became a hit after it reached number 10 in early 1969, thanks to its popularity from the Northern soul scene. Motown dug into its vaults for tracks to create an album for the British market, I'll Pick a Rose for My Rose, released by Tamla Motown in 1969, which contained many of Johnson's songs recorded since he had signed there in the mid-1960s, including "Why Do You Want to Let Me Go", "I'm Not a Plaything" and "I Miss You Baby (How I Miss You)". The latter was also reissued as a single by Tamla Motown and was a hit in Britain, reaching number 25 on the UK chart in November 1969. He also toured the UK with Martha Reeves & the Vandellas. Johnson remained with Motown, working on sales and promotion, in the 1970s. He also wrote songs for Tyrone Davis and Johnnie Taylor. He co-wrote the Dells’ R&B hit "Give Your Baby a Standing Ovation", which peaked at number 3 on the R&B chart and number 34 on the Hot 100 in 1973. Johnson continued to write songs at Motown way into the 1970s. He eventually separated from the label. Johnson continued singing into the 1990s, releasing a solo album on the London-based Motorcity Records label, owned by Northern soul DJ and Motown lover Ian Levine. Johnson was one of the first and, according to Levine, one of "the most loyal and the most grateful" of all the former Motown artists he recorded. Two singles were released, "By Hook or by Crook" in 1988 and "Run Like a Rabbit" in 1989. Johnson died of a stroke on 16 May 1993, in Columbia, South Carolina, at the age of 54. He was interred at Woodlawn Cemetery in Detroit. His headstone reads "Motown Pioneer". In 2011, a compilation album featuring all songs recorded by Johnson during his second stay at Motown was released. I'll Pick a Rose for My Rose: The Complete Motown Recordings 1964–1971 was an authorised reissue of his Motown recordings, released under the Kent Soul label, an Ace Records subsidiary that releases Northern soul music. The first eleven tracks are from his 1969 album, I'll Pick a Rose for My Rose, which includes the title track, its original B-side ("You Got the Love I Love") and "I Miss You Baby (How I Miss You)". It also contains several previously unissued songs, such as "Farewell Is a Lonely