For years on Saturday mornings I listened to KPFA, a local public radio station based in Berkeley. They had the best music shows back to back: Emmitt Powell’s Gospel Experience, where he played gospel music that even atheists loved, and The Johnny Otis Show. It always started out with a chorus singing “Johnny Otis! Johnny Otis!” Then it played a tidbit of his biggest hit: “Willie and the hand jive.” For a couple of hours I’d drink tea, read the paper, putter around my house. Otis would play great songs: “Tell Mama” by Etta James, “In The Basement” by Sugar Pie Desanto, and “Strawberry Letter 22” by Shuggie Otis. The latter was his son, who also performed with Frank Zappa. When I was living at Mills, I cleaned my room every Saturday morning after breakfast, listening to Johnny Otis’ show. The music always got me going, wanting me to get going and do things, when there were definite times I wanted to stay in bed.
Yet there was so much I didn’t know about this man who played music on Saturday mornings. For instance, I thought he was African American. He wasn’t. According to The Guardian, he was born to Greek immigrants in Vallejo. But he felt a connection to the African American culture, to the people. Learning the drums in middle school, he started to play in big bands. But he got his big break when he played drums on ig Mama Thornton’s “Hound Dog” which he also produced. Of course the song became famous when Elvis sang it, but Johnny Otis had a knack of knowing good music when he heard it.
Johnny Otis! Johnny Otis! | Jennifer Kathleen Gibbons | Blog Post | Red Room.
