Oral history interview with Joe and Mary Ann Johnson; 1992 January 31; interview conducted by John W. Rumble. 1992 Jan. 31.

ArchivalResource

Johnson, Joe, 1927- ;. Oral history interview with Joe and Mary Ann Johnson; 1992 January 31; interview conducted by John W. Rumble.

Oral history interview with Joe and Mary Ann Johnson; 1992 January 31; interview conducted by John W. Rumble. 1992 Jan. 31.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/232361969

Music industry executive Joe Johnson discusses the various enterprises with which he has been involved. Topics discussed include playing poker with Si Siman; how Gene Autry hired Merle Travis; driving from Nashville to Los Angeles to meet Gene Autry to discuss working for him; signing writers to Autry's publishing company Golden West Melodies; starting JAT Music with Johnny Thompson and Gene Autry; the Challenge Records partnership with Gene Autry; their first national hit, "So Tough," by the Cuff Links; the finances of a record label; his own management company, Advance Artists; making records with the Knickerbockers, Leon Russell, and Jerry Wallace; attempts to sign Patsy Cline; lawsuit over ownership of "Tequila"; signing Carl Belew; purchase of 4 Star Records and its affiliated music publishing company; working with Donna Fargo, Wayne Newton, and Jan and Dean; deal with 3M Company to produce background music, as competitors to Muzak; differences between the English music market and the American music market; and the pro-celebrity golf tournament he started in Nashville in the mid 1960's and the deals that resulted from it.

4 sound cassettes (2 hours, 18 minutes)

Country Music Foundation, Library & Media Center