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Johnny Ace
Johnny Ace
On Christmas Eve in 1954, John Marshall Alexander Jr.—a singularly gifted, 24-year-old vocalist—fatally shot himself playing Russian roulette. And the R&B universe mourned the sad loss of the great Johnny Ace.
This unbelievable news 70 years ago spread like wildfire through America’s many Black communities. The dynamic young man who had given us “Pledging My Love,” “The Clock,” “Saving My Love for You” and “Cross My Heart,” was taken from us before his time. A waste of talent to end all such wastes.
Our sense of loss became even more profound when we were to learn that Ace died by his own hand while foolishly joking around with his girlfriend backstage at a theater in Texas. So very, very tragic.
Intensely Recalled
Of all the fine male Black vocalists who met death in their prime—including Sam Cooke, Frankie Lymon, Clyde McPhatter, Donnie Hathaway, Jackie Wilson and Marvin Gaye—perhaps none was so intensely recalled in music and by his peers and admirers, as was Johnny Ace.
In 1955, The Five Wings recorded a two-sided tribute called “Johnny Has Gone” and “Johnny’s Still Singing” on the King label. The same year, Varetta Dillard—who I once was privileged to interview—paid tribute to Ace with her sensational version of “Johnny has Gone,” for Savoy Records.
Famed filmmaker Martin Scorsese—who has demonstrated a deep appreciation of original Black R&B in the soundtracks of many of his movies—prominently featured Johnny Ace’s soulful “Pledging My Love” in 1973’s classic Mean Streets.
Who Can Forget?
And what of the other Black male vocal greats who died young? While events surrounding some of their deaths continue to confound millions of R&B fans, the music they made will never die.
For example, who can forget the mellow voice of Sam Cooke on “You Send Me,” “Cupid,” “Chain Gang,” “Saturday Night,” “Everybody Likes to Cha Cha Cha,” “Twistin’ the Night Away,” “Only 16” and “A Change is Gonna Come.” Cooke was just 29 when shot to death by a woman outside an Indiana motel under mysterious circumstances.
Then there was the depressing case of Frankie Lymon, who died of a heroin overdose in in Harem at 25, in 1968. The precocious lead singer of The Teenagers was only 13 in the mid-1950s when they hit big. Lymon and his astounding group became household words with hits such as “Why Do Fools Fall in Love,” “I Want You to be My Girl,” “The ABCs of Love” and “I’m Not a Juvenile Delinquent.” Led by Lymon, The Teenagers also appeared in several movies.
The unforgettable Clyde McPhatter—initial lead singer of The Drifters—was considered by many as the best of all R&B leads. Starting with the Dominoes, he schooled Jackie Wilson before leaving to take the original Drifters to new heights with “White Christmas,” “Whatcha Gonna Do,” Money Honey” and “Honey Love.” To this day, Clyde’s “White Christmas” is still heard in supermarkets from coast-to-coast.
Later, as a single, this premier practitioner of R&B falsetto scored heavily with “Seven Days,” “The Treasure of Love,” “A Lover’s Question” and “Lover Please.” In 1972, McPhatter—at 41—succumbed to what was described as a heart attack. In 1988, after I wrote a New York Daily News column recalling the greatness of McPhatter, his daughter called me, in tears, for remembering her dad.
Bizarre Death
Donnie Hathaway, who became a star on “Where is the Love”—a smash duet with Roberta Flack—met the most bizarre death of all. After hitting big on singles such as “Love, Love, Love,” “Everything is Everything” and many albums, Hathaway in 1979, somehow plunged to his death from a window of a posh hotel in mid-Manhattan. He was 34 years old.
R&B’s all-time shouter—the dynamic Jackie Wilson—learned well from McPhatter and also left the Dominoes for a sensational career as a soloist. With mega-hits such as “Higher and Higher,” “Lonely Teardrops,” “Night,” and “I’ll be Satisfied,” he solidified his position as a leading purveyor of unadulterated musical excitement. Wilson suffered a heart attack during a 1975 performance and remained comatose until his death, at 49, in 1984. And we miss his excitement to the present day.
Marvin Gaye
Perhaps the strange death of multi-talented Marvin Gaye, is the most tragic. This luminescent, expressive, emotional signing star was shot to death by is own father in their Los Angeles home in 1984. He was a day short of his 45th birthday.
Gaye, who arrived at Motown Records as a drummer, achieved a level of musical genius still revered today. Possessed of a laid-back style and earthiness that appealed to women and men, his life and death was chronicled on cable TV’s Arts & Entertainment channel in its “Biography” series.
Gaye’s legacy of million sellers is a primer of R&B. Included are “What’s Goin’ On,” “Trouble Man,” “I Heard it Through the Grapevine,” “Got to Give it Up,” Mercy, Mercy Me,” “Ain’t That Peculiar,” “Sexual Healing,” “Let’s Get it On” and many more.
One of the sad ironies of Gaye’s untimely passing is that his one-time duet partner, Tammi Terrell, also died before her time—in 1970 of a brain tumor, at age 24. But their classic collaborations on “Ain’t Nothin’ Like the Real Thing, Baby” and “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” are still alive. For which, we are all very happy.
Long live the great Johnny Ace, and each of these wonderful Black vocalists. They are simply unforgettable.
