Hail! Hail! Johnnie Johnson gets his day

(Nov. 28, 1999)

For three days, Nov. 29 to Dec. 1, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland is celebrating "Johnnie Johnson Days," and not a moment too soon.

The quiet, humble St. Louis native is considered one of the founding fathers of rock 'n' roll for his longtime collaboration with Chuck Berry. He was Berry's musical partner, pianist and bandleader in the 1950s, co-writing such classics as "Maybellene," "Roll Over Beethoven," "Back in the U.S.A.," "School Day," "Rock & Roll Music" and "Sweet Little Sixteen." Berry's signature hit, "Johnny B. Goode," was a tribute to Johnson.

And yet Johnson's name is nowhere to be seen in the songwriting credits on Berry's influential hits.

Keith Richards has been trying to right that wrong since the 1987 documentary-concert film "Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll!" He and several others - among them Eric Clapton, Little Richard, Bo Diddley, Buddy Guy, John Lee Hooker, Dick Clark, Etta James and Berry himself - have petitioned for Johnson's induction into the Hall of Fame, to no avail. Hall officials say they can't find a fitting category for someone regarded as a sideman, even though Johnson created the music behind most of Berry's hits.

Still, the accolades and shows of support pour in: In September, Johnson was honored by Congress with a lifetime achievement award; St. Louis rolled out the red carpet for Johnson in July to celebrate his 75th birthday, and Atlantic Records is preparing an all-star tribute album next year.

Best of all, in Johnson's eyes, is the Pulitzer Prize-nominated biography, "Father of Rock & Roll: The Johnnie 'B. Goode' Johnson Story" (Thomas, Cooke & Publishers), written by Travis Fitzpatrick and released over the summer.

"It's been really awesome," Johnson said recently of all the attention. "It's something I never dreamed would happen to me. For one thing, I never thought there'd be a book about me.

"It wasn't until the movie 'Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll!' that I was recognized by the public as the one who played piano on Chuck's records. Keith started the ball rolling with the movie and the things he said in interviews. He made other people pay attention because he's such a big name himself all over the world. Then along came Eric Clapton, who wanted me to play on his '24 Nights' shows. Since then, everything's been blooming brighter and brighter."

Fitzpatrick, even though he's only 23, was well aware of Johnson's mark on rock history.

"I've always been a huge classic rock fan," he said recently. "I had all these rock 'n' roll trivia books when I was 10 years old. While all my friends were listening to stuff like M.C. Hammer, I was into the old rock 'n' roll."

To Fitzpatrick's delight, he learned in 1993 that his stepfather-to-be, Houston businessman George Turek, had hired Johnson and his band to play at his wedding.

"I was like, 'Wow,' and telling George that Johnnie played with Chuck Berry," Fitzpatrick said. "But even back then, people didn't have the full knowledge of what he contributed and a lot of that had to do with the way they had the piano miked in those days. They lost the low end, which was what Chuck was playing off of with Johnnie's left hand.

"It's really hard to hear it on those early records. I remember Johnnie telling me he about tore his thumbnail off having to pound so hard to be heard. As I got to know him and his family, this great story came out. It had to be told. He helped change the face of music."

Richards called recently, Fitzpatrick said, to thank him for giving him a copy of the book.

"He said the first time he learned about Johnnie was when the (Rolling) Stones had bought some sheet music," he said. "None of them could read music, but they bought it anyway to bring it back to (keyboardist) Ian Stewart, who was the only one who could read music. They told him, 'We can't figure this out.' Ian said, 'First thing, you have it upside down. Secondly, the reason you're having so much trouble, this is piano music. This is written for a piano player. The keys are in B-flat.' He explained to them as much as he knew about Johnnie Johnson back in 1962 or whenever.

"So when Keith first talked to Chuck about doing 'Hail! Hail!,' the first thing he asked him was 'Can we get Johnnie?' Chuck said, 'We sure can,' and that's how that got started."

Johnson will be a busy man in Cleveland. He will visit and perform at a local university and a hospital, hold a question-and-answer session with Rock Hall visitors, conduct a book signing and attend a VIP reception. The celebration ends Dec. 1 with a rousing live performance at the Hall of Fame.

"I'm glad this is all happening now," Johnson said, "because I'm no spring chicken anymore. It's better late than never, and I'm appreciating every moment of it."

BWF (before we forget): Keep up with the latest on Johnnie Johnson on the Web @ www.johnnie.com.

Living for the '90s: Men At Work and Howard Jones

(Nov. 1, 1998)

Hollywood has made it official: Don't join that support group, it's okay to be nostalgic for the 1980s, back to the glory days of "I want my MTV," breakdancing, Mr. T, the Brat Pack, Swatches and valley girls.

"The Wedding Singer" and "Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion" have taken care of that.

A pair of '80s pop icons, Howard Jones and Men At Work's Colin Hay, don't know what all the fuss is about, but they're going along for the ride, both starting U.S. tours this week and forging ahead like it's almost 1999.

HOWARD JONES - The British singer-synth whiz isn't resting on the laurels of his nine U.S. Top 40 hits. He's still looking for challenges in the 1990s.

Just as he was finishing up the album "Angels & Lovers," for release only in Japan, Jones was invited to participate in a "songwriter's boot camp" last year at a castle in France. Led by ARK 21 Records head Miles Copeland, Jones and other artists were paired off each day, assigned to write a new song by lunch and record it before dinner.

The experience, Jones said, was invigorating.

"It's the best fun I've had with music ever in my life," he said recently. "It's very intense. You write a song every day and record it. You have three hours to do an eight-track demo of the song. I found that under that kind of pressure, it brings out things in you that you didn't know were there.

"It was absolutely brilliant to get the chance to work with people you've never written with before. It's very scary, because you don't know whether you're going to be any good at it. For me, it was finding out that I could do it. Each group of people brings out something different in you that you didn't really realize."

Three songs from the boot camp ended up on an expanded version of "Angels & Lovers," which was retitled "People" and released stateside July 14 on ARK 21.

" 'Everything,' the reggae track, was actually recorded there. That's a demo, basically, with (ex-Police-man) Stewart Copeland on drums," Jones said. "I added a bit of Hammond organ, but that was it. And 'Let the People Have Their Say' was from there, and 'Tomorrow Is Now' as well, which I wrote with Jane Wiedlin.

"It's fun to write with other people and exchange ideas and see what happens when you combine with other people. A lot of it involved writing a song with somebody else in mind, somebody else singing it, and that requires a different thinking. I really enjoyed that."

Jones needed that rejuvenation after his 10-year association with Elektra ended in 1993.

"The whole industry has changed so much that I wouldn't want to be with a major label these days," he said. "They don't have enough respect for artists; they're regarded as disposable commodities."

While he enjoyed sharing the stage with Culture Club and The Human League on this summer's definitive '80s redux tour, Jones relishes having the spotlight this month on his new band, which he jokingly calls "the Blind Faith of the '90s."

"Kevin Wilkinson (drums) was with China Crisis and Nick Beggs (bass) was in Kajagoogoo, and Robin Boult (guitar) has been with Fish, who used to be with Marillion," Jones said. "It's my dream band, the best I've ever had.

"The album's just now getting going, really. It's in the shops, but we're really looking at it as quite a long-term project, meaning all of next year as well. That suits me fine. It doesn't have a huge budget commitment behind it; it's going to be more of an old-fashioned approach where I'm going to tour a lot, do lots of interviews and lots of TV and radio. As long as I'm out there doing it and I'm not getting bored, I'm happy."

BWF (before we forget): Get to know Howard Jones well on the Web @ www.howardjones.com. ... The Howard Jones album discography - "Human's Lib" (Elektra, 1984); "Dream Into Action" (1985); "Action Replay" EP (1986); "One to One" (1986); "Cross That Line" (1989); "In the Running" (1992); "The Best of Howard Jones" (1993); "Live Acoustic America" (Plump, 1996); "People" (ARK 21, 1998).

Montell Jordan loves the view from 'Let's Ride'

(April 5, 1998)

Montell Jordan has had the Top 10 hits, platinum-selling albums, successful tours and adoring fans, but nothing compares to the love and sheer joy he has for his wife and their infant daughter.

It's hard to put into words, Jordan says, but he manages to say it all in his album credits, telling young Sidney Alexis Jordan that "you are my soul reborn."

"Having a child honestly gives you, in not so many words, what our purpose is here on earth," Jordan said recently. "It's like all my life I've focused on me and my preservation and my life, and now it's like my life is so insignificant when it comes to her and her needs.

"When I look into her eyes, I see my wife (Kristin), and I see why I fell in love with my wife. Sometimes when I look at Sidney's little nose or something or her little bushy eyebrows, I see me, and it's something else when you're able to look at a little person and see yourself or see somebody else that you love so much."

Fans will hear that love shining through on Jordan's third album, "Let's Ride" (Def Soul/Def Jam/Mercury, released March 31), which waxes romantic atop a wafting R&B vitality.

"I just hope the audience will give this album a chance," Jordan said, "because I think it's quality material, that's from the heart, in a place where a lot of people are bashing things and saying there's no good music out there. It's poetry set to music."

If radio reaction to the title track, featuring Master P and Silkk the Shocker, is any indication, Jordan has nothing to worry about. The song, with its hook-savvy guitar plucks, made an astonishing leap from No. 63 into Billboard's pop Top 10 in one week. It's now at No. 6 and a good bet to become the Los Angeles-based singer's second career No. 1.

"Let's Ride" is all Montell, Jordan says.

"I'm very pleased with the work on this album," he said. "I'm pleased that my producers and my production staff did the bulk of the album, along with myself, and that every song on the album is either written or co-written or produced or co-produced by myself, and I think that's essential for the audience that enjoys listening to Montell music, that they're able to get the real Montell, rather than getting pieces of Teddy Riley or whoever.

"I don't care much for album filler, and actually a lot of good songs were taken off the album as well. I did a collaboration with Monifah and Flesh-N-Bone from Bones Thugs-n-Harmony. I did a song with Nokio from Dru Hill, and I had like four or five other songs that didn't get on the album for purposes of making sure that I put the absolute best foot forward.

"More so, I think it's a very creatively done project. I feel that anything taken, sample-wise or for nostalgia, was done creatively and I think we did a good job this time around. We did a good job the first two times, but without question, I do feel like this is like my first time out."

Jordan has come a long way from the days when he struggled to pay his way through Pepperdine University, where he studied communications with an eye on law school. He always loved music and sang in church choirs, but he never considered a career in music until he hooked up with hip-hop producer Chi-Luv. Before he knew it, he had a record deal, and by 1995, he had the ultimate: a No. 1 song with his first single, "This Is How We Do It."

"At Pepperdine, I had accumulated a whole lot of bills," Jordan said, "but I was somehow smart enough to get a degree in communications and a minor in business. In putting together my first record deal, where artists ask for cars and 'I want this, that and the other,' one thing I asked for is that if I sold 500,000 records, a gold record, that they would pay off my college loan.

"That was a big deal to me, because I had $65,000 worth of student loans that I would've been paying for the rest of my life, so they paid that off in one big nice check."

Like the single, "This Is How We Do It" - the album - sold more than 1 million copies. The 1996 follow-up, "More ...," only scratched at the surface of Jordan's creative growth and maturity, more apparent than ever on "Let's Ride."

"I was never this talented when I first got my break," he said. "When I first got my record deal, I wasn't prepared for what I do right now, what I write, what I produce. It was so far from this place right now. I often wonder how a lot of artists can get passed up or not seen enough to let their talent go untapped and where they might be four years from now. I never would have imagined that five years from signing a record deal that I would be doing what I do now.

"I don't think it was luck. Maybe God just was smiling on me that particular day."

BWF (before we forget): This is how Jordan does it on the Web @ www.defjam.com.

Sass Jordan takes the 'High Road Easy'

(March 10, 1994)

Sass Jordan wants to set things straight, once and for all.

Yes, clearly she is a woman. And yes, she is a rock singer. Therefore, she is, indeed, a female rock singer.

Now, get over it.

"I've been avoiding for years, you know, questions like 'What's it like to be a woman in rock?' " says the gritty vocalist, born in Birmingham, England, and raised in Montreal.

"Now I've finally decided it's time to address this question because now I have enough experience to say what I think it's like for a woman, although all I can say is what it's like for me."

Jordan, creating a stir with her just-released Impact/MCA album "Rats" and the potent single "High Road Easy," has a prime example of what she encounters in, what she terms, "the testosterone-driven rock world." During an interview with disc jockey Danny Bonaduce (of "Partridge Family" fame), she heard a familiar tune.

"He says, 'I don't mean to sound sexist, but if you're a girl (in rock), you really have to convince me. You really have to sell me.' And he said that I did, that I was one of the only female rock singers he found believable."

Bonaduce is not alone. Jordan's stock has risen rapidly since her debut album "Tell Somebody" won a 1988 Juno Award. Her second LP, "Racine," garnered three Top-10 singles on Billboard's album rock tracks chart in '92, her "Trust In Me" duet with Joe Cocker was included in the Grammy-winning soundtrack from "The Bodyguard," and the raucous "Rats" is certain to open some eyes and ears.

Jordan says she doesn't know why people make a fuss about her being one of - if the only - female rock singers around, but she senses they know she's genuine and not putting on an act to carve out her own niche.

"I think the music transcends that," she says. "It doesn't matter if I'm male, female or a Martian."

She will admit, though, that she's virtually in a class by herself.

"There's just no other female doing this kind of a hybrid rock 'n' roll," she says. "It's such a mix of so many things - it's got that funky-edged guitar as well as the old '70s tones and Hendrix vibes. But it's also pretty aggressive."

Even the Grammy people acknowledged there are few women in rock by dropping the best rock female vocalist category this year. Jordan agrees with the decision but counters, "Who cares? They could drop the Grammy Awards altogether and it wouldn't bother me."

Her personal Grammy are "platinum records, because that really means you've done it," she says. "First off, what I do, I'm not in it for a contest. I'm not in competition with Melissa Etheridge, and she's not in competition with me. She does what does, and she's great at it and no one else could do what she does. The same with me, and the same with Kurt Cobain and so on."

Growing up, Jordan says, she had no female rock role models. She just loved rock, period.

"It never occurred to me, 'I'm a woman, I can't do this.' All I remember is thinking 'I love this music, I'm gonna do this.' I never said, 'I can't.' And now I'm doing it."

Judybats hang in there

(Oct. 6, 1994)

It comes straight from Judybats bassist Paul Noe's mouth: The Tennessee quintet's latest album, "Full Empty" (Sire/Warner), "came out on Aug. 2 with little or no fanfare, as you may have noticed."

The band's "What We Lose" video has since quietly resurfaced, noticeably on CMJ's video chart. It's all news to Noe and company.

"The video was passed on by MTV," Noe says. "It is by far the best video we've done and they've played worse videos by the band, so I don't really know what the problem is."

After four albums and no national breakthrough to speak of, Judybats' future with Warner may seem in doubt. Noe doesn't know what to think.

"The ugly truth, as we've slowly realized, is that Warner Brothers is so huge that it's easy to get lost in the shuffle," he says. "Sire is our A&R branch and after the record's done, Warner takes over production, promotion, etc.

"We've heard talk about a 'new push' (for 'Full Empty'), but we've yet to see it. On the positive side, they did allocate a bigger budget than usual for the 'What We Lose' video.

"They've also put out four albums by this band in four years, so either they're committed to the band or the accountants have been on vacation for a few years."

Noe operates the band's online address, posting tour dates and responding to fan e-mail.

"It's new and hopefully more people will catch on, although I'm already having trouble keeping up with the mail," he says. "That's what we get for putting the e-mail address on the CD. Imagine if it were actually selling!"

BWF (before we forget): After four brilliant but overlooked albums, the Judybats disbanded in 1995.

Jump, Little Children jumps to it

(Sept. 6, 1998)

There's nothing conventional about Jump, Little Children, a young Charleston, S.C.-based quintet signed to Hootie and the Blowfish's Atlantic-affiliated Breaking Records.

The group's debut album, "Magazine" (released Sept. 1), has a supply chamber full of power-pop, ethereal alternative rock, acoustic-tweaked funk, ballads and hints of hip-hop. That's a musical grab bag, but it's light years away from the band's initial sound.

Singer-guitarist Jay Clifford, cellist Ward Williams and brothers Matt (multi-instrumentalist) and drummer Evan Bivins teamed at the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, where they discovered a common boredom with their classical music training.

"My roommate at the time, who was from Ireland, and I started playing traditional Irish tunes and American country blues songs," Matt Bivins said recently, "and at the same time, Jay and Ward were playing original folk songs and covers of James Taylor, Crosby, Stills and Nash, and we just kind of met up.

"We were really an Irish-blues band for a few years. We didn't have as much direction; Ward stayed in school and graduated, but the rest of us quit school to go to Ireland to study. By studying, I mean going to a pub every night and sitting in on the sessions there. Then we came back to America and moved to the place that was the most Irish-American, which was Boston.

"By then, Evan had quit his visual arts studies to join the band. My friend, the one from Ireland, quit the band and then we decided it was time to sit down. We said, 'This is all well and good, but we would like to be on David Letterman.' We started writing our own songs."

They also reintroduced themselves to rock 'n' roll, but they didn't let their rock-novice status get in the way, Clifford said.

"The whole rock 'n' roll thing is fresh for us," he said. "The electric guitar, for me, was introduced to the band two years ago and now it's obviously a full-blown, big-ol'-fat-amp experience. In learning songs and playing songs, we really don't have any preconceived ideas on how rock should be, because we learned a lot of songs that sort of defined rock 10, 15 years ago."

They left Boston and, in a roundabout way, settled in Charleston, where they reunited with Williams and friend Jonathan Gray (upright bass).

"Our father was restoring St. Michael's Church in Charleston," Evan Bivins said, "and he needed a bunch of grunts to do all the nasty, dirty work. In the meantime, after our shifts were over, we would go busk on the corners on Market Street or play at this jazz club upstairs or a coffeehouse."

Jump, Little Children, named after a Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee song, released its first indie album, "The Licorice Tea Demos," in 1996. That CD and a follow-up live EP, "Buzz," sold a combined 29,000 copies. Breaking Records swooped in on the new hometown favorites and paired them with producer Brad Jones (Jill Sobule, Imperial Drag) for "Magazine."

The album incorporates haunting balladry ("Cathedrals") and energetic rock ("Not Today") with ambitious pop sensibilities. Evan Bivins said they're just trying to be truthful to the songs.

"We kind of get bored writing the same kind of song over and over again," he said, "so we get excited when the band comes up with ballads or power-pop songs or ethereal pop songs or whatever. When we were recording the album, we just wanted to be truthful to the emotional core of the songs. It made it a really diverse-sounding album. It's pretty different than a lot of other bands."

BWF (before we forget): Get the jump on Jump, Little Children on the Web @ www.jumplittlechildren.com.

Retrofitting in with Britain's junior cottonmouth

(May 22, 1997)

See the Canadian band Sloan for a poptopia feature, which also puts the spotlight on junior cottonmouth.