Johnny Horton
Johnny Horton, born John Gale Horton on April 30, 1925, in Los Angeles, California, was a prominent honky tonk singer of the 1950s, renowned for his historically themed narrative songs. He was the son of sharecropping parents who frequently moved between California and Texas during his childhood. Horton's mother taught him to play the guitar at age 11, and he graduated high school in 1944, briefly attending a Methodist seminary before leaving to travel across the country. In 1949, he moved to Alaska to work as a fisherman and began writing songs.
In 1950, Horton returned to east Texas and won a talent contest hosted by Jim Reeves, which inspired him to pursue a music career. He caught the attention of Fabor Robison, who became his manager and secured him a recording contract with Corman Records, which soon folded. Robison then founded Abbott Records to record Horton, but his early records did not achieve chart success. Horton performed on Los Angeles TV shows and hosted a radio show in Pasadena as "the Singing Fisherman."
By the end of 1951, Horton moved to Shreveport, Louisiana, joining the Louisiana Hayride. He was mentored by Hank Williams and married Williams' widow, Billie Jean, in 1953. Despite regular performances, Horton's recording career struggled until 1955, when he hired Tillman Franks as his manager and signed with Columbia Records. His first Columbia session produced "Honky Tonk Man," which became a classic.
Tragically, Horton's career was cut short when he died in a car crash on November 5, 1960, in Milano, Texas. Despite his brief career, his music continued to influence the country genre for decades.
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