I just lost a friend. Was so sorry to hear that Frances Johnson, Johnnie Johnson’s wife passed away February 16. One of the joys of the JOHNNIE BE GOOD documentary project is I’ve made some great new friends, including Frances. She had a distinctive voice, a wonderful laugh, and a bullshit meter that was finely tuned. I remember going to meet Johnnie and Frances for the first time in 2004 to find out if they were interested in a film about Johnnie’s life. It quickly became apparent to me that Frances was the gatekeeper. I guess I passed the test. The last time I saw her was last year when Johnnie posthumously received his Congressional Gold Medal as one of the Montfort Point Marines, the black marines who endured racism while integrating the U.S. Marines during WWII. A great lady who’ll be missed. I’ve been at this project so long that some great people who appear in JOHNNIE BE GOOD have passed away: Johnnie, Frances, Bo Diddley, Hubert Sumlin (Muddy Waters’ guitarist), Ian McLagan.