Sammy Reginald Johns (February 7, 1946 – January 4, 2013) was an American singer and songwriter, best known for his million-selling 1975 hit single, " Chevy Van".

Career

Johns was born in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

. Johns' father gave him a guitar when he was nine, and he founded his first band (the Devilles) in his teenage years. The group performed locally and made a few

records A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, r ...

for Dixie Records. Johns moved to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, where he signed with General Recording in 1973. His first solo recording was "Early Morning Love" (1973). " Chevy Van" (1975) reached No. 5 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and remained in the chart for 17 weeks. It was awarded a

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the R.I.A.A. on May 4, 1975. The titular song had been recorded in 1973, but was initially shelved and only released after 18 months with the album. It became very popular. The song sold about three million copies, and is credited for an increase in van sales the following year. In Canada, the song reached No. 7 in the

RPM Magazine ''RPM'' ( and later ) was a Canadian music-industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. ''R ...

charts. The song and an album led to a contract with

Warner Curb Records Warner Curb Records was a joint venture between Warner Bros. Records and producer Mike Curb to release his productions. The label was active between 1972 and 1983. In 1983, it folded into Curb Records. See also *List of record labels File:Al ...

to produce a soundtrack for the 1977 film '' The Van'' at the height of the

Vansploitation Vansploitation is a term used for a genre of American independent films from the 1970s in which vans are a "key element to the plot", and that often feature comedic stories about college-age people. History The short-lived genre emerged in the ...

genre. In an interview with WBT radio personality Keith Larson, Johns was paraphrased as saying ''"the song wasn't about a specific woman he met – but a compilation of events."'' Johns switched to the Elektra label, where he issued singles such as "Common Man" and "Love Me off the Road". In his later career, he was mainly known as a composer rather than as a performer, as many covered versions of his songs became successful.

John Conlee John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of " Common Man" reached number 1. Conlee made the song his theme song. Johns' songs have also been covered by

Waylon Jennings Waylon Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He pioneered the Outlaw Movement in country music. Jennings started playing guitar at the age of eight and performed at age f ...

Sammy Kershaw Samuel Paul Kershaw (born February 24, 1958) is an American country music artist. He has released 16 studio albums, with three RIAA platinum certifications and two gold certifications among them. More than 25 singles have entered the Top 40 on the ...

, Conway Twitty (his final Billboard No. 1, "

Desperado Love "Desperado Love" is a song written by Michael Garvin and Sammy Johns, and recorded by American country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States ...

") and

Fu Manchu Dr. Fu Manchu () is a supervillain who was introduced in a series of novels by the English author Sax Rohmer beginning shortly before World War I and continuing for another forty years. The character featured in cinema, television, radio, com ...

. After Jennings sang Johns' song "America" at a celebration of the restoration of the Statue of Liberty in 1985, the single was nominated for country song of the year.

Death

Johns died on January 4, 2013, at Gaston Memorial Hospital in Gastonia, North Carolina, at the age of 66.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Quotes

References

External links

Interview with Sammy Johns
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Johns, Sammy 1946 births 2013 deaths American male singer-songwriters American country singer-songwriters Writers from Charlotte, North Carolina Musicians from Charlotte, North Carolina Country musicians from North Carolina Singer-songwriters from North Carolina