The Journeymen

Johnny's career moved forward working with both Don Robey and James Mattis, however, following the sale of Duke records, Robey had a rather undefined partnership with Mattis which would play a role in Johnny's music with the Beale Streeters.

Still, with no musical skill but undeniably an ear for music and the ability to push it to gain results, Robey was able to release 2 hits back-to-back. Nonetheless, this would not negate the subtle villainy he would adopt to forge ahead.

In this continuation of the series, Michael T. Davis, Casey Wood, and Seth West talk more on the hits released by Robey, the relegation of Johnny's music to a cover, and how that relates to the controversial songwriting process Johnny and Mattis adopted.

In this episode, we talk about…

● [04:08] Casey’s old recordings from his archives including one with Manny Pacquiao.

● [12:00] The sale of Duke Records and Johnny Ace's contract to Robey although Mattis continued to direct the career of Johnny Ace, both having little experience in artist development. Robey hears "My Song" and believes it will be his next hit, although the song is not great, and Johnny is not as good as Gatemouth.

● [18:19] How "My Song" became a hit within a week of Robey pushing it out but a cover by Marie Adams broke out before Johnny’s original. Casey explains how royalties work in the music industry.

● [28:15] The songwriting technique of Johnny and Mattis is called to question when a magazine picks up on how "My Song" was extracted from "So long", and calls out Johnny Ace. Why Kansas City is a huge Blues town.

● [32:04] Another hit Song "Cross my heart" released by Robey, which was essentially a similar song structure to "My Song".

● [35:50] The recording of "Angel". While in a loose partnership with Robey, Mattis cuts about ten sides of recordings with the Beale Streeters and sends them to be mastered by Robey, who without any discussion records them again to produce better music.

Despite playing with the greatest R&B stars, Johnny Ace's story had started much more quietly in Beale Street, the black center of culture, down in Memphis which shares a history with the likes of Elvis.

Johnny's career kicked off with the Beale Streeters, and James Mattis of Duke records who had his fair share of problems even with his success.

In this second part of the series, join Michael T. Davis, Casey Wood, and Seth West, in the conversation in the continuation of his story from our previous episode, highlighting the history behind the build-up of Johnny Ace's musical career.

In this episode, we talk about…

● [07:38] Johnny Ace's contribution to the re-appropriation of music and how this affected his popularity.

● [11:28] About Johnny's untold history with Beale Street music; the center of black culture in Memphis and the South.

● [17:46] How Johnny had his first true studio recording session by accident; "My Song", knowingly sitting on a previous recording that wasn't too good. John Alexander transitioning to Johnny Ace.

● [31:09] The story of the very first Duke records release; R101 following the post-war period after 1945. The Duke 102 and 103 releases.

● [43:35] Despite doing very well with the records, Mattis faced financial incapacitation, unable to get paid by the stores selling his records.

Inching further down the story reveals the history behind Don Robey before he met Mattis while trying to acquire Duke Records, all with the intention to work with Johnny Ace.

Despite a history of illegal dealings and lack of musical skill, Robey had started to build his music empire when he realized how profitable the business of music could be.

In this part of the series, Michael T. Davis, Casey Wood, and Seth West continue the discussion, describing Robey's background and the events leading up to his connection with James Mattis and Johnny Ace.

In this episode, we talk about…

● [02:39] Seth shares his work with Matt, a multi-instrumentalist and musician who has been in several bands. Casey talks about his work on a band called Dark Water from Atlanta.

● [09:35] About the Capital Records office in Hollywood where so many hits have been recorded.

● [14:14] A background on Don Robey from the hustling and illegal dealings to, his taxi business and eventually becoming a successful music promoter running clubs.

● [22:24] Impressed by Clarence Gatemouth Brown, Robey took up the role of his manager and built an even more successful music empire with no business knowledge or musical skill.

● [35:40] The hilarious story of how Casey's college Rock and Roll band got 10,000 CDs pressed.

● [39:10] How Robey got in contact with Duke Records and James Mattis, trying to replicate his success with Gatemouth.

Resources

§ “Temple of Sound” book by Jim Cogan and William Clark

He is the first true rock-and-roller to live fast and die young. It’s been argued that he’s been in contention for the very first rock and roll record: one that smashed the color barrier and brought R&B to a young white audience ready to fill their postwar lust-filled teenage dreams.

He has played alongside the biggest R&B stars of his time, had a string of number one hits, and was seen as an icon even by giants such as Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, and Elvis Presley. When he died, millions of fans mourned him and his peers rushed to record tributes to him.

Despite all this, he remains virtually unknown today.

In the first part of this series on Johnny Ace, listen in as Michael T. Davis, Casey Wood, and Seth West sit down to discuss the upbringing and early career of the Memphis-born R&B legend.

In this episode, we talk about…

● [02:56] Johnny’s musical background up to the release of his first song My Song. We also break down the tricky atmosphere around race relations at the time and how the R&B genre as we know it came to be.

● [21:23] Johnny’s upbringing within the Alexander family and how Johnny discovered his love for music, largely based on the book The Late Great Johnny Ace and the Transition from R&B to Rock 'n' Roll, a biography by James M. Salem.

● [31:31] The wacky story behind Johnny’s arrest and his first time meeting BB King.

Welcome to the Journeymen Podcast.