Johnnie Johnston: 'Platinum Hair, SIlver Pipes'

Capitol News, September 1945

Johnnie Johnston (1915-96) is forgotten today, but at one it time seemed possible that he could become a star not only as a singer but in the movies.

Today his legacy includes his excellent records on Capitol and M-G-M, plus a few Soundies and one starring role in a B picture. In this post we'll examine 28 of his single sides, while speculating why he never took the final step to lasting fame.

Band vocalist

Like most singers of the era, the St. Louis-born Johnston first gained notice by stepping out to handle the vocals with a big band. He was featured with Art Kassel and Richard Himber, both well-known leaders.

Johnston made his first records with Himber. The download includes his solos on that leader's singles of "Day Dreaming" and the "Darling, Je Vous Aime Beaucoup" of Hildegarde and later Nat Cole fame. He handles the vocals well, betraying the influence of Bob Eberly in his phrasing. That phase soon passed, and from then on he was his own man, although recognizably from the school of Bing Crosby.

Radio Mirror, May 1938

Johnston also was on the radio during this early period, increasing his popularity so much that he became a single act and began a film career. He continued appearing on radio through the 40s and into the 50s. The download includes a few articles on him from Radio Mirror, including one fanciful biography that has him boxing, jumping freight trains, working on a passenger liner and selling matchbooks door-to-door, some of which might be vaguely related to the truth.

1942, Capitol records and films

The new Capitol Records company called him shortly after setting up shop in 1942, and he became the fourth artist to record for the company.

We start with the painful Jule Styne-Herb Magidson novelty "Conchita Marquita (Lolita Pepita Rosita Juanita Lopez)," a sort of Latin "Abie's Irish Rose." This comes to us from the inexplicably titled Paramount musical Priorities on Parade, set in a war factory. Johnston was fourth-billed in the film, and can be seen with co-star Ann Miller doing "I'd Love to Know You Better" on YouTube.

With Ann Miller in Priorities on Parade

It was a busy year for the singer. He also can be seen in the Soundie "Sailboat in the Sky" and the then-current novelty "Goodbye, Mama, I'm Off to Yokohama," the latter with Marilyn Maxwell, here billed as Marvel Maxwell.

The flip of "Conchita Marquita" was the more palatable "Windmill Under the Stars," an attractive and almost unknown Kern-Mercer song.

His next Capitol waxing included another Kern-Mercer song, "Dearly Beloved," the gorgeous balled from the Astaire-Hayward musical You Were Never Lovelier. Johnston handles it beautifully. The anonymous backing comes with a two-beat piano solo that seems out of place. The other side of the record was Cole Porter's "Easy to Love," with a Gordon Jenkins accompaniment.

Jenkins returned for Johnston's next single, "That Old Black Magic," the famous Arlen-Mercer torch song written for and introduced by Johnston in the film Star-Spangled Rhythm - surely one of the high points of his career. Johnston also sang the Styne-Loesser "Here Comes Katrinka" in the film. Capitol spared us that one, instead backing "That Old Black Magic" with the oldie "Can't You Hear Me Calling, Caroline."

1944-45 singles

The Musicians Union struck the record companies on August 1, 1942. This was a particular hardship for Capitol, which had only started issuing records a month before. Capitol became one of the first companies to settle with the union, in October 1943.

Billboard ad

We pick up Johnston's Capitol output with two songs from 1944 films: Raye-dePaul's "Irresistible You" from Broadway Rhythm, and the fabulous Frank Loesser song "Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year" from Christmas Holiday, which, despite the title and the presence of Gene Kelly and Deanna Durbin, was a downbeat film noir. Paul Weston led the orchestra, and presumably provided the sumptuous charts.

The next number was one of Johnston's biggest hits - "(All of a Sudden) My Heart Sings." A French song by Henri Laurent Herpin, it was a hit for Jean Sablon as "Ma Mie" in 1942. With English lyrics by Harold Rome, it was interpolated into the Gene Kelly-Frank Sinatra musical Anchors Aweigh in 1945, where it was sung by Kathryn Grayson. Coincidentally, she and Johnston were to marry in 1947, one of his five ot six marriages (sources vary). The flip side of "My Heart Sings" was Ray Noble's "What a Sweet Surprise."

Next we have another success for Johnston - "Laura," written by Johnny Mercer and David Raksin for the film of the same name. Mercer - one of the owners of Capitol - apparently had great confidence in Johnston. It was well placed; Johnston's version is very fine. The backing here, as on the previous single, was by Paul Baron. The B-side was "There Must Be a Way," a pop song of the day that has some lasting appeal.

Also from 1945, we have another Johnny Mercer song, this time with music by Harry Warren - "Wait and See" from The Harvey Girls score. A good song but not one as well remembered as others from Warren. "Autumn Serenade" from Peter DeRose and Sammy Gallop completed the single coupling. Carl Kress, better known as a guitarist, was the orchestra leader.

For Johnston's final Capitol single (at least in this collection) we have "One More Dream (and She's Mine)" coupled with "As Long as I Live." The Manning-Kaye "One More Dream" is a precursor to "Five Minutes More," a Cahn-Styne song of the following year with a similar theme and melody. "As Long as I Live" was a Max Steiner-Charles Tobias song written for Saratoga Trunk. On these records, Johnston acquired the backing of the Satisfiers, who usually backed Perry Como on his radio show sponsored by Chesterfield ("They Satisfy!").

On to M-G-M Records

Capitol News, December 1945

For reasons unknown to me, Johnston left Capitol in 1946 for M-G-M Records. My guess is that the move was related to his being signed to appear in M-G-M biopic of Jerome Kern, Till the Clouds Roll By. In any case, Johnston's two numbers - a duet of "The Song is You" with Kathryn Grayson and a reprise of "Dearly Beloved," which he had recorded for Capitol in 1942 - were dropped from the film. It's been written that this was because Johnston had offended studio honcho Louis B. Mayer. That may be true, but I will note that three other non-Johnstone songs were deleted from the final print as well.

Whatever his relations with Mayer, Johnston did continue to make good singles for the M-G-M recording company - and as with Capitol he was blessed with good material, at least initially. Our first M-G-M single, from 1947, couples Victor Young's "Stella by Starlight" with the lesser-known but still excellent "Spring Isn't Everything," a Harry Warren tune with words by Ralph Blane. Leading the band is the little known Emil Vandas.

The next single also contains a gem: "Lazy Countryside," written for Disney's Fun and Fancy Free by Bobby Worth. It was backed by a lesser song, "Forgiving You." Dick Jones held the baton for this and the following session.

The next set produced a cover of the O'Connor-Kassen tune "How Lucky You Are," which had been a UK hit for Vera Lynn in 1946, backed by "Why Should I Cry Over You," later recorded by Sinatra.

Another musicians strike cost the recording industry most of 1948. When Johnston returned to the studio, he was faced with somewhat weaker material. "The Rose of Tularosa" is one of the many songs where the wandering singer meets an enchantress in a bistro. Often (e.g., Marty Robbins' incredible "El Paso") these scenarios end tragically. This one has a happy ending. For the geographically curious, Tularosa is in New Mexico. The backing is the annoying "Echoes," where the arranger (presumably bandleader Russ Case) couldn't resist having a group called the Chansonettes provide a reverb-laden echo effect.

Two songs from 1950 complete our survey of Johnston's recording career. First is "As We Are Today," an Ernesto Lecuona song with English lyrics by Charles Tobias that was slotted into Warner Bros.' The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady. The other side of the 78 was another movie tune, the attractive "Autumn Serenade," from Young Man with a Horn. Ray Heindorf and Sammy Cahn were the authors.

Coda

Although his M-G-M contract and the best part of his Hollywood career ended in 1950, Johnston did have one final success left. He was cast as one of the leads in the Broadway musical adaptation of Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, which boasted a well-regarded score by Arthur Schwartz and Dorothy Fields. Johnston was featured throughout, singing most of the songs except for "Love Is the Reason."

With Shirley Booth in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Although the play ran for the better part of a year, it was not considered a success, mainly related to choices that director and co-author George Abbott made. Abbott built up a subsidiary part to feature Shirley Booth. This threw the play off kilter. He also added an elaborate nightmare ballet that wasn't a success.

Johnston never appeared on Broadway again. He returned to Hollywood and occasional roles on television and in films, including an improbable featured part in Rock Around the Clock.

Why wasn't he more successful? Luck always is involved in these matters, but some anecdotes (such as the Louis B. Mayer incident) indicate that he may not have been that easy to work with. Whatever the reasons, he left a substantial body of song for us to enjoy.

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