Johnny Cymbal (born John Hendry Blair; February 3, 1945 – March 16, 1993) was a Scottish-born American songwriter, singer and record producer who had numerous hit records, including his

signature song A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a Handwriting, handwritten (and often Stylization, stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and ...

, "Mr. Bass Man".

Overview

During a 33-year career, Cymbal made an impact on

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...

worldwide as a songwriter, singer, performer and record producer. During those years, in addition to his

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

anthem, "Mr. Bass Man", he was responsible for hit records including " Teenage Heaven", "Cinnamon" (Under the pseudonym "Derek"), "

Mary in the Morning "Mary in the Morning" is a song written by American songwriter and record producer Michael Rashkow and singer Johnny Cymbal. Background It describes a man's intense love for his wife and how he looks forward to a lifetime with her. Recordings " ...

", "Rock Me Baby" and "I'm Drinking Canada Dry". In 1963, with the hit "Mr. Bass Man", Cymbal was recognized as a teen star. (The crucial Bass Man part was sung uncredited by

Ronnie Bright Ronald David Bright (October 18, 1938 – November 26, 2015) was an American R&B and doo-wop singer of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. He was born in New York City. Biography Bright was the bass vocalist for doo-wop groups the Valentines, the Cad ...

(1938–2015), who sang with the Cadillacs, the Valentines and, for 40 years, phase two of the Coasters.) In 1973,

Who Who or WHO may refer to: * Who (pronoun), an interrogative or relative pronoun * Who?, one of the Five Ws in journalism * World Health Organization Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Who, a creature in the Dr. Seuss book '' Horton He ...

bassist

John Entwistle John Alec Entwistle (9 October 194427 June 2002) was an English musician who was the bassist for the rock band The Who. Entwistle's music career spanned over four decades. Nicknamed "The Ox" and "Thunderfingers", he was the band's only member ...

covered the song on his third solo album, ''

Rigor Mortis Sets In ''Rigor Mortis Sets In'' is the third solo studio album by English rock musician John Entwistle, who was the bassist for the Who at that time. Distributed by Track Records, the album was named ''John Entwistle's Rigor Mortis Sets In'' in the US ...

''. In

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

state, Cymbal wrote and produced records for a number of artists, including

Gene Pitney Gene Francis Alan Pitney (February 17, 1940 – April 5, 2006) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Pitney charted 16 top-40 hits in the United States, four in the top ten. In the United Kingdom, he had 22 top-40 hit singles, inclu ...

and

Terri Gibbs Teresa Fay Gibbs (born June 15, 1954) is an American country music artist who is blind. Between 1980 and 2017, she has recorded eleven studio albums, including four for MCA Records and one for Warner Bros. Records. She also charted 13 singles o ...

(who had a big country crossover hit with "Somebody's Knockin'"). In early 1969, as the New York recording scene slowed dramatically, Cymbal and his writing/producing partner

George Tobin George Tobin is an American musical artist and record producer who has produced albums for a long list of musical artists including Robert John, Smokey Robinson, Kim Carnes, Kicking Harold, and PC Quest. He is best known, however, for discove ...

moved their base to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Initially, Austin Roberts, who was a singer as well as a writer, stayed in New York, but soon after they had settled into the West Coast, he joined them in Los Angeles. With the entrepreneurial Tobin running the business and Cymbal and Roberts creating the music, they were making what Roberts describes as "the record of the day" — they would write a song during the day, then go into the studio to record it that night — with either Cymbal and/or Roberts singing it. The next day, according to Roberts, "Tobin would go sell it to three different labels." That may be an exaggeration, but they certainly made a lot of music recording under names such as "Taurus" on

Tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

and "Brother John" on A&M.

Death

Cymbal died of a heart attack on March 16, 1993 at the age of 48.

Discography

Albums

* ''Mr. Bass Man'' (1963) * ''Cymbal and Clinger'' (with Peggy Clinger) (1972)

Singles

Notes

References

External links

* * * * *

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cymbal, Johnny 1945 births 1993 deaths American male singer-songwriters People from East Ayrshire Scottish emigrants to the United States Musicians from Nashville, Tennessee 20th-century American singers Singer-songwriters from Tennessee Capitol Records artists Columbia Records artists Kapp Records artists MGM Records artists 20th-century American male singers