Johnnie High
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Johnnie High (May 1, 1929 – March 17, 2010) was a
music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...
impresario An impresario (from the Italian ''impresa'', "an enterprise or undertaking") is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film or television producer. Hist ...
,
starmaker ''Star Maker'' is a science fiction novel by British writer Olaf Stapledon, published in 1937. The book describes a history of life in the universe, dwarfing in scale Stapledon's previous book, ''Last and First Men'' (1930), a history of the hu ...
, and
performer The performing arts are The arts, arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art object ...
of
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
who established '' Johnnie High's Country Music Revue'', a live Saturday night show, in 1974 in
Grapevine, Texas Grapevine is a city and suburb of Dallas and Fort Worth located in northeast Tarrant County, Texas, United States, with minor portions extending into Dallas County and Denton County. The city is located in the Mid-Cities suburban region between Da ...
.


Early life

High was raised in
McGregor, Texas McGregor is a city in McLennan and Coryell counties in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 4,987 at the 2010 census. McGregor lies in two counties, as well as two metropolitan areas. The McLennan County portion of the city is part of the ...
. He began learning music from an early age. He acquired a $6
guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
and when he was 13, hitchhiked to nearby Waco to audition for a radio show. In 1948, Johnnie married Wanda Davis in
Waco Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the st ...
when they were still teenagers. For many years, he worked at the
radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...
, singing and accompanying himself on guitar. He collected words to songs from the magazine ''Country Song Roundup'', which published song lyrics. He couldn't read music nor did he need to. As with many other country musicians he played guitar by ear.


Revue career

In 1974, High began his country music show, when he and dance teacher Chisai Childs of
Fort Worth Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...
, bought and renovated
Grapevine ''Vitis'' (grapevine) is a genus of 79 accepted species of vining plants in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The genus is made up of species predominantly from the Northern Hemisphere. It is economically important as the source of grapes, b ...
's Palace Theatre. In 1979, Childs moved to
Branson, Missouri Branson is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. Most of the city is situated in Taney County, with a small portion in the west extending into Stone County. Branson is in the Ozark Mountains. The community was named after Reuben Branson, postma ...
, when High opened his Saturday night show at Will Rogers Auditorium in
Fort Worth Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...
. It stayed there for almost 13 years before moving to
Haltom City Haltom City is a city, part of the Dallas–Fort Worth region, in Tarrant County, Texas, United States. Its population was 46,073 at the 2020 census. Haltom City is an inner suburb of Fort Worth, a principal city of the DFW Metroplex. The city ...
's Shannon Auditorium. In 1995, High bought an old movie theater in
Arlington, Texas Arlington is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Tarrant County. It forms part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal city of the metropolis and region. ...
and created the Arlington Music Hall.


Death

High enjoyed helping other people shine at his iconic ''Johnnie High's Country Music Revue'' for more than 30 years in his life. On March 17, 2010, he died from
heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...
at the age of 80.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:High, Johnnie 1929 births 2010 deaths Musicians from Texas People from Waco, Texas People from Grapevine, Texas People from McGregor, Texas