Johnny Adams

Simply one of the greatest male voices ever caught on tape. Adams was known as "the Tan Canary" for his extraordinary set of soulfully soaring pipes. Adams sang gospel professionally before crossing over to the secular world in 1959. Songwriter Dorothy LaBostrie convinced her neighbor, Adams, to record her "I Won't Cry" produced by Mac Rebbennack (Dr. John) for Ric Records. The single was a regional hit, followed by a couple others like "A Losing Battle". There were no more hits from 1962 until 1968 when Adams released a knockout version of "Release Me" that cracked the R & B Top 40 and even made the pop charts at #82. There were some other charters but Adams never enjoyed the breakout success he deserved although the country-soul classic "Reconsider Me" made the R&B Top Ten. From 1970 onward Adams recorded sparingly until being signed by Rounder Records in 1984. From there he released a steady stream of quality discs ranging between jazz, blues, soul and jazzy-soul. He died of cancer in 1998

Album Discography

"Heart & Soul" (SSS 1969)

"I Won't Cry" (Ric 1971; Rounder 1992)

"A Christmas With Johnny Adams (Ace 1975)

N/R Johnny doing holiday standards.

"Stand By Me" (Chelsea/Hep Me 1976)

"After All The Good Is Gone" (Ariola 1978)

Information needed on this LP.

"From The Heart" (Rounder 1984)

"After Dark" (Rounder 1985)

"Room With A View Of The Blues" (Rounder 1987)

"Walking On A Tightrope" (Rounder 1989)

"The Real Me: Johnny Adams Sings Doc Pomus" (Rounder 1991)

"Greatest Performance" (Ace 1993)

18 tracks recorded in the late 70s and early 80s with Senator Jones. The styles are all over the place from the maudlin "Feelings" to the discofied "Feel The Beat". As always Johnny sings beautifully and it's a good companion peace to Mardi Gras' compilation "New Orleans Rhythm & Blues" which collects the first batch of material recorded with Jones. There are only a handful of overlapping tracks. If you don't have "Stairway To Heaven" (not the Led Zeppelin song) you simply must hear this stunning cut.

"Good Morning Heartache" (Rounder 1993)

A host of jazz standards. Will have limited appeal to soul music fans but he does do Ray Charles' "Jealous Kind".

"The Verdict" (Rounder 1995)

"Best Of New Orleans Rhythm & Blues" (Mardis Gras 1995)

17 tracks recorded with Senator Jones circa 1976 taken mostly from his "Stand By Me" album. Lots of fine renditions of R & B classics like "Stand By Me", "Don't Let The Green Grass Fool You", "Tell It Like It Is" & "Nothing Takes The Place Of You". Of course some of the covers are superfluous. The discofied version of "Spanish Harlem" is particularly forgettable. The album is not polished- it almost seems like a jam session at times- a loose band feel, such as the wild "Stand By Me". Not perfect by any means but essential for fans of the "tan canary".

"Reconsider Me" (Collectibles 1996)

18 tracks drawn from his 1962-1969 years with Shelby Singleton's SSS label. It shares the majority of it's tracks with "Heart & Soul" but is less preferred overall.

"One Foot In The Blues" (Rounder 1996)

"Man Of My Word" (Rounder 1998)

"The Immortal Soul Of" (Aim 1999)

Another collection of material recorded 1976-1983 with Senator Jones that shares tracks with "New Orleans Rhythm & Blues" and "Greatest Performance". The music here is mostly good of course but the package pales compared to those other releases and there's nothing covered here that was missed there. It's budget price makes for a good introduction to Johnny, however.

"There Is Always One More Time" (Rounder 2000)

This is a 15-track compilation of material he recorded for Rounder Records 1984-1998 and it could be considered a "best of" package. That's not to say this is the best of that period as the tracklist was careful to include at least one track from each of the 11 albums Adams cut for the label and that leaves some great ones out ("She's Everything To Me", "The Real Me", etc..). What it does include is a cross-section of Johnny's various styles. You have blues ("One Foot In The Blues"), deep soul ("Even Now"), jazz ("Walking On A Tight Rope"), standards ("But Not For Me"), cabaret ("A Lot Of Livin' To Do"), pop ("Lover's Will"), even gospel ("Never Alone" with Aaron Neville). Plus there's a few tracks not on any of his albums- "I Don't Know" with Ruth Brown, "I'll Only Miss Her When I Think Of Her" with Alvin "Red" Tyler" and the unreleased Doc Pomus/Dr. John song "Happy Hard Times".

"Released: A Memorial Album"(RPM 2001)

The most comprehensive of the many retrospectives released on Johnny Adams, this 24-track disc covers his work from 1968's "Release Me" to his Senator Jones material from 1983. While it does include his biggest hits ("Reconsider Me", "Release Me", "I Won't Cry") it's missing too many essential tracks from his 60s period (like "A Losing Battle") in place of some mediocre tracks from his late 70s period (like "Chasing Rainbows") so it's not definitive by any means. Still, there's outstanding songs and performances here and the album is terrific as it is. If you are hoping for the "ultimate Johnny Adams" compilation it hasn't materialized yet. Being that he recorded for almost four decades and the majority of his material was fabulous perhaps only a box set could do the trick.

"The Great Johnny Adams Blues Album" (Rounder 2005)

It was a deft idea to collect some of Johnny's bluesiest moments onto one disc. Being that he mastered a dizzying array of styles from Deep Soul to Jazz to Pop to R & B to Lounge, etc.. it must've been hard to contain his talent on any one CD thus the majority of his albums exhibit a cornucopia of moods. There's already two straight jazz records in his Rounder canon ("The Verdict" & "Good Morning Heartache") and one Soul-leaning album ("Man Of My Word") so an all blues project feels like providence. Of course "Room With A View To The Blues" could arguably be that album already. Nevertheless, Johnny's ethereal voice wails in, out and around these 11 tracks extracted from most of his Rounder records. Two of the tracts are from "Room" such as "Not Trustworthy ("A Lying Woman" and "Room With A View"), three from "From The Heart" ("Scarred Knees", "Road Block", Laughing & Clowning"), two from "The Real Me" ("Imitation Of Love", "My Baby's Quit Me"), two from "After Dark" ("Garbage Man", "Fortune Teller"), two from "Walking On A Tightrope" ("My Heart Is Hangin' Heavy", "Danger Zone") and one from "Man Of My Word" ("This Time I'm Gone For Good"). Be warned though and make sure you have enough money. After buying this you're gonna want a whole bunch of Johnny Adams albums.

"The Great Johnny Adams R & B Album" (Rounder 2006)