Monday 15 February 2010

Johnny Johnson & His Bandwagon ''Soul Survivor''

Johnny Johnson & His Bandwagon

''Soul Survivor''
( LP Bell Records, 1970 )
Catalog # SBLL 138


Tracklisting:
A1 (Blame It) On The Pony Express
A2 Love Is Blue (L'Amour Est Bleu)
A3 Gasoline Alley Bred
A4 He Ain't Heavy He's My Brother
A5 Sweet Inspiration
B1 In The Bad Bad Old Days (Before You Loved Me)
B2 United We Stand
B3 Games People Play
B4 Something
B5 Pride Comes Before A Fall
B6 Never Let Her Go

Credits & Notes:
Producer - Tony Macaulay
Format:Vinyl, LP, Album
Country:UK
Released:1970

Biography:
Johnny Johnson and the Bandwagon were a U.S. vocal soul group, prominent in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Originally known simply as The Bandwagon, they were formed in 1967 and featured Artie Fullilove, Billy Bradley, Terry Lewis and lead singer Johnny Johnson (born Johnny Mathis (sic), 20 July 1944, Rochester, New York - d. 1979).
They had their first major UK hit in October 1968 with "Breakin' Down the Walls of Heartache", written by Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell, on the Direction label, part of CBS, which reached number 4 on the UK Singles Chart.
In 1969 the group disbanded, and all subsequent releases were billed as Johnny Johnson and His Bandwagon. In effect, the act was basically Johnson plus additional vocalists, who were hired for recording, touring and TV performances. Because they had been so much more successful in Britain and Europe, they based themselves in London, with songwriter Tony Macaulay being primarily responsible for the next stage of their career. They had top ten hits with "Sweet Inspiration" (1970), and "(Blame It) On The Pony Express" (1970).[The latter track was written by Macaulay, Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway.
Their recording career continued through the 1970s, with a 1971 LP Soul Survivor, produced by Macaulay, as well as subsequent, less successful singles that year including "Sally Put Your Red Shoes On" and a cover version of the Bob Dylan song, "Mr Tambourine Man", on the Bell label.
They left Bell, for further singles including "Honey Bee" (1972), on Stateside Records, and "Music to My Heart" (1975), on Epic Records, written and produced by Biddu.
Their early hits are still revered as Northern soul classics, as they espoused a more commercial pop-soul style similar in sound to that of early Tamla Motown, as opposed to the more funky progressive style favoured by contemporaries like Sly & the Family Stone and The Isley Brothers.
"Breakin' Down the Walls of Heartache" enjoyed a new lease of life in 1980, when covered by Dexys Midnight Runners on the b-side of "Geno", and as an album track in 1981 on a solo album by Bram Tchaikovsky, formerly of the Motors. It was also popular in UK soul clubs, during the early 1980s.
Johnson had not been well for several years, and the pressures of constantly touring during the early 1970s took a heavy toll. He died of cancer in 1979.[2] Their frontman is not to be confused with Chuck Berry's sideman, Johnnie Johnson.
From Wikipedia

By Pier

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

pw:

myfavouritesound

xensma said...

thanks for sharing!this one looks really good with its crazy picture, i hope what's inside will be as good as what's outside seems to be!

NOTE: Pictures copyright held by photographers. If you are the photographer of any picture and would like it removed please email us.

''Quidquid id est, timeo Danaos et dona ferentis.''


©® 2006-2016 My Favourite Sound© 1.0 (CC Licensed 3.0)