Outselling the likes of B. B King, Fats Domino, and Joe Turner, it is surprising how much Johnny remained in the blind spot of musical history.
This success, while bringing in a grossly sizable amount of profit for Don Robey, drew out much of his greed keeping all the profits and forcing out his silent partner, Mattis, with a pittance.
Moving forward with this series, Michael T. Davis, Casey Wood, and Seth West detail more of the success Don Robey had, the reasons for Johnny's historical animosity, and the bullying leading up to the exit of Mattis from the partnership with Don.
In this episode, we talk about…
● [00:49] Despite the musical benefits, Don's decision to record a second time would position him to solely own the masters. Don realized how more ownership of production would make him more profit.
● [03:44] The dilemma in choosing an A track between two Ballads "Angel" and "Cross My Heart". Left to decide, the industry chose "Cross My Heart" and Robey realized his loss knowing both tracks could have been separate hits.
● [05:27] How Robey reduced the royalty per record of Mattis despite the immense success they made as a business.
● [12:03] Why Johnny Ace may have remained unpopular despite those achievements; timing, and a lot of new music competing for the attention of audiences.
● [19:15] About the Johnny Board Orchestra. The role of band leaders in working with an artist.
● [22:38] The collapse of the loose partnership between Robey and Mattis; How Mattis walked away with $10,000, bullied at gunpoint. However, this bullying would fail to work in his future dealings with Big Mama Thornton.
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