, and the group behind him just wasn’t making it,” Mr. Jenkins told pop music biographer Peter Guralnick. “So I went up to him and said, `Do you mind if I play behind you?’ Cause he didn’t know me. … Well, he sounded great with me playing behind him.”
Redding received a lot of airplay for the 1960 single “Shout Bamalama,” on which he was backed by the Pinetoppers. But he largely remained the band’s gofer, and when the Pinetoppers were asked in 1962 to record for Memphis’ Stax records, Redding drove the group to Tennessee.
The session was reportedly a disorganized disaster, with several musicians leaving early. Redding asked whether he could use the remaining time to sing. Among his selections was “These Arms of Mine,” a ballad on which Mr. Jenkins can be heard on guitar and Steve Cropper on piano.
“These Arms of Mine” became Redding’s breakthrough, selling 800,000 copies, and he alone won a recording contract. He went on to have hits with “Respect,” “Try a Little Tenderness” and “(Sittin’ on) the Dock of the Bay” before a fatal plane crash in 1967.
Mr. Jenkins had an acclaimed solo album, “Ton-Ton Macoute!” (1970), which featured guitarist Duane Allman and other members of the Allman Brothers band. Among the songs singled out by critics was their rendition of Dr. John’s “I Walk on Guilded Splinters.”
Mr. Jenkins did not release another solo album until “Blessed Blues” (1996).
Mr. Jenkins continued playing nightclubs in the Macon area and re-emerged on record with “Blessed Blues,” followed by “Handle With Care” (2001) and “All in Good Time” (2005).
