Wright was born in
Centerville, Tennessee to Jake and Mary Coble Wright. Wright and his brothers, Sherman and George performed together in their youth. Johnny told the
Terre Haute Tribune Star: "My brothers Sherman, who played harmonica and George, who played violin and myself, we used to play on a corner in front of the courthouse for nickels and dimes." After his father died when he was 10 years old, Wright's family moved north to
Richmond, Indiana, for work. In 1950, Wright moved to
St. Louis. He would perform with
Chuck Berry in the neighboring
East St. Louis, Illinois at the Cosmopolitan Club. Wright moved to Los Angeles, playing gigs with
Ike & Tina Turner as part of the
Kings of Rhythm in the early 1960s. On his own he played at local clubs, sometimes pretending to be
Lightning Hopkins and
Elmore James when work was slow, since he said that promoters and club owners could not always differentiate one black artist from another. While recording, Wright was working in a
steel mill. He occasionally performed in clubs, sometimes with Rusin in his group, the Highway Blues Band. After a bad fall, Wright left his job at the steel mill and worked at Cowan & Cook Florists in
Terre Haute, Indiana. Wright died on June 2, 1988. He is buried in the
Highland Lawn Cemetery in Terre Haute. ==Discography==