Johnny Preston

Johnny Preston

born on 18/8/1939 in Port Arthur, TX, United States

died on 4/3/2011 in Beaumont, TX, United States

Johnny Preston

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Johnny Preston

Johnny Preston (August 18, 1939 March 4, 2011)[1] was an American pop singer, who was best known for his international number one hit in 1960, "Running Bear".[2]

Life and career

Born as John Preston Courville in Port Arthur, Texas,[3] of Cajun ancestry, Preston sang in high school choral contests throughout the state of Texas.[3] He formed a rock and roll band called the Shades, who were seen performing at a local club by J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson.

Richardson offered Preston the chance to record a teenage tragedy song he had written, "Running Bear", which they did in Houston, Texas, in 1958.[4] The "Indian" sounds on the record were performed by Richardson and George Jones.[5] The record was released after the Big Bopper's death in the same plane crash that killed Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens.[3] It entered the U.S. Hot 100 in October 1959, reaching number one in January 1960 and remaining there for three weeks.[3][5] It was a transatlantic chart-topper, reaching #1 in the United Kingdom in March 1960.[6] The sales of the record exceeded one million copies, earning Preston his first gold disc.[3]

Preston quickly followed up with another hit called "Cradle of Love," (Billboard #7, UK # 2) and made several other records during the early 1960s that met with modest success. "Cradle of Love" was a hit in both the UK Singles Chart and in Athens, Greece.[7] Preston's "I'm Starting to Go Steady", a song on the flip side of "Feel So Fine", (Billboard #14), was released in June 1960. Preston made appearances on American Bandstand (ABC-TV) and The Milt Grant Show and also The Buddy Deane Show (East Coast, United States).

Preston's pioneering contribution to the genre was recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. He also performed at Dick Clark's American Bandstand Theater in Branson, Missouri.[8] In 2009 and 2010, Preston performed with the Lamar State College (LSCPA)Touring Band at Lamar State College- Port Arthur, in his hometown.[9]

Preston had coronary artery bypass surgery in 2010.[10] He died of heart failure in Beaumont, Texas, on Friday 4 March 2011, at the age of 71,[1] after years of heart-related illnesses. A tribute concert was performed on November 5, 2011, and featured guest artists Gene Bourgeois, Johnny Tillotson, Dickey Lee and Chris Montez along with LSCPS's Touring Band, under the direction of Aaron Horne.

Discography

Chart singles

Year Title U.S. Hot 100[5] UK Singles Chart[11]
1959 "Running Bear" 1 1
1960 "Cradle of Love" 7 2
"Feel So Fine" 14 18
"I'm Starting to Go Steady" - 49
"Charming Billy" - 34
1961 "Leave My Kitten Alone" 73 -
"Free Me" 97 -

See also

  • List of artists who reached number one in the United States
  • List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart
  • List of artists who reached number one on the Australian singles chart
  • List of stage names
  • List of Mercury Records artists

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Thedeadrockstarsclub.com - accessed March 2011
  2. Johnny Preston, 2011-04-06. URL accessed on 2012-03-26.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs, 2nd, London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd.
  4. Rockabilly Hall of Fame: Johnny Preston
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Whitburn, Joel (2003). Top Pop Singles 1955-2002, 1st, Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc..
  6. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums, 19th, London: Guinness World Records Limited.
  7. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums, 19th, London: Guinness World Records Limited.
  8. Dickclarkbranson.com
  9. Lscpacm.com - accessed March 2009
  10. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named kfdm
  11. Betts, Graham (2004). Complete UK Hit Singles 1952-2004, 1st, London: Collins.
This page was last modified 05.05.2014 15:34:35

This article uses material from the article Johnny Preston from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia and it is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.