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HORTON, JOHNNY (1925-1960).
John Gale “Johnny” Horton, singer, was born in Los Angeles,
California, the son of John Lolly and Ella Claudia Horton, on
April 30, 1925. His parents moved back and forth from Los
Angeles to East Texas during his early years.
Johnny graduated from high
school in Gallatin, Texas, and attended junior college in
Jacksonville and Kilgore. He earned a basketball scholarship
to Baylor University in Waco and went from there to Seattle
University.
After college, Horton worked
in Alaska and California in the fishing industry. In 1950 he
began singing country music in Pasadena on KXLA, and then
proceeded to Cliffie Stone's “Hometown Jamboree” on KLAC-TV.
He joined the Louisiana Hayride in 1955 and performed under
the name The Singing Fisherman.
Companies he recorded with
included Mercury, Dot, and Columbia. Horton was known for his
versatility, but his specialty was honky-tonk. In 1956 he had
his first hit, “Honky Tonk Man.” His first number-one
recording in country was “When It's Springtime in Alaska,”
released in 1959. At that time both country and popular-music
radio stations began playing his music.
He became famous primarily for
his saga songs, and influenced a brief trend of popularity for
these historical and patriotic numbers. He achieved national
recognition when some of his songs made the popular hit
parade. His more popular saga songs, including “The Battle of
New Orleans” and “Sink the Bismarck,” reached positions on
both country and pop charts.
Despite his crossover appeal,
Horton remained entrenched in the country music scene and had
only moderate success. On November 5, 1960, in Milano, Texas,
he died in an automobile accident while traveling to
Shreveport, Louisiana. His wife, Billie Jean (Jones) Horton,
became a widow for the second time, as she had been married
previously to Hank Williams.
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