John LaGale "Johnny" Horton (April 30, 1925 - November 5, 1960) was an American country, honky tonk, and rockabilly musician during the 1950s.
He is best known for a series of history-inspired narrative country saga songs that became international hits. His 1959 single “The Battle of New Orleans” was awarded the 1960 Grammy Award for Best Country & Western Recording. The song was awarded the Grammy Hall of Fame Award and in 2001 ranked No. 333 of the Recording Industry Association of America’s “Songs of the Century”.
Horton had two successes in 1960 with both “Sink the Bismarck” and “North to Alaska”, the latter used over the opening credits to the John Wayne film of the same name. Horton died in November 1960 at the peak of his fame in a traffic collision, less than two years after his breakthrough.
Although he is better remembered for historical saga songs such as The Battle Of New Orleans, Johnny Reb, Sink The Bismarck and North To Alaska, Johnny Horton was one of the best and most popular honky-tonk singers of the late 1950s. He managed to infuse honky-tonk with an urgent rockabilly underpinning.
His career may have been cut short by a fatal car crash in 1960, but his music has continued to reverberate throughout the next five decades. Echoes of Horton’s music can still be heard in today’s honky-tonk and country-rock music.
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In recent years the vibrant rockin’ country music of Horton has been revived by various artists. Honky Tonk Man became Dwight Yoakam’s first hit, Marty Stuart revived The Wild One and George Jones did an outstanding revival of One Woman Man.
With The Battle Of New Orleans, a Jimmie Driftwood song based on the old fiddle tune known as The 8th Of January, Johnny Horton produced one of the biggest-selling records of 1959.
Johnny Horton in 1956
Early Life and Career Beginnings
Horton was born on April 30, 1925, in Los Angeles, the youngest of the five children of John Loly Horton and Ella Claudia Robinson, and raised in Rusk in Cherokee County in East Texas. His family often traveled between East Texas and Southern California to work as migrant farm workers.
After he graduated from high school in Gallatin, Texas, in 1944, Horton attended Lon Morris Junior College in Jacksonville, Texas, on a basketball scholarship. After a short stint studying geology in Seattle in 1948, Horton went to Alaska to look for gold. During this period, he began writing songs.
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Returning south, he entered and won a talent contest in Henderson, Texas. His guest appearances on Cliffie Stone's Hometown Jamboree on KXLA-AM and KLAC-TV in Pasadena and his own half-hour show The Singing Fisherman led to the opportunity to record some songs on the Cormac record label.
By the time the company folded in 1952, Horton had recorded 10 singles for that label. Fabor Robison, owner of Abbott Records, acquired the master recordings. By this time, Horton was appearing regularly on Louisiana Hayride, so Donna and he moved to Shreveport, Louisiana, where the show was recorded.
He also signed a contract with Mercury Records and began recording. His first song for that label, "First Train Headin' South" with B-side "(I Wished for an Angel) The Devil Sent Me You" (Mercury 6412), received good reviews.
His new backup band, the Rowley Trio, and he began touring under the name the Singing Fisherman and the Rowley Trio in 1952, eventually changing the name to Johnny Horton and the Roadrunners. The group included Horton as lead singer and Jerry Rowley on fiddle, as well Rowley's wife Evelyn on piano and his sister Vera (Dido) on guitars. The constant touring was hard on Horton's marriage, and Donna moved back to Los Angeles.
On September 26, 1953, Horton married Billie Jean Jones, widow of Hank Williams, who had died on January 1, 1953.
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Horton parted ways with the Rowley trio, but continued to appear occasionally on Louisiana Hayride. His contract with Mercury expired in late 1954, with his recording of "All for the Love of a Girl" (Mercury 70227) being his bestseller, at 35,000 to 45,000 copies.
Horton, himself always an avid fisherman, got a job in a tackle shop and put his music career on hiatus, but by the following year, his new manager and bassist Tillman Franks had obtained Horton a one-year contract with Columbia Records.
They traveled to Nashville in a borrowed car for their first recording session. "Honky-Tonk Man" was recorded on January 11, 1956, at the Bradley Film and Recording Studios in Nashville, one of four songs Horton recorded that day.
Session musicians on the recording were Grady Martin and Harold Bradley, as well as Bill Black (at the time Presley's bassist). Soon afterwards, "Honky-Tonk Man" was released as a single (Columbia label: 4-21504) paired with another song from the same session, "I'm Ready if You're Willing".
Their review of "I'm Ready if You're Willing" was also positive: "Horton sings out this cheerful material with amiable personality.
Horton returned to the studio on May 23, but the "A" side of his next single, "I'm a One-Woman Man" (Columbia 21538), was one of the songs recorded back in January. The "B" side was "I Don't Like I Did". Billboard described "One-Woman Man" as a "smart and polished job," and Horton as "singing with a light, airy touch.
"I'm Coming Home" / "I Got A Hole in My Pirogue" (Columbia 40813) was released around this time, as well.
The Battle of New Orleans
Rise to Fame and Hit Songs
Later major successes include the song "The Battle of New Orleans" (written by Jimmy Driftwood), which was awarded the 1960 Grammy Award for Best Country & Western Recording.
Having discovered a winning formula, Horton concentrated solely on folk-based story songs and scored with the double-sided Johnny Reb and Sal’s Got A Sugar Lip, Sink The Bismarck (inspired by the movie which was based on the sinking of the German battleship in World War II), and North To Alaska from the John Wayne movie of the same name.
Here's a table showcasing some of Johnny Horton's most popular songs:
| Title | Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Honky Tonk Man | 1956 | Horton's first hit |
| I'm a One-Woman Man | 1956 | Another top ten hit |
| The Battle of New Orleans | 1959 | Grammy Award-winning song |
| Sink the Bismarck | 1960 | Inspired by the movie |
| North to Alaska | 1960 | From the John Wayne movie |
The Battle of New Orleans
Personal Life and Premonition
Horton was married twice. On November 5, 1960, while driving home to Shreveport after a concert in Austin, Texas, a drunk driver hit his car head on.
Horton was pronounced dead at St. Joseph's Hospital in Milano, Texas. The singer died on the way to the hospital and whilst he other passengers in his car had severe injuries, they all survived.
At the time, Horton told close friends that he was going to die violently and fairly soon. Sadly, his premonition came true.
The funeral was held in Shreveport on November 8, 1960, officiated by Franks' younger brother William Derrel "Billy" Franks, a Church of God minister.
Legacy
Johnny Horton left behind a recorded legacy that has proved to be quite influential. Even such non-hits as The Wild One and Honky Tonk Hardwood Floor, were masterpieces which even burn today with an energy that 50 years cannot erode.
His records continued to sell throughout the 1960s. There were numerous album collections and compilations and fellow singer and close friend, Claude King, recorded a tribute album, I REMEMBER JOHNNY HORTON, in 1969. In 1983 a biography, Your Singing Fisherman, was published.
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