Betty Johnson - the Bell Recordings

Betty Johnson was not among the most famous vocalists of the 1950s, but she was popular on radio and television and made many good records.

Today's post collects her first 15 pop recordings, made for the Bell family of labels in 1954 and 1955. The releases did include one hit, which, as it happened, was a novelty record.

On my other blog you'll find the RCA Victor recordings that Betty made in 1955, right after her Bell contract expired. (More below.)

The Johnson Family Singers

Betty was a professional singer from the time she was 10. She, her parents and her brothers had formed a gospel group, the Johnson Family Singers, in 1938, and were heard on radio in Charlotte, North Carolina for more than a decade. Betty herself had a program starting in 1948.

The Johnson Family Singers

The Johnsons began recording for Columbia in 1946, issuing 50 or so numbers until their contract expired in 1954. The record company had seen the potential in clear-voiced Betty and began issuing gospel recordings under her name in 1951.

But Betty was also interested in pop styles. In the early 1950s, she appeared on the Arthur Godfrey Talent Scouts program, sharing top prize. She also began appearing every Sunday evening on the radio with the CBS orchestra, along with another spot on the Galen Drake Show. 

The Bell Recordings

Betty's pop recording career began in 1954 with Bell, part of the publishing company Simon & Schuster, which distributed the Bell products through its book network. Bell specialized in high quality cover records. Johnson was well suited to its approach - she was skillful, versatile, possessed good intonation and diction and a lovely voice.

Betty's first assignment was to cover the Patti Page hit "Cross Over the Bridge," a natural for her because the song was one of those uplifting quasi-gospel tune that were popular back then. "Change your reckless way o' livin', cross over the bridge," the song commanded. Betty is entirely convincing in the piece.

Her next release was Hank Williams' 1949 composition "There'll Be No Teardrops Tonight," which Columbia had newly recorded with Tony Bennett. Betty and bandleader Sy Oliver take a semi-R&B approach that works beautifully.

That song was backed by a cover of Ronnie Gaylord's hit "Cuddle Me," which Johnson and Oliver do in a shuffle rhythm. Not a great song, but a fine performance.

"My Restless Lover" was a hit for Patti Page, initially under the name "Johnny Guitar." Oddly enough, at the same time there was a film coming out by that name that had an excellent title song by Peggy Lee, so the title of Page's record was changed. Lee's song is better, but Johnson does well by this second Johnny Guitar tribute.

Next was a hit for Eddy Arnold, "This is the Thanks I Get." Johnson was to become a regular on Arnold's radio show in 1955. The bandleader here and for many of her later Bell records was ex-Miller arranger Norman Leyden. Betty also recorded with Norman's brother Jimmy.

"I Need You Now" was first done by Joni James, but I believe the most popular version was by Eddie Fisher, who will reappear in this narrative a little later on.

Bell then had Betty record one of Rosemary Clooney's biggest successes - "This Ole House," another quasi-gospel song, this one by Stuart Hamblen. Betty's proficient recording was aided by a sonorous bass singer who sounds very much like Thurl Ravenscroft, who had appeared on Clooney's Columbia record.

"Whither Thou Goest" is another song with gospel overtones, having been adapted from Biblical verse by Earl Chalmers Guisinger under the name of Guy Singer. The most popular version was by Les Paul and Mary Ford.

Far and away the most popular song from Cole Porter's broadway musical Silk Stockings was "All of You." Don Ameche introduced it; Fred Astaire perhaps did it best in the film version, but Johnson handles it nicely.

Bob Merrill's "Make Yourself Comfortable" was a hit for Sarah Vaughan, with contending discs by Peggy King and by Steve and Eydie. I'm a big Vaughan admirer and I've owned her version since it came out 70 years ago, but I do believe that Betty's reading is just as accomplished.

The New-Disc Recordings

In September 1954, Bell entered the market for non-cover material with a conventionally distributed label called "New-Disc." Betty was among the artists who featured in its releases. She produced the label's first and perhaps only hit, a novelty called "I Want Eddie Fisher for Christmas." It was written by Joan Javits and Phil Springer, the team behind "Santa Baby," who included references to Eddie's many hits.

Cash Box November 6, 1954

The trade press at the time made some vague reference to "restrictions" being put on the record; perhaps it was an objection by Fisher's label, RCA Victor (who would soon have Johnson under contract). But whatever the hitch was, it soon was overcome. RCA even had Spike Jones cover the song.

The backing number for "I Want Eddie" was the innocuous "Show Me" (not the Lerner and Loewe song).

Also for New-Disc, Betty recorded "Did They Tell You" and "Buckle on the Boot," a song by Norman Gimbel, who would play a part in Johnson's next semi-hit record.

New-Disc lasted only to the middle of 1955, but Bell continued in one form or another into the 1970s.

"The Touch" and Bally Records

New-Disc also handled the first issue of a song that was to become the title number of Betty's first LP - which came out on another label, Bally Records, after New-Disc's demise. That song was "The Touch," which Jean Wiener wrote as the theme music for the French film Touchez pas au grisbi, starring Jean Gabin as an underworld anti-hero.

In the film, the theme was played on harmonica. For the US release on New-Disc, Norman Gimbel came up with lyrics that have nothing to do with the film. Cash Box was entralled by the performance of "sexy-voiced" Betty. The reviewer liked the flip side even more - it was Sy Oliver's jazzy instrumental version of the theme, which I've included as a bonus. Sy should have provided the backing for Betty's vocal as well - it had to be better than the harmomica.

I will probably upload Betty's Bally recordings along with some of her overlapping Atlantic releases before too long.

LINK to Betty Johnson's Bell Recordings

The RCA Victor Recordings

Both Betty and the Johnson Family Singers moved on to the RCA Victor label in 1955 for a series of recordings. Victor released six songs by Betty and two LPs by the group. Both LPs have appeared on this blog previously - I have newly remastered them and in one instance did a re-recording. You can find the LP Old Time Religion here. Sing Hymns with the Johnson Family Singers is here.

As mentioned above, I've collected Betty's RCA Victor recordings for a new post on my other blog. There are six single sides along with a rare secular Johnson Family Singers recording.

Way back when, I mentioned that I would prepare a collection of the Johnson Family Singers' recordings for Columbia. I recently put together an extensive program of 40-some recordings, but the files somehow disappeared from my hard drive. This had to be a Windows 11 glitch of some type - couldn't be my fumble fingers, right? Anyway, I have put the Columbia project aside for a later date. Unfortunately it won't be as thorough as I had intended because the group's Columbia singles also disappeared from Internet Archive in its recent massive purge.

Material for the two Betty Johnson posts is derived from my collection with help from IA.

The Johnson Family Singers

"Each Sunday morning at this time Columbia presents fifteen minutes of hymns and sacred songs with the Johnson Family Singers... a father, mother, and four children. Southern-born, steeped in the tradition of the Deep South, the Johnson Family Singers bring to the well-beloved, familiar songs of Christian people everywhere a sweetness and simplicity of interpretation."

This is the way the Johnson Family Singers were introduced during their radio heyday of the 40s. It gives a bit of the background of this group, captures their style - but the fact that it was being read on one of the major radio networks also conveys that the Johnson Family Singers were a commercial success.

Betty with Ma (Lydia) and Pa (Jesse) Johnson

This 1955 record - one of the group's earliest albums (it may be the first; I'm not sure) - also conveys some of that duality. The record is earnestly presented, but it's also contains several of the most well-worn pop gospel staples. The group is backed by studio musicians, who are quite good but also give the record a slick feel.

If this sounds critical, I don't mean it to be. The Johnson Family Singers are favorites of mine, and they spawned a very good pop singer, Betty Johnson (on the left in the cover photo), who was often seen on American television in the late 1950s and made several excellent albums.

Note: this album has now been remastered and augmented with four additional songs found on the 12-inch LP version. Addendum (September 2024): this LP is now available in ambient stereo via the link below.

LINK to Old Time Religion