Robert Johnson at the UK Premiere of Frampton, BFI IMAX, London
BFI IMAX, Waterloo, London · 2026
I am Charles Pycraft, a London photographer. Tonight, at the UK premiere of Frampton at the BFI IMAX in Waterloo, I met and photographed Robert A. Johnson, the Memphis guitarist, producer, songwriter and music director, also known as Butch Johnson. The picture here was taken at the premiere this evening. This piece keeps to what the picture shows and what is on the public record.
Tonight
He stood for me in front of the dark curtains, lit blue from behind, on the herringbone wood floor, facing the camera with one hand held out towards the lens. He wore square tinted glasses, a black shirt covered in a colourful print over a black T-shirt, purple trousers and black trainers with pink soles.
My pictures of Peter Frampton from the same night: Peter Frampton at the UK Premiere of Frampton, BFI IMAX, London.
Memphis and Stax
Johnson was born in Memphis. According to his biography, he had his first band at 12 and was working with Bill Black, of Elvis Presley's original trio, at 13. In 1968 he took a job in the mailroom at Stax, and in 1969 he joined The Isaac Hayes Band. His biography puts his first show with Hayes at Winterland, opening for Led Zeppelin, in November 1969. The Stax engineers Ronnie Capone and William Brown are quoted there saying that "Johnson could play guitar like he was told with a natural R&B style and a second later play it six different ways."
He met Billy Gibbons in 1970, and his biography says it was Johnson who brought ZZ Top to Ardent Studios in Memphis, where they recorded Tres Hombres in 1973.
London, Ox and the Stones
In 1974 he moved to England and joined John Entwistle's Ox, the solo band of The Who's bassist, after close to 200 guitarists had auditioned, as his biography and The Bolton News both report. He played on "Cell Number 7" and other tracks from Entwistle's Mad Dog, and toured with Ox.
When Mick Taylor left the Rolling Stones, Nicky Hopkins passed Johnson's number to Mick Jagger. On 31 January 1975 Jagger called him, and Johnson flew to Rotterdam for the sessions that became Black and Blue, recording with the band for four days, with Billy Preston on two of them and Jeff Beck on one, and Glyn Johns producing on the Stones' mobile studio. The job went to Ronnie Wood, and as Johnson told Memphis magazine, none of his playing ended up on the album.
Close Personal Friend
In 1978 he released his debut solo album, Close Personal Friend, through Ensign in the UK and Infinity in the US, and toured with The Police and The Knack. It has become a cult power pop record; his biography says Newsweek later called it "the best album of the late 1970s." Ensign followed it with Memphis Demos in 1980, and Close Personal Friend was reissued in 2018 by Burger Records, which also put out his album I'm Alive in 2019.
The Judds, and music director
He co-wrote "This Country's Rockin'" with Naomi Judd and Keith Sykes for The Judds' 1990 album Love Can Build a Bridge. He has also worked as a producer, including Shirley Brown's "Urgent" in 1983, according to his biography.
His biography lists a long run as a music director: at the Hard Rock Cafe in Orlando from 1990, for a 25th anniversary show for the Memphis Horns in 1992, for a Stevie Ray Vaughan tribute at the House of Blues in 1993, and as music director for the opening night of the Smithsonian's Rock 'n' Soul Museum in Memphis in 2000.
The picture
One frame of Robert A. Johnson at the UK premiere of Frampton, BFI IMAX, Waterloo, London, on 3 November 2026.
Credit: Charlie Pycraft / BACKGRID. Licensing: Backgrid UK Sales, backgrid_uksales@shutterstock.com (Backgrid ID BGUK_3732493)
I photograph premieres, launches and press events in London. For PR and event work, get in touch through charlespycraft.co.uk.