Johnny Ace (Johnny Otis Orchestra) - Duke 1954

After listening to a friend's post of Johnny Fuller last night on the facebook companion page to this site, I got into a Johnny Ace mood. As a child, I grew up listening to my father's Johnny Ace Memorial Album and reading the liner notes detailing the tragic events surrounding his death:

["It was the night before Christmas” and … a sell-out audience was assembled in the City Auditorium in Houston, Texas, impatiently awaiting the appearance of one of the nation’s  greater vocalists – Johnny Ace, Duke Records Star. Suddenly, against this backdrop of Christmas festivities tinseled with excitement and glittering with expectancy, came a shot that, in a matter of minutes, was heard around the world. The star attraction, JOHNNY ACE, - The Beloved – had accidentally shot himself!


In a game called Russian Roulette, Johnny staked his “great big future of fame and fortune” and came out the loser. The lad who “opened his heart and let it sing” passed away quietly, Christmas Eve, 1954 …


And the world, that day, cried out, vociferously and in unison: “Johnny is Gone!"]

I have very few R&R / R&B 78s left after selling them off on ebay over the last year or so and with them went my Johnny Aces.

A few batch finds have netted a couple but their conditions leave much to be desired.

This side is the best of what I have.

Also note Johnny Otis on this session...he passed away about a month ago at age 90.