Laten John Adams Jr. (January 5, 1932 – September 14, 1998), was an American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

and

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

, known as "The Tan Canary" for the multi-octave range of his singing

voice The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound producti ...

, his swooping vocal mannerisms and

falsetto ''Falsetto'' (, ; Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentou ...

. His biggest hits were his versions of " Release Me" and "

Reconsider Me "Reconsider Me" is a country/soul ballad written by Margaret Lewis and Mira Smith. Johnny Adams recording Johnny Adams's 1969 version was his biggest hit, peaking at number eight on the American R&B charts and number 28 on the pop charts. ...

" in the late 1960s.

Life and career

Adams was born in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is bord ...

, United States, the oldest of 10 children. He became a professional musician on leaving school. He began his career singing

with the Soul Revivers and Bessie Griffin's Consolators, but crossed over to

secular music Non-religious secular music and sacred music were the two main genres of Western music during the Middle Ages and Renaissance era. The oldest written examples of secular music are songs with Latin lyrics.Grout, 1996, p. 60 However, many secular ...

in 1959. His upstairs neighbor, the songwriter Dorothy LaBostrie, supposedly persuaded him to start performing secular music after hearing him sing in the bathtub. He recorded LaBostrie's ballad "Oh Why," released as "I Won't Cry," for Joe Ruffino's Ric label. Produced by the teenaged

Mac Rebennack Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. (November 20, 1941 – June 6, 2019), better known by his stage name Dr. John, was an American singer and songwriter. His music encompassed New Orleans blues, jazz, funk, and R&B. Active as a session musician from t ...

(later known as Dr. John), the record became a local

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

. Adams recorded several more singles for the label over the next three years, most of them produced by Rebennack or

Eddie Bo Edwin Joseph Bocage (September 20, 1930 – March 18, 2009), known as Eddie Bo, was an American singer and pianist from New Orleans. Schooled in jazz, he was known for his blues, soul and funk recordings, compositions, productions and arrang ...

. His first national hit came in 1962, when "A Losing Battle", written by Rebennack, reached number 27 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

. After Ruffino's death in 1963, Adams left Ric and recorded for a succession of labels, including Eddie Bo's Gone Records, the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

–based

Modern Records Modern Records (Modern Music Records before 1947) was an American record company and label formed in 1945 in Los Angeles by the Bihari brothers. Modern's artists included Etta James, Joe Houston, Little Richard, Ike & Tina Turner and John Lee ...

, and

Wardell Quezergue Wardell Joseph Quezergue ( ; March 12, 1930 – September 6, 2011) was an American composer, arranger, record producer and bandleader, known among New Orleans musicians as the "Creole Beethoven". Steeped in Music of New Orleans#Jazz, jazz, he was ...

's Watch label. His records had little success until he signed with

Shelby Singleton Shelby Sumpter Singleton, Jr. (December 16, 1931 – October 7, 2009) was an American record producer and record label owner. Early life He was born Shelby Sumpter Singleton, Jr. in Waskom, Texas. His parents were Shelby Sumpter Singleton, Sr. and ...

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and th ...

-based SSS International Records in 1968. A reissue of "Release Me", originally released by Watch, reached number 34 on the R&B chart and number 82 on the

pop chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include re ...

. Its follow-up, "

", a

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whi ...

song produced by Singleton, became his biggest hit, reaching number 8 on the R&B chart and number 28 on the pop chart in 1969. Two more singles, "I Can't Be All Bad" and "I Won't Cry" (a reissue of the Ric recording), were lesser hits later the same year, and the label released an album, ''Heart and Soul''. Adams left SSS International in 1971 and recorded unsuccessfully for several labels, including

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

and

Ariola Ariola (also known as Ariola Records, Ariola-Eurodisc and BMG Ariola) is a German record label. In the late 1980s, it was a subsidiary label of the Bertelsmann Music Group, which in turn has become a part of the international media conglomerat ...

, over the next few years. At the same time, he began performing regularly at Dorothy's Medallion Lounge in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

and touring nightclubs in the south. In 1983, he signed with

Rounder Records Rounder Records is an independent record label founded in 1970 in Somerville, Massachusetts by Marian Leighton Levy, Ken Irwin, and Bill Nowlin. Focused on American roots music, Rounder's catalogue of more than 3000 titles includes records by Ali ...

, for which he recorded nine critically acclaimed albums produced by

Scott Billington Scott Billington (born October 27, 1951 in Melrose, Massachusetts) is an American record producer, songwriter, record company executive and blues musician. Biography Billington's career began in Boston in the early 1970s, when he managed the ...

, beginning with ''From the Heart'' in 1984. These records encompassed a wide range of

and R&B styles and highlighted Adams's voice. The albums included tributes to the songwriters

Percy Mayfield Percy Mayfield (August 12, 1920August 11, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues singer with a smooth vocal style. He also was a songwriter, known for the songs " Please Send Me Someone to Love" and "Hit the Road Jack", the latter being a song ...

and

Doc Pomus Jerome Solon Felder (June 27, 1925 – March 14, 1991), known professionally as Doc Pomus, was an American blues singer and songwriter. He is best known as the co-writer of many rock and roll hits. Pomus was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall ...

. The jazz-influenced ''Good Morning Heartache'' included the work of composers like

George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ' ...

and

Harold Arlen Harold Arlen (born Hyman Arluck; February 15, 1905 – April 23, 1986) was an American composer of popular music, who composed over 500 songs, a number of which have become known worldwide. In addition to composing the songs for the 1939 film ' ...

. Other albums in this series are '' Room with a View of the Blues'' (1988), ''Walking on a Tightrope'' (1989), and ''The Real Me'' (1991). These recordings earned him a number of awards, including a W.C. Handy Award. He also toured internationally, with frequent trips to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, and worked and recorded with such musicians as

Aaron Neville Aaron Joseph Neville (born January 24, 1941) is a retired American R&B and soul singer. He has had four platinum albums and four Top 10 hits in the United States, including three that reached number one on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. ...

, Harry Connick Jr.,

Lonnie Smith Lonnie Smith may refer to: * Lonnie Smith (baseball) (born 1955), American baseball player * Lonnie Smith (boxer) (born 1962), American boxer * Lonnie Smith (organist) (1942–2021), American organist * Lonnie Liston Smith Lonnie Liston Smi ...

, and Dr. John. He died in

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counti ...

, in 1998 after a long battle with

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that su ...

Singles (chart hits only)

Albums

* '' Heart & Soul'' (SSS International, 1969) * ''I Won't Cry'' (Ric, 1971) * ''A Christmas in New Orleans with Johnny Adams'' (Ace, 1975) * ''Stand By Me'' (Chelsea, 1976) * ''After All the Good Is Gone'' (Ariola, 1978) * ''From the Heart'' (Rounder, 1984) * ''After Dark'' (Rounder, 1985) * '' Room with a View of the Blues'' (Rounder, 1988) * ''Walking on a Tightrope'' (Rounder, 1989) * ''The Real Me: Johnny Adams Sings Doc Pomus'' (Rounder, 1991) * ''Good Morning Heartache'' (Rounder, 1993) * ''The Verdict'' (Rounder, 1995) * ''One Foot in the Blues'' (Rounder, 1996) * ''Man of My Word'' (Rounder, 1998)

References

External links

Johnny Adams "Heart & Soul
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Johnny 1932 births 1998 deaths 20th-century African-American male singers American blues singers Rhythm and blues musicians from New Orleans Charly Records artists Deaths from prostate cancer Deaths from cancer in Louisiana Soul-blues musicians Blues musicians from New Orleans Singers from Louisiana