General Norman Johnson
Encyclopedia
General Norman Johnson was the frontman of Chairmen of the Board and an American
rhythm and blues
songwriter
and record producer
.
debut came six years later on Atlantic Records
, who waxed his group the Humdingers, although the tracks remain unreleased. In 1961, and following a change in name to The Showmen
, Johnson and the group issued via Minit Records
the single
"It Will Stand." The track was a chart
hit
in both 1961 and 1964. Although The Showmen recorded other offerings for Minit and Swan
, including such hits as "39-21-46", they split up in 1968.
Johnson attempted an abortive solo career before joining the then new Invictus
label
in Detroit, Michigan
. Steered by Holland-Dozier-Holland
, Johnson recruited Danny Woods (ex-The Showmen), Harrison Kennedy, and Eddie Curtis and created Chairmen of the Board. Their debut single, "Give Me Just a Little More Time
", rose to #3 in the US
Billboard
R&B
chart in 1970. Further hits included "(You've Got Me) Dangling on a String" and "Everything's Tuesday."
Johnson commenced a career as songwriter with "Pay to the Piper," becoming a modest success for Chairmen of the Board. Other songs he penned were successful when recorded by other musicians. These included the Grammy Award
winning "Patches" for Clarence Carter
(Jerry Reed
also recorded a country music
cover version
). Invictus Records labelmates Honey Cone
recorded the Johnson penned tracks "Want Ads
", "Stick Up," and "One Monkey Don't Stop No Show." Also Johnson wrote "Bring the Boys Home", for Freda Payne
.
Chairmen of the Board's popularity diminshed in the middle of the 1970s, although Johnson and Woods remained together re-billed as the Chairmen. Johnson tried a solo career again in 1979, and his debut solo album on Arista Records
was a modest success. He teamed up again with Woods in the following decade, making a living on the beach music
circuit. In 1993, having lost little of his distinctive vocal style, Johnson released another album, What Goes Around Comes Around, recorded with Woods.
In recognition of the contribution that Johnson has made to American popular music, the Virginia General Assembly
designated June 9, 2001 as General Johnson Day in Virginia.
Johnson died on October 13, 2010, in suburban Atlanta, Georgia
. His obituary in The New York Times
reported that his family attributed his death to complications of lung cancer
. Other obituaries did not mention lung cancer but did note that he was recovering from recent knee surgery.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
and record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
.
Biography
Johnson made an early start in music when he began singing in his church choir at the age of six. His recordingSound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
debut came six years later on Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
, who waxed his group the Humdingers, although the tracks remain unreleased. In 1961, and following a change in name to The Showmen
The Showmen
The Showmen were a New Orleans based American doo-wop and R&B group. formed in 1961. They are best remembered for their track, "It Will Stand", issued on Minit Records. "It Will Stand" reached #61 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1961, and when re-released in 1964 re-charted and reached #80...
, Johnson and the group issued via Minit Records
Minit Records
Minit Records was a record label originally based in New Orleans and founded by Joe Banashak. After making a distribution deal with Imperial Records, the label released its biggest hit, the #1 Mother-in Law by Ernie K-Doe. A number of Allen Toussaint productions were issued on Minit, including...
the single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
"It Will Stand." The track was a chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
hit
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
in both 1961 and 1964. Although The Showmen recorded other offerings for Minit and Swan
Swan Records
Swan Records was a mid-20th century United States based record label, founded in 1957, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It had a subsidiary label called Lawn Records....
, including such hits as "39-21-46", they split up in 1968.
Johnson attempted an abortive solo career before joining the then new Invictus
Invictus Records
Invictus Records was an American record label based in Detroit, Michigan created by Edward Holland, Jr., Lamont Dozier and Brian Holland...
label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
in Detroit, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. Steered by Holland-Dozier-Holland
Holland-Dozier-Holland
Holland–Dozier–Holland is a songwriting and production team made up of Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian Holland and Edward Holland, Jr. They are considered to be one of the greatest songwriting teams in popular music...
, Johnson recruited Danny Woods (ex-The Showmen), Harrison Kennedy, and Eddie Curtis and created Chairmen of the Board. Their debut single, "Give Me Just a Little More Time
Give Me Just a Little More Time
"Give Me Just a Little More Time" is the debut single for Chairmen of the Board, released in 1970 through Capitol Records on Holland–Dozier–Holland's Invictus Records label....
", rose to #3 in the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
R&B
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
chart in 1970. Further hits included "(You've Got Me) Dangling on a String" and "Everything's Tuesday."
Johnson commenced a career as songwriter with "Pay to the Piper," becoming a modest success for Chairmen of the Board. Other songs he penned were successful when recorded by other musicians. These included the Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
winning "Patches" for Clarence Carter
Clarence Carter
Clarence Carter is a blind American soul singer and musician.-Life and career:Born in Montgomery, Alabama on 14 January 1936, Carter attended the Alabama School for the Blind in Talladega, Alabama, and Alabama State College in Montgomery, graduating in August 1960 with a Bachelor of Science degree...
(Jerry Reed
Jerry Reed
Jerry Reed Hubbard , known professionally as Jerry Reed, was an American country music singer, innovative guitarist, songwriter, and actor who appeared in more than a dozen films...
also recorded a country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
). Invictus Records labelmates Honey Cone
Honey Cone
Honey Cone was an American R&B and soul all girl vocal group, who are best remembered for their Billboard #1 hit single, "Want Ads". They were the premier female group for Hot Wax Records, operated by Holland–Dozier–Holland after they had departed from Motown Records.-Career:Honey Cone comprised...
recorded the Johnson penned tracks "Want Ads
Want Ads
"Want Ads" was a R&B/Soul/Funk song recorded by Honey Cone for their third album Sweet Replies and also appears on their fourth album Soulful Tapestry...
", "Stick Up," and "One Monkey Don't Stop No Show." Also Johnson wrote "Bring the Boys Home", for Freda Payne
Freda Payne
Freda Charcilia Payne Some sources give a birth year of 1945, but this appears to be an error as all sources agree that she is older than her sister Scherrie, born 1944. is an American singer and actress best known for her million selling, 1970 hit single, "Band of Gold". She was also an actress in...
.
Chairmen of the Board's popularity diminshed in the middle of the 1970s, although Johnson and Woods remained together re-billed as the Chairmen. Johnson tried a solo career again in 1979, and his debut solo album on Arista Records
Arista Records
Arista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records...
was a modest success. He teamed up again with Woods in the following decade, making a living on the beach music
Beach music
Beach music, also known as Carolina beach music, is a regional genre which developed from various musical styles of the forties, fifties and sixties. These styles ranged from big band swing instrumentals to the more raucous sounds of blues/jump blues, jazz, doo-wop, boogie, rhythm and blues,...
circuit. In 1993, having lost little of his distinctive vocal style, Johnson released another album, What Goes Around Comes Around, recorded with Woods.
In recognition of the contribution that Johnson has made to American popular music, the Virginia General Assembly
Virginia General Assembly
The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the oldest legislative body in the Western Hemisphere, established on July 30, 1619. The General Assembly is a bicameral body consisting of a lower house, the Virginia House of Delegates, with 100 members,...
designated June 9, 2001 as General Johnson Day in Virginia.
Johnson died on October 13, 2010, in suburban Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
. His obituary in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
reported that his family attributed his death to complications of lung cancer
Lung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
. Other obituaries did not mention lung cancer but did note that he was recovering from recent knee surgery.
External links
- [ Chairmen of the Board biography] at Allmusic websiteWebsiteA website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
- [ General Johnson biography] at Allmusic website
- General Johnson interview by Pete Lewis, 'Blues & Soul' August 1987 (reprinted December 2010)
- An interview with General at Soul Express