Clifford Joseph Trahan (September 25, 1938 – September 3, 2016), better known by the

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

s Johnny Rebel and Pee Wee Trahan, was an American singer, songwriter, and musician who performed songs that were supportive of

white supremacy White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White s ...

. He used the Johnny Rebel name for a series of recordings for J. D. "Jay" Miller's Reb Rebel label in the 1960s in response to the

civil rights movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...

. The 12 songs exhibit racial hatred marketed as "subtle, rib-tickling satire". The songs frequently used the racial slur "

nigger In the English language, the word ''nigger'' is an ethnic slur used against black people, especially African Americans. Starting in the late 1990s, references to ''nigger'' have been progressively replaced by the euphemism , notably in cas ...

" and often voiced sympathy for

racial segregation Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crime against humanity under the Statute of the Intern ...

, the

KKK The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

, and the

Confederacy Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between ...

. After retiring in 2003, Trahan claimed that he "just did it for the money" and that he "didn't set out to spread hate or start trouble". He said, "At that time, there was a lot of resentment – whites toward blacks and blacks toward whites. So, everybody had their own feelings. Lots of people changed their feelings over the years. I basically changed my feelings over the years up to a point."

Early life

Following his parents' divorce, he moved with his mother to Crowley, Louisiana, where he picked up an interest in music and received his first guitar as a gift at the age of 12. He graduated from Crowley High School in 1956.

Career

Trahan became close with record producer J. D. "Jay" Miller, a cousin of his, and recorded several country songs under the alias of Tommy Todd. Those songs never became commercial successes and Trahan moved to

Nashville, Tennessee 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 t ...

, to record with newly founded Todd Records. He became close with Murray Nash, a songwriter for country singer George Morgan, and recorded four songs with Todd Records, but the label folded in 1964. Trahan then worked as a shipyard inspector in

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Mis ...

before returning to Louisiana. Miller had founded Reb Rebel Records, which recorded segregationist music, and urged Trahan to record songs with the new label. Trahan obliged, recording under the alias of Johnny Rebel, a name Miller had selected. Miller produced the sessions and issued the recordings through Reb Rebel. Trahan's first release—the fifth for the Reb Rebel label—was a 45 RPM single of "Lookin' for a Handout" and "Kajun Ku Klux Klan". He then recorded more singles for the label: "Nigger, Nigger", "Coon Town", "Who Likes a Nigger?", "Nigger Hatin' Me", "Still Looking for a Handout", "Some Niggers Never Die (They Just Smell That Way)", "Stay Away from Dixie", and "Move Them Niggers North". Few of Trahan's songs concern topics other than race. These exceptions include "Keep a-Workin' Big Jim", about the efforts of Louisiana district attorney

Jim Garrison James Carothers Garrison (born Earling Carothers Garrison; November 20, 1921 – October 21, 1992) was the District Attorney of Orleans Parish, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,assassination of John F. Kennedy, and "(Federal Aid Hell!) The Money Belongs to Us", a song critical of U.S. federal aid programs. Two of these songs were eventually issued in album format by Reb Rebel Records under the title ''For Segregationists Only''. In 1974, Trahan's song "Lâche pas la patate" (also known as "The Potato Song"), sung by Jimmy C. Newman, was released in Canada. Johnny Rebel's songs found some popularity in some Southern juke joints, but never received radio airplay, and in time Trahan largely forgot about the venture. With the emergence of the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a ''internetworking, network of networks'' that consists ...

, Johnny Rebel gained newfound fame, and Trahan hired fan Brad Herman as his new manager in 2001. He then recorded and released a new song titled "Infidel Anthem", describing the "whipping" America should lay on Osama bin Laden following the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerc ...

. Herman booked him on ''

The Howard Stern Show ''The Howard Stern Show'' is an American radio show hosted by Howard Stern that gained wide recognition when it was nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The show has aired on Howard 100 a ...

'', where he promoted the song. This led to increased interest in his music. Trahan eventually cut ties with Herman, but released two records in 2003.

CD design

A CD compilation of his works simply shows a hooded member of the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Ca ...

together with a depiction of the Confederate battle flag. The cover of the album ''It's the Attitude, Stupid!'' shows a hooded Klansman, holding an MP3 player with a Confederate flag texture, and wearing earphones.

Performances

According to Trahan, he only performed a Johnny Rebel song once. He said that he was performing in Kaplan, Louisiana, when someone in the crowd requested a Rebel song, and he obliged after making sure there were no black people in the audience.

Personal life

In a 2003 interview, Trahan claimed that he "just did it for the money" and that he "didn't set out to spread hate or start trouble". He said, "At that time, there was a lot of resentment – whites toward blacks and blacks toward whites. So, everybody had their own feelings. Lots of people changed their feelings over the years. I basically changed my feelings over the years up to a point." However, he did have an issue with reparations for slavery and said, "Blacks develop an attitude towards the whites, and they won't let it go. They won't let go of what happened. Why should we pay reparations for things that happened 200 years ago? I was run out of my country. ..My ancestors were run out of

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native En ...

Death

Misattributions

Johnny Rebel is often misidentified as the pseudonym of country singer

David Allan Coe David Allan Coe (born September 6, 1939) is an American singer and songwriter. Coe took up music after spending much of his early life in reform schools and prisons, and first became notable for busking in Nashville. He initially played mostly ...

, who achieved popularity during the 1970s and 1980s. The confusion stems in part from the song "Nigger Fucker", which appears on Coe's '' Underground Album''. Coe has been quoted as saying, "Anyone that hears 'Underground Album''and says I'm a racist is full of shit." Some of Johnny Rebel's songs have also been misattributed to Johnny Horton, an American country singer who died in 1960. The confusion appears to stem from a song by Horton titled "

Johnny Reb Johnny Reb is the national personification of the common soldier of the Confederacy. During the American Civil War and afterwards, Johnny Reb and his Union counterpart Billy Yank were used in speech and literature to symbolize the common sold ...

Impact

Anti-Defamation League The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is an international Jewish non-governmental organization based in the United States specializing in civil rights law. It was founded in late Septe ...

report noted that "since the 1960s, when racist country singer Johnny Rebel recorded songs such as 'N-- Hatin' Me,' 'sic''more than 500 hate rock bands have formed worldwide". Johnny Rebel's songs have been covered by other singers such as Big Reb and the German

neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and racial supremacy (often white supremacy), attack r ...

band Landser, which covered his "Coon Town" under the title "Kreuzberg" in 1997. In 2003, the website of white supremacist record label

Resistance Records Resistance Records was a Canadian record label owned by Resistance LLC which was closely connected to the organization National Alliance. It produced and sold music by neo-Nazi and white separatist musicians, primarily through its website. Adver ...

listed Johnny Rebel's ''Klassic Klan Kompositions'' album as its No. 2 seller, second only to the video game ''

Ethnic Cleansing Ethnic cleansing is the systematic forced removal of ethnic, racial, and religious groups from a given area, with the intent of making a region ethnically homogeneous. Along with direct removal, extermination, deportation or population trans ...

''. In 2005, the Johnny Rebel song "Some Niggers Never Die (They Just Smell That Way)" was used in Crispin Glover's film '' What Is It?'' In 2010, the television series '' The Boondocks'' lampooned the music of Johnny Rebel in the episode "The Story of Jimmy Rebel".

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rebel, Johnny 1938 births 2016 deaths People from Moss Bluff, Louisiana Cajun people American country singer-songwriters American male singer-songwriters People from Crowley, Louisiana Singer-songwriters from Louisiana Neo-Confederates Race-related controversies in music