John Simkin Posted May 3, 2009 Share Posted May 3, 2009 Who Killed Johnny Ace? There are several versions of his death. It has been claimed that Don Robey might have been responsible. However, I think this is unlikely. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Ace http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_D._Robey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Hall Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 (edited) Who Killed Johnny Ace? There are several versions of his death. It has been claimed that Don Robey might have been responsible. However, I think this is unlikely. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Ace http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_D._Robey I never knew there was any doubt about Ace's death. David Allan Coe's rendition of "Pledging My Love", which is a tribute to Johnny Ace, just about pulls my heart out. Thanks for starting this thread. Edited May 5, 2009 by Christopher Hall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tom Scully Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 (edited) http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&ie...tab=wp&um=1The late, great Johnny Ace and the transition from R & B to rock 'n' roll' by James M. Salem - Music - 2001 - 320 pages Willie Mae Thornton at 12:40 A.M. on December 26, 1954: We arrived at the City Auditorium at around 7:20 p.m. and the dance started about eight o’clock. I did not sing until about nine o’clock when I sing five numbers. The band played several numbers before Johnny Ace came on to sing. He sing several numbers and he and I sing the duet "Yes Baby." The band played two more numbers. I then went to the dressing room to change clothes, but I got busy signing autographs and I did not get to change clothes. Johnny Ace came to the dressing room and he signed some autographs. He started to leave out the door when some people stopped to talk to him. About that time, Olivia, Johnny Ace's girl friend walked up and Johnny and Olivia came into the dressing room. Johnny sit on a dresser in the dressing room and Olivia sit on his lap. Shortly after he sit down, two more people who were in the dressing room, Mary Carter and Joe Hamilton, began running around. I looked over at Johnny and noticed he had a pistol in his hand. It was a pistol that he bought somewhere in Florida. It was a .22 cal. revolver. Johnny was pointing this pistol at Mary Carter and Joe Hamilton. He was kind of waving it around. I asked Johnny to let me see the gun. He gave it to me and when I turned the chamber a .22 cal. bullet fell out in my hand. Johnny told me to put it back in w[h]ere it wouldn’t fall out. I put it back and gave it to him. I told him not to snap it at nobody. After he got the pistol back, Johnny pointed the pistol at Mary Carter and pulled the trigger. It snapped. Olivia was still sitting on his lap. I told Johnny again not to snap the pistol at anybody. Johnny then put the pistol to Olivia’s head and pulled the trigger. It snapped. Johnny said "I’ll show you that it won't shoot." He held the pistol up and looked at it first and then put it to his head. I started toward the door and I heard the pistol go off. I turned around and saw Johnny falling to the floor. I saw that he was shot and I run on stage and told the people in the band about it. I stayed there until the officers arrived." Olivia Gibbs: "Johnny was sitting on the [dressing room] table and I was by him and he had his arm around me": I saw Johnny look at the gun and then he put it up to my head and pulled the trigger and it snapped. I saw him look at the gun again and then he put it up to his head and pulled the trigger and the gun fired. He then fell off of the table and on to the floor. Everybody ran out of the room except Mary Carter, Willie Mae Thornton and me. I thought he was just playing and I picked up his head and then I saw the blood. I then ran to the box office and told Evelyn Johnson that Johnny had shot himself." Mary Carter: After I had been in the dressing room a few minutes Johnny had a small pistol and he was pointing it at some of the people and he would pull the trigger and we could hear it “click,” after awhile he put the gun to Olivia's ear and pulled the trigger and I could hear it “click.” Johnny then reared back in his chair and told us he “was going to show us how it worked," he then put the gun to his right ear and pulled the trigger. I then heard a “pop" and Johnny fell over in the floor and I saw blood start to running out of his head on the left side. http://books.google.com/books?id=MqJkizbPM...neral#PPA149,M1The late, great Johnny Ace and the transition from R & B to rock 'n' roll' by James M. Salem - Music - 2001 - 320 pages Page 149 "The only person who can partly clear up the mystery [of Ace's death]," the Defender chain reported, "is attractive Olivia Gibbs, a waitress in a local club ... http://books.google.com/books?id=MqJkizbPM...neral#PPA130,M1 Page 130 ...Then, in a December incident in Don Robey's office, Ace, Gatemouth Brown and others were picking up contracts, when Ace, as a joke, pulled out his pistol and pointed it at Brown.... Edited May 5, 2009 by Tom Scully Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len Colby Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 Who Killed Johnny Ace? There are several versions of his death. It has been claimed that Don Robey might have been responsible. However, I think this is unlikely. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Ace http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_D._Robey I haven't watched the video yet but it seems that though there is disagreement over the details all agree he died by his own hand. There are doubts surrounding the deaths of other musicians which I think are mostly due to their friends and fans wanting to accept they could die in such mundane manners. I've seen questions raised about the deaths of: Bobby Fuller Billy Murcia (NY Dolls) Nancy Spungeon (SP?) Sid Vicious Johnny Thunders (NY Dolls) As well as Janis, Jimi, Jim and John (Lennon) Oh yeah and there's the Israli nut, whose name escapes me, who thinks John killed Paul who was replaced by a substitute and the substitute killed John I never knew there was any doubt about Ace's death.David Allan Coe's rendition of "Pledging My Love", which is a tribute to Johnny Ace, just about pulls my heart out. Thanks for starting this thread. I agree great song great singer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Ecker Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 I haven't heard Coe's version, but "Pledging My Love" was one of my favorite songs as a youngster. I listened to Teresa Brewer's cover of it. I don't remember Ace, but as a white kid in the segregated South one of my guilty pleasures was listening to the black music program "Night Train" on the local radio on Saturday nights (late '50s, after Ace), to hear great black music like Chuck Willis's "It's Too Late," one of the best recordings in history. Thanks for the thread, John. It brings back memories, even if Ace himself isn't one of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Howard Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 I haven't heard Coe's version, but "Pledging My Love" was one of my favorite songs as a youngster. I listened to Teresa Brewer's cover of it. I don't remember Ace, but as a white kid in the segregated South one of my guilty pleasures was listening to the black music program "Night Train" on the local radio on Saturday nights (late '50s, after Ace), to hear great black music like Chuck Willis's "It's Too Late," one of the best recordings in history. Thanks for the thread, John. It brings back memories, even if Ace himself isn't one of them. It would be unfortunate if someone didn't make mention of Paul Simon's The Late Great Johnny Ace. In reality, Simon wrote the song as a blending of three principal events, the deaths of Johnny Ace, John F. Kennedy and John Lennon. There is even the strange scene in a video, The Concert For Central Park, where, when Paul Simon is playing this song and a crazed fan jumps on the stage who is not exactly acting like a normal person, you have to see the performance on video to get a grasp of how strange the incident really was...... Back to the song, in the studio version there is an orchestral ending performed by Phillip Glass, that put chills down my spine the first time I heard it, it is an extremely emotional song if you have any warmth in your heart at all, for these three persons. The Late Great Johnny Ace I was reading a magazine Thinking of a rock and roll song The year was nineteen-fiftyfour And I hadn't been playing that long When a man came on the radio And this is what he said He said I hate to break it to his fans But Johnny Ace is dead, yeah, yeah, yeah Well, I really wasn't Such a Johnny Ace fan But I felt bad all the same So I sent away for his photograph And I waited till it came It came all the way from Texas With a sad and simple face And they signed it on the bottom From the Late Great Johnny Ace, yeah, yeah, yeah It was the year of The Beatles It was the year of The Stones It was nineteen-sixtyfour I was living in London With the girl from the summer before It was the year of The Beatles It was the year of The Stones A year after J.F.K. We were staying up all night And giving the days away And the music was flowing amazing And blowing my way On a cold December evening I was walking through the Christmas tide When a stranger came up and asked me If I'd heard John Lennon had died And the two of us went to this bar And we stayed to close the place And every song we played Was for The Late Great Johnny Ace, yeah, yeah, yeah [from the CD Hearts and Bones Paul Simon] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Simkin Posted June 7, 2009 Author Share Posted June 7, 2009 It would be unfortunate if someone didn't make mention of Paul Simon's The Late Great Johnny Ace. In reality, Simon wrote the song as a blending of three principal events, the deaths of Johnny Ace, John F. Kennedy and John Lennon. There is even the strange scene in a video, The Concert For Central Park, where, when Paul Simon is playing this song and a crazed fan jumps on the stage who is not exactly acting like a normal person, you have to see the performance on video to get a grasp of how strange the incident really was... See it at YouTube: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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