There was probably no one who played a greater role — or as many roles — in catalyzing rhythm & blues on the West Coast than Johnny Otis. Bandleader, club owner, producer, writer, label owner, DJ, singer, drummer, and vibraphonist, Otis was responsible for recording such artists as Charles Brown, Little Esther Phillips, and Big Mama Thornton, and off and on beginning in the ’40s led a revue that featured both big names and new discoveries, in comedy as well as music. Otis’ best known vocal recording was the 1958 rock ‘n’ roll hit “Willie and the Hand Jive,” but he usually preferred to put other singers out front, and the majority of his hits featured Little Esther and/or Mel Walker during the Otis aggregation’s peak of popularity in 1950-52. The Johnny Otis Show made a resurgence in the early ’70s with vocalists such as Delmar Evans, Big Joe Turner and Cleanhead Vinson heading an all-star cast which included Otis’ son Shuggie on guitar. In varying configurations the Otis crew periodically regrouped to tour and record in the midst of the leader’s other pursuits, which grew to include hosting a TV show, writing books on race and music, painting, sculpting and publishing a book of artwork, teaching, and preaching at his own church. Otis was born John Veliotes, on Dec, 28, 1921, in Vallejo, California. Although Otis came from a Greek family, he chose to marry a black woman in 1941 and live as a member of the African American community. Traveling with African American bands on tours of the South during the years of segregation, producer Ralph Bass recalled that Otis “passed” as a light-skinned black man in order to avoid official harassment (or more dangerous consequences). Otis died on Jan. 17, 2013, at his home in Altadena, California, survived by his widow, Phyllis, and their children.
— Jim O’Neal
www.bluesoterica.com