Success at the Cost of Family

Moving into the mid-career life of Johnny Ace, there is more success for both him and Don Robey, who now orchestrated more collaboration with Big Mama Thornton. However, Don had not openly fused both artists on a song.

With the success of Johnny came neglect of his family members whom he cut off from. This largely seemed intentional, although it may have also been a fallout of his adaptation to his musical success.

In this conversation of the series, Michael T. Davis, Casey Wood, and Seth West talk more about the events surrounding Johnny Ace's success and work with Don Robey.

In this episode, we talk about…

● [01:25] Our hosts share their current songs of interest. How events around music can add or take away from it.

● [10:22] Johnny Ace and Big Mama Thornton as Robey's biggest stars, both achieving so much success that Don's booking agency could impose a joint booking with Bobby "Blue" Bland and B.B King if Johnny was to be booked.

● [14:24] Johnny Ace and Don Robey worked together using the same formula of using an already existing hit song to create a new one. In this case, the song was "The Clock" by Johnny Ace.

● [25:50] Starting the new record label, Progressive Jazz; It would be added to Peacock records and Duke records which Don was running side by side, likely to serve as a buffer if Mattis won the law suit on Duke Records. None of the records, however, had anything to do with Jazz.

● [29:17] Bihari Brothers did "Midnight Hours Journey" with Johnny Ace which was recorded before Johnny's Fame but released after his 3rd hit. However, the track got no traction, support or attention from Don robey, the charts or the media.

● [33:25] The consequences of Johnny's stardom on his family. How Johnny had been giving no care to his wife, kid and mother over the years, even when in his home town in Memphis. However, in music generally, you’re working with people who work when other people don't.

● [41:10] Despite this lifestyle, Johnny's songs depicted sadness or loneliness in complete contrast to the love he had abandoned. An example was "Saving My Love for You" with "Yes Baby" as the B-side having big Mama Thornton who was not credited, possibly intentionally by Robey because they were in different markets.

Resources

§ Listen to “Whole Lotta Rosie” by AC/DC

§ Listen to "The Clock" by Johnny Ace

§ Listen to "Midnight Hours Journey" by the Bihari Brothers with Johnny Ace

§ Listen to "Saving My Love for You" by Johnny Ace