Johnnie Morisette born 1 July 1935

Johnnie Morisette (1st July 1935 – 1st Aug 2000) was a singer, songwriter and showman who spent a good deal of his career on the underbelly of society. Throughout the early 1960’s and into the early 1970’s, he issued at least twenty 45’s. 

Most of R&B reference books state that Morisette was born either on Montu or Manui Island in the American Samoa island chain of the South Pacific although he claimed that he was born 50 miles from Rio on Lui Island (which apparently cannot be found on any map). In his infancy he lived with his Godmother in Mobile, Alabama where he first attended Williamson Elementary before going to Owens Junior High where he both sang in and took solos with the school choir. 

He grew up listening to the Grand Ole Opry but against his Godmothers wishes he tuned into Gene Nobles blues programmes on Nashville WLAC radio. He learned to mimic the vocal timbres of Percy Mayfield, Charles Brown, Roy Brown, Roy Milton and Billy Eckstine, which he used during later public engagements. It was not long before Morisette was singing lead in his first gospel quartet Bells Of Heaven from Mobile then the Harmonious Harmonettes. He was introduced to Dr. Gizmo who ran a talent show on WMOZ where Morisette always came out on top. 

It was Dr.Gizmo who christened him “Two Voice” as he was able to split his voice by singing in natural and falsetto simultaneously; something that a select number of gospel soloists were able to perfect. One of Morisettes exploits included singing in local clubs and was asked to open for Guitar Slim at Club Harlem, After this, word got around and he wound up opening for Roy Brown, Earl King, Smiley Lewis and Larry Darnell as well as jamming with R&B bands such as Buddy Johnson and Joe Morris. It was around this time he had his first encounter with Sam Cooke. 

                                  

By 1953 Mobile had become too small for Morisette’s talents so he hitched rides to New Orleans and met up with Little Richard. He then hiked to Los Angeles and somehow managed to live on the roof of the Oasis where the action was. He befriended Bordu Ali, who was the manager of Johnny Otis and allowed Morisette to jam with the band. Dootsie Williams of Dootone Records heard him and signed him up. Instead of being a solo singer he was placed in front of a vocal group and named Johnnie Two-Voice & The Medallions, cutting two sides in 1955. In 1956 he duetted with Marsha Ann Johnson with his own compositions “Friends until the End b/w After School Date” on the Chart label. 

Sam Cooke and Johnnie Morisette

In 1959 he sang with the Robins for a short period then met up with Sam Cooke again. Cooke changed the stage name of Johnnie Two-Voice to Johnnie Morisette (his real chosen name) and signed him to his own record label SAR. His biggest hit was “Meet Me At The Twisting Place” which peaked at #18 on Billboards R&B chart also #63 on the Billboard Hot 100.The success of this hit took Morisette all over the nation. When Sam Cooke was killed, in December 1964, Morisette fell into a state of shock which took him on a ten year downward slide into a drunken depression. 

During the Watts riots of 1965 Morisette fled to San Fransisco where he recorded four sides for Bay-Tone Records and the following year one single for Convoy without much success, and then he faded into total obscurity. 

It wasn’t until June 1970 that he sang duet with Mickey Champion resulting in two singles for the Checker label. In 1974 he released the album “Hell All the Way” on the Convoy label. In 1996 after much of his life drinking alcohol, heavy smoking and rock cocaine, Morisette suffered a heart attack and underwent bypass surgery which slowed him down with reliance on a portable respirator. This did not stop him from song writing which he continued to do until his death in San Francisco, California, on 1st August 2000.

(Edited from Opal Nations article & Discogs)