The King Arrives

Percussionist Errison Pallman Johnson was born in Nassau, Bahamas, 1941. He started playing music from the age of 5 and left the island at 18 for Los Angeles to pursue an acting career resulting in few movies appearances and commercials. Most remarkably he appeared with his calypso band in the James Bond film Thunderball (1965). Musically his first break came when he met jazz saxophonist Julian “Cannonball” Adderly, with whom he recorded 8 albums.

King Errisson has played congas for Neil Diamond for over 30 years and has played on many Motown recordings. In his autobiography, Berry Gordy referred to King Errison as the “unsung hero of Motown”.