Johnnie Strickland
Johnnie Strickland (born June 23, 1935 in Weldon , North Carolina , † June 13, 1994 in Halifax , North Carolina), also known as Johnny Strickland , was an American rockabilly and rock 'n' roll musician.
Life
Not much is known about Strickland's life. Music journalists like Bill Millar or Adam Komorowski, experts in the field of rock'n'roll, have so far been unsuccessful in finding out more biographical data. Strickland was from North Carolina and made his first recordings in 1958 in Nashville , Tennessee . For Roulette Records he recorded the single She's Mine / You've Got What It Takes (with Hank Garland on guitar), which was released in November 1958. Good sales in the US prompted the record company to release Strickland's single in Europe , where the record was only released in limited numbers.
Strickland's subsequent singles, however, failed to repeat or surpass their success. In early 1961, his last single That's Baby / Fool's Hall of Fame was released , as Roulette did not renew his contract. All sessions were recorded in Nashville with studio musicians. Strickland also worked as a songwriter during these years. With Thomas Lawrence, probably a friend of Strickland, he wrote many of his own songs such as She's Mine and also composed Born to Rock , which was recorded by John Ashley for Dot Records .
After that, Strickland did not record any more songs. According to Bill Millar, he recorded a total of ten songs for Roulette, which suggests that there are some previously unreleased songs by Strickland in the Roulette archives. In 1988, all eight songs were released on a double LP with Jimmy C. Newman under the title Carry On . Due to a misprint on some records of his first roulette single, which spelled his first name Johnny , he was also misspelled on many compilations since the 1970s, so that the second (and generally more common) spelling became established.
Strickland died in 1994.
Discography
| year | title | Label # |
|---|---|---|
| 1958 | She's Mine / You've Got What It Takes | Roulette R-4119 |
| 1959 | Don't Leave Me Lonely / I've Heard That Line Before | Roulette R-4147 |
| 1960 | Sweet Talkin 'Baby (She's So Good to Me) / My Truly True Love | Roulette R-4221 |
| 1961 | That's Baby / Fool's Hall of Fame | Roulette R-4335 |
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Strickland, Johnnie |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Strickland, Johnny |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American rockabilly and rock'n'roll musician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 23, 1935 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Weldon , North Carolina |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 13, 1994 |
| Place of death | Halifax , North Carolina |