Johnny Otis, the Godfather of Rhythm and Blues, was born 93 years ago. A singer, musician, composer and record producer, Otis grew up in a predominantly black neighborhood in Berkeley, California, where his father owned and operated a neighborhood grocery store. After playing drums in a variety of swing orchestras, including Lloyd Hunters Serenaders and Harlan Leonards Rockets, he founded his own band in 1945 and had one of the most enduring hits of the big band era, Harlem Nocturne. His band included Wynonie Harris and Charles Brown. In 1947, he and Bardu Ali opened the Barrelhouse Club in the Watts district of Los Angeles. He reduced the size of his band and hired singers Mel Walker, Little Esther Phillips and the Robins (who later became the Coasters). With this band, which toured extensively throughout the United States as the California Rhythm and Blues Caravan, he had a long string of rhythm and blues hits through 1950. In the late 1940s, he discovered Big Jay McNeely, who then performed on his Barrelhouse Stomp. He began recording for the Savoy label in Newark in 1949, and began releasing a stream of records that made the R&B chart, including Double Crossing Blues, Mistrustin Blues and Cupid Boogie, which all featured either Little Esther or Mel Walker, or both, and all reached no. 1 on the Billboard R&B chart. He also began featuring himself on vibraphone on many of his recordings. Otis produced and played the vibraphone on Johnny Aces Pledging My Love, which was no. 1 on the Billboard R and B chart for 10 weeks in 1955. In January 1951, Otis released Mambo Boogie, featuring congas, maracas, claves, and mambo saxophone guajeos in a blues progression. He moved to the Mercury label in 1951, but his chart success began to diminish. However, he discovered Etta James and produced and co-wrote her first hit, Roll With Me, Henry (also known as The Wallflower). Otis produced, co-wrote, and played drums on the original recording of Hound Dog written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller with vocals by Big Mama Thornton, and was given a writing credit on all six of the 1953 releases of the song. He was a successful songwriter; one of his most famous compositions is Every Beat of My Heart, first recorded by The Royals in 1952 on Federal Records but which became a hit for Gladys Knight and the Pips then just Pips in 1961. He also wrote So Fine,which was originally recorded by The Sheiks in 1955 on Federal, and in 1959 was a hit for The Fiestas. As an artist and repertory man for King Records, he discovered Jackie Wilson, Hank Ballard and Little Willie John, among others. He also became an influential disc-jockey in Los Angeles. Otis continued performing through the 1990s and headlined the San Francisco Blues Festival in 1990 and 2000, although because of his many other interests he went through long periods where he did not perform. He was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 as a nonperformer for his work as a songwriter and producer. He died on January 17, 2012 at age 90, just three days before Etta James, whom he had discovered in the 1950s. Here, Otis performs “Hand Jive.”
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 07:29:28 +0000
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