He first worked with Sabby Lewis and then, after service in the United States Navy freelanced for a time in Chicago. From 1951 to 1953 he worked in Earl Hines's band.
He can be heard on albums by Paul Gonsalves, Zoot Sims, and Mose Allison. He recorded the album A Bit of the Blues as a singer and had arranged at a "hit" for singer Dinah Washington. His final recordings as a singer were on a J. J. Johnson album, now compiled as a collection called Goodies.
Osie died of kidney failure in 1966, at the age of 43.
Osie johnson osie s oasis
Television Appearances
In 1957, Johson appeared with Thelonious Monk and Ahmed Abdul-Malik on The Sound of Jazz.
As leader
1955: Johnson's Whacks
1955: Osie's Oasis with Henry Coker, Charlie Fowlkes, Milt Hinton, Bill Hughes, Thad Jones, Dick Katz, Wendell Marshall, Frank Wess, Ernie Wilkins
1955: Swingin' Sounds
1957: The Happy Jazz of Osie Johnson (Bethlehem)
As sideman
With Manny Albam
The Drum Suite (RCA Victor, 1956) with Ernie Wilkins
With Mose Allison
I Don't Worry About a Thing (Atlantic, 1962)
With Bob Brookmeyer
Brookmeyer (Vik, 1956)
Jazz Concerto Grosso (ABC-Paramount, 1957) with Gerry Mulligan and Phil Sunkel
The Street Swingers (World Pacific, 1957) with Jim Hall and Jimmy Raney
Kansas City Revisited (United Artists, 1958)
With Ray Bryant
Ray Bryant Trio (Epic, 1956)
With Kenny Burrell
Bluesin' Around (Columbia, 1961 [1983])
With Jimmy Cleveland
Introducing Jimmy Cleveland and His All Stars (EmArcy, 1955)
Rhythm Crazy (EmArcy, 1959 [1964])
With Arnett Cobb
Smooth Sailing (Prestige, 1959)
With Al Cohn
Mr. Music (RCA Victor, 1955)
The Natural Seven (RCA Victor, 1955)
That Old Feeling (RCA Victor, 1955)
Four Brass One Tenor (RCA Victor, 1955)
From A to...Z (RCA Victor, 1956) with Zoot Sims
The Sax Section (Epic, 1956)
Cohn on the Saxophone (Dawn, 1956)
With Freddy Cole
Waiter, Ask the Man to Play the Blues (Dot, 1964)
With Art Farmer
Last Night When We Were Young (ABC-Paramount, 1957)
With Curtis Fuller
Cabin in the Sky (Impulse!, 1962)
With Bennie Green
Bennie Green Blows His Horn (Prestige, 1955)
With Freddie Green
Mr. Rhythm (RCA Victor, 1955)
With Tiny Grimes
Callin' the Blues (Prestige, 1958) – with J. C. Higginbotham
With Gigi Gryce
Gigi Gryce (MetroJazz, 1958)
With Lionel Hampton
You Better Know It!!! (Impulse!, 1965)
With Johnny Hartman
The Voice That Is! (Impulse!, 1964)
With Coleman Hawkins
Accent on Tenor Sax (Urania, 1955)
The Hawk in Hi Fi (RCA Victor, 1956)
The Hawk in Paris (Vik, 1956)
Soul (Prestige, 1958)
Hawk Eyes (Prestige, 1959)
Coleman Hawkins All Stars (Swingville, 1960) – with Joe Thomas and Vic Dickenson
At Ease with Coleman Hawkins (Moodsville, 1960)
Coleman Hawkins and His Orchestra (Crown, 1960)
The Hawk Swings (Crown, 1960)
With Johnny Hodges
Sandy's Gone (Verve, 1963)
Blue Rabbit (Verve, 1964)
Con-Soul & Sax (RCA Victor, 1965) with Wild Bill Davis
With Langston Hughes
Weary Blues (MGM, 1958)
With Illinois Jacquet
The Kid and the Brute (Clef, 1955) with Ben Webster
With Budd Johnson
French Cookin' (Argo, 1963)
With J. J. Johnson
Goodies (RCA, 1965)
With Hank Jones
The Talented Touch (Capitol, 1958)
This Is Ragtime Now! (ABC-Paramount, 1964)
With Quincy Jones
The Birth of a Band! (Mercury, 1959)
Quincy Jones Explores the Music of Henry Mancini (Mercury, 1964)
With Mundell Lowe
Porgy & Bess (RCA Camden, 1958)
With Junior Mance
The Soul of Hollywood (Jazzland, 1962)
With Gary McFarland
The Jazz Version of "How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying" (Verve, 1962)
With Howard McGhee
Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries (Bethlehem, 1956)
Music from the Connection (Felsted, 1960)
With Carmen McRae
Carmen McRae (Bethlehem, 1954)
With Helen Merrill
The Artistry of Helen Merrill (Mainstream, 1965)
With Phineas Newborn, Jr.
Phineas Newborn, Jr. Plays Harold Arlen's Music from Jamaica (RCA Victor, 1957)
With Joe Newman
New Sounds in Swing (Jazztone, 1956) with Billy Byers
I Feel Like a Newman (Storyville, 1956)
The Midgets (Vik, 1956)
Locking Horns (Rama, 1957) with Zoot Sims
With Oscar Pettiford
Basically Duke (Bethlehem, 1954)
Another One (Bethlehem, 1955)
The Oscar Pettiford Orchestra in Hi-Fi (ABC-Paramount, 1956)
With Bud Powell
Blues for Bud (Columbia, 1958)
With Jimmy Raney
Jimmy Raney featuring Bob Brookmeyer (ABC-Paramount, 1956) with Bob Brookmeyer
Two Jims and Zoot (Mainstream, 1964) with Jim Hall and Zoot Sims
With Pee Wee Russell
Swingin' with Pee Wee (Swingville, 1960) with Buck Clayton
