From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Tue Apr 30, 2002  2:10 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Johnny Horton

JOHNNY HORTON (By Shaun Mather)

Born John LaGale Horton, 30 April 1925, Los Angeles, California
Died 5 November 1960, Milano, Texas

Known as the Singing Fisherman, Johnny Horton had three distinct phases
to his all too brief career : hillbilly, rockabilly and saga songs. He excelled
at all three, which has enabled his catalogue to be the subject of constant
re-packaging. His early career saw him record on the small Cormac and
Abbott labels, before moving to Mercury where his first release was the
vibrant First Train Headin' South (1952). He joined the cast of the Louisiana
Hayride where he met two performers that were to inspire him at different
times, Hank Williams and Elvis Presley. Not long after Hank died, Johnny
married his widow, Billie Jean. In mid-55, with his career seemingly heading
down a one way track, Horton teamed up with Tillman Franks who took over as
bass player and manager and secured a contract with Columbia. On January
11th 1956 the two, together with Bill Black, Grady Martin and Harold Bradley
laid down a session that is virtually unsurpassed in rockabilly history, cutting
I'm A One Woman Man, Honky Tonk Man and I'm Ready If You're Willing.
The hits weren't as big as the quality demanded, with tracks like I Don't
Like I Did, Take Me Like I Am, Hooray For That Little Difference, I'm Coming
Home, Honky Tonk Mind (aka The Woman I Need) and Honky Tonk Hardwood
Floor being particular standouts. By the end of the decade he'd moved into
the saga market and this time the hits were massive. Two minutes of Johnny
Horton was better than a history lesson (not always as accurate though!) and
the public lapped up the likes of When It's Springtime In Alaska, Battle Of
New Orleans, Sam Magee, Sink The Bismarck and North To Alaska. Throughout
1960 Johnny started having premonitions of his death and true enough, in
November he was killed in a car crash. His great mate Johnny Cash read at
his funeral, whilst his widow Billie Jean mourned her second dead husband in
eight years.

Recommended listening:
Rockin' Rollin' Johnny Horton - Bear Family
Early Years - Bear Family (4CD)
1956-60 - Bear Family (4CD)
American Originals - Columbia.
Recommended viewing:
http://www.rockabillyhall.com/JohnnyHorton.html
There exists an out-of-print biography: Michael LeVine, Johnny Horton :
Your Singing Fisherman (New York : Vantage Press, 1982), but we
don't know if it's any good.