| Johnny Ace | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | John Marshall Alexander, Jr. |
| Also known as | Johnny Ace |
| Born | June 9, 1929 Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Died | December 25, 1954 (aged 25) Houston, Texas U.S. |
| Genres | R&B |
| Years active | 1949–1954 |
| Labels | Duke Records |
Johnny Ace (June 9, 1929 – December 25, 1954), born John Marshall Alexander, Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee, was an American rhythm and blues singer. He scored a string of hit singles in the mid-1950s before dying of an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound.
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Alexander's father was a preacher in Tennessee. After serving in the navy during the Korean War, Alexander joined Adolph Duncan's Band as a pianist. He then joined the B. B. King band. Soon King departed for Los Angeles and vocalist Bobby Bland joined the army. Alexander took over vocal duties and renamed the band The Beale Streeters, also taking over King's WDIA radio show.
Becoming "Johnny Ace", he signed to Duke Records (originally a Memphis label associated with WDIA) in 1952. Urbane 'heart-ballad' "My Song," his first recording, topped the R&B charts for nine weeks in September.[1] ("My Song" was covered in 1968 by Aretha Franklin, on the flipside of "See Saw".)
Ace began heavy touring, often with Willa Mae "Big Mama" Thornton. In the next two years, he had eight hits in a row, including "Cross My Heart," "Please Forgive Me," "The Clock," "Yes, Baby," "Saving My Heart for You," and "Never Let Me Go."[2] In December, 1954 he was named the Most Programmed Artist Of 1954 after a national DJ poll organized by U.S. trade weekly Cash Box.[3]
Ace's recordings sold very well for those times. Early in 1955, Duke Records announced that the three 1954 Johnny Ace recordings, along with Thornton's "Hound Dog", had sold more than 1,750,000 records.
After touring for a year, Ace had been performing at the City Auditorium in Houston, Texas on Christmas 1954. During a break between sets, he was playing with a .22 cal revolver. Members of his band said he did this often, sometimes shooting at roadside signs from their car.
It was widely reported that Ace killed himself playing Russian roulette.[4][5] Big Mama Thornton's bass player Curtis Tillman, however, who witnessed the event, said, "I will tell you exactly what happened! Johnny Ace had been drinking and he had this little pistol he was waving around the table and someone said ‘Be careful with that thing…’ and he said ‘It’s okay! Gun’s not loaded…see?’ and pointed it at himself with a smile on his face and ‘Bang!’ – sad, sad thing. Big Mama ran outta that dressing room yelling ‘Johnny Ace just killed himself!"[6]
Thornton said in a written statement (included in the book The Late Great Johnny Ace) that Ace had been playing with the gun, but not playing Russian roulette. According to Thornton, Ace pointed the gun at his girlfriend and another woman who were sitting nearby, but did not fire. He then pointed the gun toward himself. The gun went off, shooting him in the side of the head.
Ace's funeral was on January 2, 1955, at Memphis' Clayborn Temple AME church. It was attended by an estimated 5000 people.[7]
"Pledging My Love" became a posthumous R&B #1 hit for ten weeks beginning February 12, 1955. As Billboard bluntly put it, Ace's death "created one of the biggest demands for a record that has occurred since the death of Hank Williams just over two years ago." [8] His single sides were compiled and released as The Johnny Ace Memorial Album.
Edit: According to Nick Tosches' book Unsung Heroes of Rock 'n' Roll, Johnny Ace actually shot himself with a .32 pistol, not a .22, and it happened only a little more than an hour after he had bought a brand new 1955 Oldsmobile.
ISBN 0-684-18149-5 (Paperback)(c) 1984 pg. 136 Chapter - "Number One With a Bullet"
Bob Dylan and Joan Baez performed "Never Let Me Go" on the Rolling Thunder Revue Tour late in 1975.
Elvis Presley covered "Pledging My Love" on his last studio session in 1976. The song appeared on the Moody Blue album in 1977 at the time of his death.
Paul Simon wrote and performed the song "The Late Great Johnny Ace", in which a boy, upon hearing of the death of Ace, orders a photograph of the deceased singer, describing: "It came all the way from Texas / With a sad and simple face / And they signed it on the bottom / From the Late Great Johnny Ace."
David Allan Coe covered "Pledging My Love", introducing the song with his own recollections of hearing the news of Ace's death.
Johnny Ace is also namechecked by Root Boy Slim in "House Band in Hell" as well as by Dash Rip Rock in the song "Johnny Ace".[9]
Ace's song "Pledging My Love" appears in the 1973 Martin Scorsese film Mean Streets and John Carpenter's 1983 movie Christine, based on Stephen King's novel. The song also appears in the Abel Ferrara film Bad Lieutenant. The song also appears in the movie "Back To the Future" It is playing in the background of the scene with Marty and his mother in the yellow car. It is, however not credited.
The Teen Queens song "Eddie My Love" was originally titled "Johnny My Love" and was written in Johnny's memory.
the Swiss Singer Polo Hofer and the Schmetterband wrote the Song ``Johnny Ace`` in 1985 - it was released on the album Giggerig.
Dave Alvin's 2011 release, Eleven Eleven, contains a song describing his death, called "Johnny Ace is Dead."
Original singles issued by Duke Records
Studio albums and compilations containing only/mostly Johnny Ace material