Ross Barbour born 31 December 1928

Ross Edwin Barbour (December 31, 1928 – August 20, 2011) was an American baritone singer and one of the founder members of the vocal quartet The Four Freshmen. 

Ross Barbour

Ross and brother Don Barbour from Columbus, Indiana , were students at Butler University’s Arthur Jordan Conservatory of Music in Indianapolis when they teamed with fellow student Marvin Pruitt and Hal Kratzch  to form a barbershop quartet called Hal’s Harmonizers. Pruit and Kratzsch were soon replaced by Ross and Don's cousin Bob Flanigan and Ken Errair. A self-contained vocal-instrumental group, they all played instruments, with baritone Ross Barbour on drums. 

The quartet soon adopted a more jazz-oriented repertoire and renamed itself the Toppers. At first, they were influenced by Glenn Miller's The Modernaires and Mel Tormé's Mel-Tones, but soon developed their own style of improvised vocal harmony. Renamed by their agent  the quartet went on the road as The Four Freshmen, and played their first date in a club in Fort Wayne, Ind., in September 1948 and soon drew the admiration of jazz legends such as Dizzy Gillespie and Woody Herman. 

In 1950, The Four Freshmen got a break when band leader Stan Kenton heard the quartet in Dayton, Ohio, and arranged for an audition with his label, Capitol Records, which signed The Four later that year. Their first hit single was "It's a Blue World," released in 1952, and they enjoyed further success with "Mood Indigo" (1954) and "Day By Day" (1955). Their 1956 hit “Graduation Day” was later covered by the Beach Boys, whose Brian Wilson has referred to the Four Freshmen as his “harmonic education.” They released their first LP, Voices in Modern, in 1955 (and some dozen more 12" discs over the next five years); that album was as impressive a jazz document as it was a vocal pop effort, showcasing the group members' playing as well as their singing and showing that these guys had lots of complex musical strings in their bow. 

                   

It was on these albums that the quartet also showed itself to be a very smart outfit, not just in musical terms but logistically as well. Rather than simply doing any 12 songs that might have been working well in its stage act, the group made these releases into conceptual works, either musically (built around the sounds achieved by combinations of the group's sound and specific accompaniments, such as Four Freshmen and 5 Trombones, Four Freshmen and Five Guitars, etc.) or as thematic arrays of songs (such as Voices in Love and Voices in Latin). 

Indeed, the Four Freshmen’s innovative four-part harmonies influenced not only the Beach Boys but the Lettermen, the Four Preps, the Manhattan Transfer and many other vocal groups. Between 1953 and 1958, the Four Freshmen won the Down Beat magazine Readers Poll as best vocal group of the year five times. They also received their first Grammy nomination in 1958, in the jazz-group category. Don Barbour died in a car crash in 1961 and was  replaced by Bill Comstock. This line-up lasted intact for nearly 13 years, into the 1970s. 

Throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, The Four Freshmen released a number of recordings, made film and television appearances, and performed in concert. The group eventually lost their mainstream following with the advent of the British pop bands of the 1960s. They continued to record and perform, even assimilating such contemporary songs as Jimmy Webb's "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," but they were effectively relegated to the "easy listening" stations. Their contract with Capitol ended in 1964, and the group's last affiliation with a major label was in the second half of the decade with Liberty Records, which yielded four LPs but no hits. 

After Barbour's retirement in 1977, the Freshmen continued under the management of Flanigan, who kept the rights to The Four Freshmen name. Flanigan died on May 15, 2011 at the age of 84. New line-ups of the group have continued to perform and are considered an artistically valid ensemble -- in 2000 the Four Freshmen were voted Vocal Group of the Year by Down Beat magazine's readers. 

Barbour who was the last of the original Freshmen died of lung cancer at his home in Simi Valley, California, on August 20, 2011, aged 82. 

(Edited from Wikipeda & Singers.com) 

 

Dorothy Carless born 30 December 1916

Dorothy Carless (December 30, 1916 – October 18, 2012) was an accomplished British pianist and band singer of the 40's. Between 1940 and 1944 Dorothy recorded over fifty sides with Geraldo & His Orchestra. 

Husky voiced Dorothy Carless, the elder sister of fellow singer Carole Carr, was born Dorothy Mary Alice Carr in West Ham, London, England and became one of England’s top warblers of the 40s and 50s. Growing up, she studied classical music intensively and was an accomplished pianist by her teens. However, by the time she was 17, her passion was jazz, however her parents did not approve of that. So she surreptitiously auditioned as a pianist for the Ray Noble Band. Since Ray Noble had already filled the pianist position, Dorothy blithely stated that she could sing too, not knowing whether she actually could or not! The result was her first big hit song, "Oh You Nasty Man."  

Although Noble didn`t ask Dorothy back to the recording studio again he did recommend her to a BBC producer and this resulted in her first broadcast. She then won a crooning contest where part of the prize was a provincial music hall tour and another broadcast. It wasn`t long before Dorothy was singing on radio quite regularly and in December 1937 she was back in the recording studio with two numbers 'Things are looking up' and 'Nice work if you can get it', both from the current Fred Astaire film 'A Damsel In Distress'. 

Dorothy with Geraldo

The next few years saw Dorothy freelancing with several top bands as well as a spell as one third of The Cavendish Three vocal trio. In August 1939 she married violinist Eugene Pini, honeymooning in France just before war was declared. In 1940 Dorothy joined the BBC variety department at their 'hideaway' in Bristol. She had a go at comedy as Tommy Handley`s secretary in some early I.T.M.A. shows, but more importantly she began singing with Geraldo`s orchestra. Between 1940 and 1944 Dorothy recorded over fifty sides with Geraldo. 

Dorothy with Glenn Miller

She had her own 'Dorothy Carless Programme' on forces radio and often received letters from people in remote parts of England expressing gratitude for her work and saying that as long as they could hear her voice, they knew England had not fallen. She also traveled across Europe and North Africa with the Glenn Miller Band entertaining troops during the War.  A striking statuesque figure, she was a natural stage performer. 

                              

In 1946 she went to live in America with second husband US radio executive Henry Hull Jnr. They had met in England when, as an American pilot, he had flown many missions with the Royal Air Force. Whilst in New York Dorothy continued to work with many of the jazz greats of her time. 

In April 1953 she was back in London and appeared, but didn`t sing, on the tv quiz show 'Down You Go'.. In July she replaced Alma Cogan (who had moved on to 'Take It From Here') in the second series of 'Gently Bentley' with Dick Bentley, that ran until September. 1954 found her in another series ''Once Over Lightly' with Joan Regan, Bonar Colleano and Nat Temple`s band. She also teamed up with that rolly-polly comedian Fred Emney, starring in his 'Emney Enterprises' television series and toured with him in a variety show that included organist Robin Richmond until mid-1955. She did some 'Variety Playhouse' and 'Midday Music Hall' broadcasts but by the end of 1955 had moved to California. 

She appeared in top night-clubs and many radio and TV shows including the Edie Adams TV show where she was a musical arranger and coach for Ms. Adams. She also appeared in films such as Emney Enterprises (1954), Here's Edie (1963) and The Heart of Me (2002). 

Dorothy’s voice and style were etched indelibly in her 1956 debut album “The Carless Torch,” in which good, suitable, unobtrusive backing by the Barney Kessel Trio serves as the backdrop for a number of time-tested torchers sung with intimate phrasing and feeling. 

Dorothy's last appearance in London was as a surprise guest at the Geraldo tribute concert staged at the Royal Festival Hall in July 1975. Around 1980, Dorothy moved to Cambria, California, which was a perfect fit for her knowledge and love of nature. In addition to her great musical talent, during her last years in Cambria she continued with another lifelong artistic skill in a different area, creating wearable art hand-knit garments which she sold locally, and created for clients on commission. Her close friends also had the pleasure of her beautiful garden and fabulous cooking. She died on October 18, 2012. 

(Edited from Legacy & Tapatalk)

Henri René born 29 December 1906

Henri René (December 29, 1906 – April 25, 1993), was an American musician who had an international career in the recording industry as a producer, composer, conductor and arranger. 

Born Harold Manfred Kirchstein in New York City but his German father and French mother soon moved back to Germany, and Rene grew up in Berlin. He received a thorough German education in classical music and studied at the Royal Academy of Music in Berlin. In the mid-1920s, he spent several years in the United States, working with a variety of orchestras, but he returned to work as an arranger for Electrola, an RCA affiliated recording company in Berlin. 

While touring Europe with his band some years before the war, he was appointed musical director of the two largest moving picture firms in Europe, Tobis and UFA. In 1936, René emigrated to the U.S. and became musical director and chief arranger for RCA Victor, forming his own Musette Orchestra in 1941. As an instrumentalist, Rene played the piano, saxophone, and Musette accordion. He was responsible for the original "Beer Barrel Polka" disk, which played an important role in the development of the music machine to its present status as a powerful entertainment medium. 

He began recording regularly for Standard and has since become its No. 1 artist, his disks selling in quantities comparable to those of the largest commercial dance bands. Among his most successful records have been "Cuckoo Waltz," "Waltzing on the Kalamazoo," "Tap the Barrel Dry," "Pete, the Pickelman" and "Tommy's Mustache." After service with the Allies in World War II, he resumed working for RCA Victor as a conductor and arranger. 

                              

In the mid 1950s, he issued several successful LPs which Allmusic has called "forerunners of the space-age pop aesthetic"; among the albums were Music for Bachelors, Music for the Weaker Sex, Compulsion to Swing and Riot in Rhythm. 

Rene composed music themes and scores for several popular television series. After this René worked in production for RCA Victor, with Harry Belafonte, Perry Como, the Ames Brothers and Eartha Kitt among others. He left RCA Victor in 1959 to work freelance for the rest of his active career. 

For his contributions to the recording industry, René has a Star at 1610 Vine Street on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. 

He died on April 25, 1993 (age 86) in Houston, Texas, USA

 (Edited from Wikipedia & Space Age Pop)

Young Jessie born 28 December 1936

Obediah Donnell "Obie" Jessie (December 28, 1936 – April 27, 2020) was an American R&B, rock and roll and jazz singer and songwriter. He recorded as Young Jessie in the 1950s and 1960s, and was known for his solo career, work with The Flairs and a brief stint in The Coasters. He later performed and recorded jazz as Obie Jessie. 

Jessie's father was a cook but had no musical background. His mother, Malinda (née Harris) was very musical, playing piano and other instruments; she had a brief musical career under the name Plunky Harris. On his mother's side of the family, Jessie was also kin to the blues musician, Blind Lemon Jefferson. As a youngster he was part of a school band that also included saxophonist David 'Fathead' Newman. 

In 1946, he moved with his family to Los Angeles, where he began studying music, and formed a vocal group, The Debonaires, which also included Richard Berry. The group recorded Jessie's song, "I Had A Love", in 1953, and the single

was released under the name of The Hollywood Blue Jays. They then renamed themselves as The Flairs, and won a recording contract with Modern Records. However, in 1954 Jessie signed a solo contract with producers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, and began recording as "Young Jessie". He said: “The name came about because I sounded like I was forty, like ancient for a boy of 17. I had this deep baritone voice and the Biharis wanted me to get close to the rock 'n' roll market. I could have called myself Obie Jessie but I didn't want people to think I was old. 

                              

In 1955, he wrote and recorded the single "Mary Lou," later covered by Ronnie Hawkins in 1959, Steve Miller Band in 1973, Bob Seger in 1976, Gene Clark in 1977, Frank Zappa in 1983 and The Oblivians in 1997. In 1956, he released "Hit Git And Split", co-written with Buck Ram and recorded in New York City with guitarist Mickey Baker. 

He also briefly recorded with The Coasters in 1957, (including harmony vocals on "Searchin'" and "Young Blood"), and appeared on records by The Crescendos and Johnny Morisette, as well as being a writer for other artists' recordings, including The Chargers and Jimmy Norman. He released the single "Shuffle In the Gravel" / "Make Believe", again produced by Leiber and Stoller, on the Atco label in 1957. 

Jessie proved to be a versatile if not overly successful singer from a commercial perspective. He sang jazz for Capitol Records. He made novelty records like “Be Bop Country Boy” for Mercury Records. And he released soul ballads like “Make Me Feel a Little Good” on the Vanessa label in 1963. Jessie stayed busy, but chart success continued to be elusive. He recorded some unreleased material for Jake Porter in the 1960s. He also did an album's worth of songs owned by Harvey Fuqua in the 1970s that never got released. In 1972, he recorded a single as Obe Jessie & The Seeds Of Freedom for Stone Dogg Records. 

He also formed a jazz group, the Obie Jessie Combo, which played club dates, and in 1976 became musical director for Esther Phillips. In 1982, he toured in Europe and recorded jazz in Germany, and in 1983 performed at an "R & B Jamboree" in London, where he reportedly "astonished the audience with a charismatic performance." He has also performed with Leon Hughes' group of The Coasters. As Obie Jessie, he later released several jazz albums, including What Happened To Jr. (1995), Here's To Life (2002), and New Atmosphere (2009). He also recorded with Atlanta-based saxophonist Bob Miles, and performed on the song "People The Time Has Come" with lyrics by Nadim Sulaiman Ali. 

His younger brother DeWayne Jessie became an actor, and became well known as Otis Day in the film, National Lampoon's Animal House. Two of Young Jessie's four children sang in a group called Wizdom in the 1980s. 

Obie Jessie died on April 27, 2020, aged 83

 (Edited mainly from Wikipedia)

Bunk Johnson born 27 December 1889

Willie Gary "Bunk" Johnson (December 27, 1879? – July 7, 1949) was one of the most controversial, and divisive, musicians in jazz history. Even today, few are lukewarm on the subject of Bunk’s musical ability, his biographical details and his personality. All agree, however, that he was the central figure of the New Orleans Revival of the 1940s. Without his participation, traditional jazz in the 21st century would not sound the same. 

Johnson gave the year of his birth as 1879, although there is speculation that he may have been younger by as much as a decade. Johnson stated on his 1937 application for Social Security that he was born on December 27, 1889. Many jazz historians believe this date of birth to be the most accurate of the various dates Johnson gave throughout his life. 

Johnson received lessons from Adam Olivier and began playing professionally in Olivier's orchestra. Johnson probably played a few adolescent jobs with Buddy Bolden, but was not a regular member of Bolden's Band (contrary to Johnson's claim). Johnson was regarded as one of the leading trumpeters in New Orleans in the years 1905–1915, in between repeatedly leaving the city to tour with minstrel shows and circus bands. 

After he failed to appear for a New Orleans Mardi Gras parade job in 1915, he learned that krewe members intended to do him bodily harm. So he left town, touring with shows and then by the early 1920s settling in New Iberia, Louisiana. In 1931, he lost his trumpet and front teeth when a fight broke out at a dance in Rayne, Louisiana, putting an end to his playing. He thereafter worked in manual labour, occasionally giving music lessons. 

Bunk also told his boosters that he taught Louis Armstrong to play. Several years later, when Bunk and Louis talked to the press, Louis seemed to agree. Even when he later disputed that Bunk had taught him, Armstrong continued to praise Bunk as an early influence, specifically mentioning his admiration for Johnson’s diminished chords. Other New Orleans musicians agreed that Bunk taught Armstrong—or at least that he was a major influence on Armstrong’s playing. 

In 1938 and 1939, the writers of an early jazz history book, Jazzmen, interviewed several prominent musicians of the time, including Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, and Clarence Williams, who spoke highly of Johnson in the old days in New Orleans. The writers tracked down Johnson's address, and traded several letters with him, where he recalled (and possibly embellished) his early career. Johnson stated that he could play again if he only had new teeth and a new trumpet. A collection was taken up by writers and musicians, and he was fitted with a set of dentures by Bechet's dentist brother, Leonard, and given a new trumpet. He made his first recordings in 1942, for Jazz Man Records. 

                             

These first recordings propelled Johnson (along with clarinetist George Lewis) into public attention. Johnson and his band played in New Orleans, San Francisco, Boston, and New York City and made many more recordings. Johnson's work in the 1940s has shown why he was well regarded by his fellow musicians. On his best days he played with great imagination, subtlety, and beauty, as well as suggesting why he had not gained prominence earlier, for he was unpredictable, temperamental, with a passive-aggressive streak and a fondness for drinking alcohol to the point of impairment. 

Bunk with Leadbelly

Bunk did a poor job of managing his money, so he was always pleading with his benefactors and even his sidemen for loans. He was an expert at manipulating people, especially wealthy fans who felt guilty about their comfortable situations compared to Bunk’s status as a poor southern African-American. Bunk played that part to the hilt whenever he put the touch on someone. In addition to money, he was able to talk his supporters out of everything from beer and cigarettes to an expensive carved pipe, a typewriter, and a shotgun with ammunition. 

Bunk’s nickname is another controversy. Several theories exist, but the most plausible may come from a story told by another New Orleans musician, Mutt Carey. At the Geary Theater concert in 1943, Bunk was backstage with some of Kid Ory’s musicians as well as some of the young San Franciscans, including clarinetist Bob Helm. Bunk may have wanted to enhance his status as a jazz pioneer in front of the Ory’s men and impress the younger musicians with his background. He told the assemblage, “I was the bugler for Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders. I blew ‘charge’ for them at San Juan Hill.” With a self-satisfied expression on his face, he walked away. Helm said, “I’d never heard that before.” Trumpeter Carey replied, “Why do you think we call him ‘Bunk’?” 

Johnson suffered from a stroke in late 1948 and died in New Iberia the following year. Johnson was a Catholic, and as of 2019 an annual Jazz Mass and procession was conducted in his hometown of New Iberia, beginning at St Edward Catholic Church and ending at Johnson's gravesite. 

(Edited from Wikipedia & Stanford Libraries)

Pete Rugolo born 26 December 1915

Pietro "Pete" Rugolo (December 25, 1915 – October 16, 2011) was an American jazz  arranger and record producer.  One of the most important American composers of the twentieth century who has registered 364 compositions with ASCAP, then moved to BMI where he logged a further 508 titles. 

Rugolo was born in San Piero Patti, Sicily. His family emigrated to the United States in 1920 and settled in Santa Rosa, California. He began his career in music playing the baritone horn, like his father, but he quickly branched out into other instruments, notably the French horn and the piano. He received a bachelor's degree from San Francisco State College and then went on to study composition with Darius Milhaud at Mills College in Oakland, California and earn his master's degree. 

After he graduated, he was hired as an arranger and composer by guitarist and bandleader Johnny Richards. He spent World War II playing with altoist Paul Desmond in an Army band. After the war, Rugolo worked for Stan Kenton. He and songwriter Joe Greene collaborated on songs that made Kenton's band one of America's most popular. The readers of Down Beat magazine voted Mr. Rugolo best arranger five times between 1947 and 1954. 

In 1949, Pete became musical director at Capitol records, where he produced recording sessions with big name jazz stars, including Miles Davis (he came up with the title of Davis's ground-breaking album "The Birth of the Cool"), Charlie Parker, Nat 'King' Cole, Dinah Washington, Mel Tormé, Ernestine Anderson, Harry Belafonte, Billy Eckstine and Peggy Lee. He continued a part-time collaboration with Kenton and also arranged for Kenton's former star vocalist June Christy on such albums as Something Cool, The Misty Miss Christy, Fair and Warmer!, Gone for the Day, and The Song Is June! 

                              

The 1950's were a busy decade for Rugolo. He had contractual affiliations with Columbia Records and briefly fronted his own band in 1954, featuring Patti Page as his vocalist. He also worked on film musicals at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer where he was employed as a staff composer/arranger on a number of musicals, including Kiss Me Kate (1953) and Easy to Love (1953). 

In the late 1950s he served as an A&R director for Mercury Records. Among his albums were Adventures in Rhythm, Introducing Pete Rugolo, Rugolomania, An Adventure in Sound: Reeds in Hi-Fi, and Music for Hi-Fi Bugs. Rugolo's arrangements for the album The Four Freshmen and Five Trombones propelled the group to recognition in jazz circles. It was their bestselling album. He also arranged for Sarah Vaughan. 

In 1962, he released an album of themes from popular television series, TV's Top Themes, which included his composition for the 1961 CBS sitcom Ichabod and Me. Rugolo's small combo jazz music featured in a couple of numbers in the film, Where the Boys Are (1960) under the guise of Frank Gorshin's "Dialectic Jazz Band".In the 1960s and 1970s, Rugolo did a great deal of work in television, contributing music to a number of series including Leave It to Beaver, Thriller, The Investigators, The Thin Man, Checkmate, The Fugitive, Run for Your Life, Felony Squad, The Bold Ones: The Lawyers, Alias Smith and Jones and Family.

He provided scores for a number of TV movies and a few theatrical films, such as Jack the Ripper (1959), The Sweet Ride (1968), Underground Aces (1981) Chu Chu and the Philly Flash (1981) and numerous others.  He was nominated for six Emmy Awards, of which he won three. Retiring in 1985, Rugolo was honoured in 1993 by receiving the Golden Score Award from the American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers. 

He came out of semi-retirement in 1997 to compose and conduct the score for "This World, Then the Fireworks," a thriller directed by Michael Oblowitz. This sound track demonstrated his gift for writing music that is both sophisticated and expressive.

Rugolo died at the age of 95 on October 16, 2011 in Sherman Oaks, California. 

(Edited from Wikipedia & IMDb) 

Below is a clip from a recording session for "MINOR RIFF" in Hollywood, California on February 19, 1999.  Arranged & Conducted by PETE RUGOLO.  Trumpets: FRANK SZABO (lead), BUDDY CHILDERS, CONTE CANDOLI (jazz solo) & PETE CANDOLI.  Trombones: ROY WIEGAND, GREG SOLOMON, JACK REDMOND, BILL TOLE & GEORGE ROBERTS (bass trombone).  Saxophones: STEVE WILKERSON (tenor solo), TERRY HARRINGTON, RAY REED (alto flute), JIM QUAM & JENNIFER HALL (baritone).  BARRY ZWEIG (guitar), JOHN LEITHAM (bass), CHUCK FLORES (drums) and JACK COSTANZO (congas).  Session produced by ROBERT HICKS, Michael James & Pete Rugolo for the TEXTURES IN HI-FI album.  Exclusive video by Clyde Yasuhara.  Trivia: Buddy Childers played on the original Capitol recording of MINOR RIFF back in 1947.

Chuck Wiley born 24 December 1937

Chuck Wiley (24 December 1937 – 2 December 2020) was a talented piano player and singer and until recently, one of the genuine mysteries of the original 1950's rock and roll scene. No photograph of him had ever surfaced until recently and after making some great records in the late fifties, he suddenly disappeared without a trace. 

 

Chuck Wiley was born Charles Estel Wiley in Cattlesburg, Kentucky, the son of a Baptist minister and a piano playing mother. Chuck was self-taught on piano and in the 1950s was bitten by the rock 'n' roll bug. His rasping voice was just right for the times and that, combined with his hot boogie piano playing, ensured him a healthy living as a musician. It's not easy to classify his style; he was clearly absorbing everything that was going on around him. In his NDT review, Chris Woodford writes that at times he sounds like Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis and sometimes like something in-between. On several of his tracks, especially the slower ones, there are clear New Orleans influences to be heard as well, almost in the swamp pop style. 

                              

Wiley auditioned for legendary Nashville music man Murray Nash, who was very impressed with Chuck's strong voice and his writing ability. During the 1957-1959 period he recorded some twenty different songs, most of which came from his own pen. Six singles were released, on four different labels : Spangle (2, including a single credited to The Rock-Its), United Artists (2, licensed from Spangle), Jax and MusiCenter. Highlights for me are the frantic "Come Back Baby" (probably recorded in 1958, but not released until 1965), "Door To Door", "Tear It Up", "I Wanna Dance All Night" and "It's Love". Piano-led rock 'n' roll doesn't get much better than this. Chuck played  piano on the majority of his own sessions, but Hargus 'Pig' Robbins played on all of his Nashville sessions, previous to that.  Other session musicians include Buddy Harman (drums), Wayne Moss (guitar) and Chuck Agee (guitar), the co-writer of "I Love You So Much" on Jax. 

His performing career started around 1957 in Daytona where he played with Ray Charles and several members of Count Basie's band. He then hired some of those members to play with him, which, at the time was very unusual since most clubs were all white and hiring black musicians was virtually unheard of. From there, Chuck went to Chicago and played on North Clark Street near Wrigley Field. It was here that he worked for the Glasson brothers, who ran clubs that had been owned by Al Capone. It was not long after that he was given his own club, the 8 O'Clock Club in Logan Square on the northwest side of Chicago. It had no business at all. Chuck tried all kinds of bands, but nothing would work. Then he found a black band on the southside of town. After only two nights the place was full. Then came trouble. 

The club next door was owned by the mob and Chuck was threatened with violence if he carried on with his new band so he abruptly left and went back to Dayton. Even there, the gangsters came looking for him, but he managed to get protection from the local police.  Dave Travis (in his liner notes for both the GeeDee CD and the Stomper Time CD "Nashville Rock 'n' Roll") writes that Chuck woke up in hospital, having been severely beaten up and left in a back alley, but according to Wiley that isn't true.

He changed his name to Johnny K. and was signed to Epic Records in 1969. "Charlie Rich was a friend who put me in touch with a manager, Betty Burger, next-door neighbour to Elvis Presley. Betty contacted Epic Records, who came to Evansville to see Chuck  After that, he was on contract with them. He played shows with Jerry Lee Lewis, Charlie Rich, B.J. Thomas and opened for Jimi Hendrix, who died the following year. 

According to Wiley, he recorded at least 25 songs for Epic ("in Memphis, Nashville, Muscle Shoals and Los Angeles"), but only three singles were released in 1969-1971, including remakes of "I Love You So Much" and "Right By My Side". These were credited to Johnny K. Wiley. Unfortunately, he had a car accident, which disfigured his face for almost a year. Although plastic surgeons restored his face, he was dropped by Epic Records’ He ended up in Evansville, Indiana, and had been living there where he played the clubs for the last 40 years. 

In 2002 Wiley married Alex and began to run his own recording studio, but near the end of the decade tragedy struck again. A fire destroyed his house. Wiley and Alex lost seven pianos, all their tape recordings and virtually all of their other belongings. Luckily, they were well insured. He and his wife volunteered and played piano at nursing homes across Evansville for several years. 

He was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in September 2011, and had lived in a nursing home since 2013. Chuck was tested positive for Covid-19 and was transferred to the Deaconess Midtown Hospital where he subsequently developed bronchial pneumonia and died 2 December 2020. 

(Edited from This Is My Story @ blackcat.nl & Sunset Evansville)