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Artist
Johnny Adams
12+ albums
bluessoulNew Orleansrhythm and bluesjazz
about
January 5, 1932 - September 14, 1998 American blues singer from New Orleans, Louisiana. He was known as "The Tan Canary" for the amazing range of his singing voice and his gospel influenced style. He began his career singing gospel, but crossed over to secular music in 1959 and scored a national hit with the single "I Won't Cry." That was followed by a string of regional hits in the 1960s which included "Release Me" and "Reconsider Me." In the 1980s and 1990s Adams recorded several award-winning albums for Rounder Records. He died in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1998 after a long battle with cancer (2) Renowned around his Crescent City home base as "the Tan Canary" for his extraordinary set of soulfully soaring pipes, veteran R&B vocalist Johnny Adams tackled an exceptionally wide variety of material for Rounder in his later years; elegantly rendered tribute albums to legendary songwriters Doc Pomus and Percy Mayfield preceded forays into mellow, jazzier pastures. But then, Adams was never particularly into the parade-beat grooves that traditionally define the New Orleans R&B sound, preferring to deliver sophisticated soul ballads draped in strings. Adams sang gospel professionally before crossing over to the secular world in 1959. Songwriter Dorothy LaBostrie -- the woman responsible for cleaning up the bawdy lyrics of Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti" enough for worldwide consumption -- convinced her neighbor, Adams, to sing her tasty ballad "I Won't Cry." The track, produc
top songs
albums
Heart and Soul
Man of My Word
Johnny Adams Sings Doc Pomus: The Real Me
The Great Johnny Adams Blues Album
Reconsider Me: Golden Classics Edition
Heart & Soul
Walking on a Tightrope - The Songs of Percy Mayfield
Introduction To Johnny Adams
I Won't Cry
Christmas in New Orleans with Johnny Adams
One Foot in the Blues
Room with a View of the Blues