Virtually unknown outside of New Orleans, Smokey Johnson was a powerful force in the Big Easy's jazz, funk, blues, and soul music scenes for more than three decades, before a stroke ended his career in 1993. Johnson was Fats Domino's drummer for much of the 1970s and 1980s, and he also played on the classics "Trick Bag" and "Come On," with Earl King, as well as working in Detroit for Motown under Berry Gordy. Gordy was blown away by his style and hired him to work for a few months at the Motown studios. In 2004, Tuff City subsidiary Night Train International issued It Ain't My Fault, a compilation of Johnson's solo recordings.