From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Wed Oct 23, 2002  1:17 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Johnny Carroll

JOHNNY CARROLL (By Jean-Marc Pezet)

Born John Lewis Carrell, 23 October 1937, Cleburne, Texas
Died 18 February 1995, Dallas, Texas

Johnny Carroll grew up in Godley, Texas, a very small town near Cleburne.
As a youngster he listened to country music on the radio and got himself a
guitar to practice on. When he was 10 years old his mother had taught him
enough for him to appear over Cleburne's KCLA on Saturday mornings. He
was later introduced to R&B by a cousin who was co-owner of a jukebox
company and handed down 78's of Joe Turner and others. During his school
days he and his school fellows were very much into coloured music and
groups such as The Charms (of "Heart Of Stone" fame). At 15, Johnny
organized his first band; they had their own show on Cleburne's KCLA radio.

In 1955, the band won first prize in a talent contest, and enrolled second
prize winner guitarist Jay Salem in the band along the way. They opened for
Ferlin Huskey and were spotted by Jack "Tiger" Goldman, owner of the
Top Ten Recording Studios in Dallas. The band cut several demos there,
among them "Why Cry", "You Two Timed Me One Time Too Often" and
"Crazy Crazy Lovin". A deal was arranged with Decca out of Nashville on the
strength of the latter, and a two-day session was organized in Nashville on
April 25 and 26, 1956 for Johnny alone. The backing group was composed
of session men, with Grady Martin on lead guitar. They cut the fantastic
"Crazy Crazy Lovin", "Trying To Get To You", "Rock'n'Roll Ruby", "Hot
Rock", "Corrine, Corrina", and "Wild Wild Women" that formed the 3 magical
Johnny Carroll Decca 45s.
To promote Johnny, Tiger persuaded Sonny Friedman to shoot a quickie
Rock'n'Roll movie, "Rock Baby Rock It", featuring 4 songs by Johnny Carroll
and appearances by Rosco Gordon notably.
Johnny was subsequently dropped from the Decca roster and in 1957, found
himself accompanied by no less that Elvis' musicians, Scotty Moore and Bill
Black (who had left Elvis following a dispute over salary). It was Bill who
introduced Johnny to Sam Phillips who bought a couple of demos Johnny had
previously recorded in Forth Worth, TX. Sam issued "That's The Way I Love"
b/w "I'll Wait" on Phillips International, leaving "Rock Baby Rock It" and
"You Made Me Love You" unreleased.
In 1958, Johnny got himself a new manager, Ed E. McLemore, who ran an
agency in Dallas that booked Gene Vincent, Jimmy Bowen, Buddy Knox
and Sonny James. Johnny finally met Gene Vincent and they went on to
become very close friends (Johnny wrote "Maybe", recorded by Gene in 1958
for his "Sounds Like" LP). They both used the same band at the time, and it
is not surprising that the sides recorded by Johnny bore a strong resemblance
to Gene Vincent's sound. The demos were sent to Warner Bros in New York
who released "Bandstand Doll" b/w "The Swing" which sold very well and
became Johnny's biggest seller. Sadly, the second single "Sugar" b/w "Lost
Without You" didn't follow the same path and sank without a trace.
The hard life on the road paid its dues and Johnny gave up the business
abruptly in 1959, though one more single "Run Come See Me"/"Trudy" was
released on Warner in 1960.
During the year 1960, Johnny worked as a fixer for Bill Sellers in Forth Worth,
TX, until good old Ronnie Weiser persuaded him to cut a Gene Vincent tribute,
"Black Leather Rebel"/"Be Bop A Lula" for his Rollin' Rock label in 1974,
issued on an American single in the UK. An LP, "Texabilly" was released in 1978.
Johnny then teamed up with model and singer Judy Lindsey. They played the
night clubs in Texas and have been appearing regularly in Europe in the 1980s.
They recorded for the Gipsy label, issuing numerous singles and an LP.

Johnny has always been a great and appreciated performer until his untimely
death in 1995. His Decca sides particularly are among the creme de la creme.

Recommended listening:
"Rock Baby Rock It 1955-1960" Bear Family BCD 15928
"Texabilly" ROLLIN ROCK / HMG 6602 (USA)
More info: http://www.rockabillyhall.com/JohnCrrll.html