JOHNNY ACE

The legend of rhythm and blues singer Johnny Ace has persisted for well over a half century. In the early 1950s, he quickly rose to a position of extreme popularity within the R&B market. Then a freak "accident," as some have called it, occurred on December 25, 1954...and his life was over. At that time the word "legendary" began to precede his name, largely an emotional reaction from millions of fans, deejays, music critics and industry insiders...and the result of a promotional push from his label to use the tragedy to sell more records. But is the term that precedes the name warranted? Perhaps it's based on his recorded output (less than 30 sides), though his personal life reveals some serious flaws that, at the very least, are at odds with his image.

His father was a baptist minister and the family was large: John Marshall Alexander, Jr., born in June 1929, had ten siblings. As a youngster he studied piano and eventually accompanied the gospel choir at his church in Memphis. His mother had a positive influence on Johnny, a respectful child, committed to his church and studies. But that all changed as the Korean War was heating up. He joined the U.S. Navy but found military life harder than he'd expected, often getting into trouble, including a short time spent A.W.O.L. Upon returning to Memphis after a premature discharge, he began hanging out on Beale Street, the main place to see and hear the city's best blues musicians. A short stint as a pianist with sax man Adolph Duncan's band led to a higher-profile association with B.B. King, already one of the top draws on Beale, known since 1949 for his radio show on WDIA AM-730 and for his recording career, which began the same year with a couple of 78s on Nashville's Bullet label.

Choosing Johnny Ace as his professional name, the pianist joined King in a band they called The Beale Street Blues Boys, which at various times included future R&B stars Bobby "Blue" Bland, Junior Parker and Rosco Gordon. Joined by Duncan and drummer Earl Forest, the band became a top local draw and the name was later shortened to The Beale Streeters. As each member embarked on a solo career, the others would join them for studio sessions that were often held at Sam Phillips' Sun studio on Union Avenue. In 1950, King signed with Los Angeles label RPM; Gordon's early recordings at Sun were also released on RPM in '51 and '52. Johnny Ace recorded two sides for Modern/RPM in 1951, but they went unreleased at the time. Parker's first disc was on Modern in '52. In the spring of 1951, WDIA program director Dave Mattis started Duke Records with a single by The Gospel Travelers; the lnext three releases, Duke 101 through 103, came from Beale Streeters Gordon, Ace and Forest. The second of these scored a home run.

Johnny felt he had more to offer than his piano skills. His baritone voice, inspired greatly by Texas-born, L.A.-based bluesman and hitmaker Charles Brown, made an immediate impression on Mattis, who'd written the heartbreaking ballad "My Song" ('...but now you're gone and hours seem like years') and attempted to do a version with King that didn't satisfy him. Ace came up with a variation on the melody (but received no official credit) and his recording of the song met Mattis's approval. Ace original "Follow the Rule," a boogie woogie jam with the Beale Streeters and other studio players, wound up on the B side. Three months later, at the end of September '52, "My Song" began a nine-week stay at the top of the R&B charts. Right around that time, Bland made his Duke debut and, after a career-stalling Army tour, returned more than two years later to an entirely different situation at Duke: a new parent company, a new city and a situation that no longer included his friend Johnny.

When "My Song" connected and Johnny suddenly had some money, he seemed to flip out (though some friends and bandmembers knew he'd been that way all along); he was more "fast and loose" with drinking, women and - here's the tricky part - gun use. There was high demand for live performances and he spent as many as eleven months on the road during the next year, taking only enough time off to record more songs. "Cross My Heart," a hopeful ode to true love, returned him to the R&B top ten in early '53. Meanwhile, Mattis was having trouble trying to handle record distribution, a detail that did not go unnoticed by Don Robey of Peacock Records, based in Houston, Texas. Robey coerced Mattis to sell, taking advantage of the latter's desperation by offering him an amount well below what the fledgling company was worth.

A few years earlier, Johnny had married high school girlfriend Lois Jean Palmer and fathered a son; mother and child lived in Memphis with his parents while he left to pursue his dreams...and they preferred it that way, as he'd changed, becoming more worldly than they had ever imagined. With Duke permanently operating out of Robey's headquarters in Houston, Johnny's third single became another blockbuster; "The Clock" was issued in the summer of '53 and spent most of July and August at number one R&B (its flip, "Aces Wild," an instrumental socrcher, gave credit to Johnny Ace Band, as the now-busy Beale Streeters had been replaced by more-than-capable studio players).

Female fans were arriving at shows ready to fall at his feet and sales mounted into the hundreds of thousands on each disc, though Robey was notoriously difficult when it came to paying royalties. As was all-too-common in those days with many artists, Ace was unhappy with the amount received and at one time threatened to sign with another record company. But he didn't, perhaps because Robey ruled his small empire with an iron fist and had not-so-subtle ways of convincing people to stay put. Robey knew how to get airplay on Ace's records, too, though by that time his popularity usually brought automatic spins; the one trick Don hadn't yet pulled off was getting pop radio stations on board. Modern Records finally released the two songs Ace had recorded in '51 ("Mid Night Hours Journey" its A side), though it suffered from lack of promotion.

"Saving My Love for You" became his fourth top ten hit as '54 began; its flip teamed him with Robey's top star on the Peacock label, Willie Mae Thornton ("Big Mama" of "Hound Dog" fame, a chart-topper the previous spring). The B sides usually contrasted the romantic hits, as the uptempo "Yes, Baby" had Ace and Thornton at their hormonal peaks, even if it was all an act. Evelyn Johnson, owner of the Buffalo Booking Agency, worked for Robey as a sideline, serving occasionally as a go-between on behalf of the artists. She booked Johnny and Willie Mae for a series of successful sell-out shows.

Around this time Johnny Otis got involved, leading the band on many recordings and in some cases playing vibraharp, strangely alternating label credit between the Johnny Otis Orchestra and Johnny Board Orchestra. Two such hits, "Please Forgive Me" and "Never Let Me Go," kept Ace high on the charts through the remainder of '54. While the singing star dallied with his share of women despite the faraway wife, his love of firearms was the bigger problem, as witnessed by more than a few people he toured with. While on the road, he frequently shot at road signs while driving, aiming to sharpen his skill by hitting a "bulls-eye" on as many speed limit zeroes as possible. This sort of behavior would lead to his downfall.

Houston's City Auditorium was a much bigger venue than its name would suggest. Built in 1910, it was the city's entertainment epicenter; classical concerts, ballets and wrestling matches were held there while a who's-who of major stars were booked into the hall. On December 25, 1954, a show headlined by B.B. King and featuring Ace, Thornton and the Johnny Otis band was promoted as a "Negro Christmas Dance." 3500 fans showed up, Big Mama opened the show, was followed by Ace and then the two of them launched into their sexy duet, "Yes, Baby." Otis's band performed instrumental music around eleven o'clock and many in the crowd took to the dance floor; Thornton and Ace would be returning to the stage, followed by headliner King.

Johnny Ace

Johnny went to his dressing room with girlfriend Olivia Gibbs and a few others joined them. He started waving a .22-caliber pistol around and even pointed it at people and pulled the trigger a couple of times, then put the pistol to his head as the one bullet in the chamber went off. He died instantly, to the horror of everyone present. Big Mama rushed to the stage in tears and announced, "Johnny Ace has just been killed!" Police, after investigating the scene and talking to everyone there, decided it was a "Russian Roulette" scenario (local radio stations then reported it as such) and that there had been no foul play...other than Johnny's irresponsible behavior. The two-and-a-half years leading up to that disastrous Christmas event had been lucrative ones (moreso for Robey than Ace). Serious problems would have arisen at some point. Johnny clearly had mental issues complicated by drinking and his heavy touring schedule.

His next single, "Pledging My Love," was released shortly afterwards, its lyrics 'Forever my darling, our love will be true...' taking on a tragic meaning for his many female fans. It was his biggest hit, dominating the number one R&B slot from February to April 1955 while becoming his first (and only) pop crossover single, reaching the top 20 during the same stretch. At least ten covers appeared in 1955, including versions by Louis Armstrong, The Four Lads and country singer Cowboy Copas. Teresa Brewer's version reached the top 30, though the Ace original was easily the better seller. There have been dozens of other versions over the years, including Ace fan Elvis Presley's 1976 recording. A little more than three months after Johnny's backstage death, on April 2, 1955, Elvis, Scotty Moore and Bill Black headlined at City Auditorium.

Several tribute records appeared in the early months of 1955; the most popular, "Johnny Has Gone," was by New Yorker Varetta Dillard on Savoy. Others were by Johnny Fuller ("Johnny Ace's Last Letter"), The Rovers ("Salute to Johnny Ace") and a pair of two-sided tributes: "Johnny's Still Singing" and "Johnny Has Gone" by The Five Wings and a single by Johnny Moore's Blazers that featured Frankie Ervin on "Johnny Ace's Last Letter" backed with Linda Hayes singing "Why Johnny Why?" One particular tribute had more staying power than these miscellaneous post-tragedy releases: Ace's brother, St. Clair Alexander, toured regularly in tribute to his lost sibling; his vocal sound was somewhat similar and he received generally good reviews. Attendance was strong enough that he kept the act going for the next couple of decades.

Don Robey released three final discs by Ace on his Duke label: "Anymore," his final chart single in August '55, followed by two in 1956: "So Lonely" and "Still Love You So." In 1958, Robey re-released "Pledging My Love" and "Anymore" with background vocals by a female chorus, a move that infuriated arranger Johnny Otis and confused disc jockeys and collectors for years to come. Robey also convinced Duke Records blues singer Jimmie Lee Land to take on the stage name Buddy Ace, suggesting the two singers were related. The ploy continued for the remainder of Buddy's career.

Johnny Ace has been mourned by many and from a musical point of view it was a great tragedy. But he was out of control; an early death would have been difficult to avoid. If he hadn't passed so shockingly that fateful night, it would have happened weeks or months later. Unless, we can only wish, he had decided to seek help. Treating handguns as toys is never a good idea.

- Michael Jack Kirby

NOTABLE SINGLES:




MORE ARTISTS

My Song Pledging My Love Sings

    Way Back Attack trademark and content Michael Jack Kirby. All rights reserved.