Johnny Maddox
Encyclopedia
Johnny Maddox is a ragtime
pianist
and collector of ragtime memorabilia.
His interest in the era of ragtime and blues
was fueled by his Aunt Zula Cothron. She played ragtime piano at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition
in St. Louis, and taught Johnny to play. Johnny played his first public concert when he was only five and began his professional career at the age of twelve.
In 1950 Maddox worked with his friend, Randy Wood
, at Randy’s Record Shop in Gallatin when Randy launched Dot Records
. Maddox became the first artist to record for Dot Records, and his instant first success helped build the label into one of the most successful labels in the 1950s. His very first single "Crazy Bone Rag" with "St. Louis Tickle” on the flip side sold over 22,000 copies in five weeks. He continued to record for Dot through its acquisition by MCA
into the 1970s. During his career with Dot and MCA, Johnny recorded 50 albums and 87 singles. From these he racked up nine gold records with total record sales of over 11,000,000.
In 1955 Maddox recorded "The Crazy Otto Medley
," made up of pieces written by German comic performer Fritz Schulz-Reichel
under the persona Otto der Schräge. It spent 14 weeks at #2 and became the first million-selling ragtime record, eventually selling more than two million copies. Crazy Otto soon became Maddox's nickname, as well as Schulz-Reichel's. In fact, the reference to Crazy Otto in the Grateful Dead
song "Ramble on Rose" is a reference to Maddox. Creedence Clearwater Revival
also did a song called "Crazy Otto", although it is not known if this is a reference to Maddox.
Maddox still performs annual concerts in Durango, Colorado
.
Ragtime
Ragtime is an original musical genre which enjoyed its peak popularity between 1897 and 1918. Its main characteristic trait is its syncopated, or "ragged," rhythm. It began as dance music in the red-light districts of American cities such as St. Louis and New Orleans years before being published...
pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
and collector of ragtime memorabilia.
His interest in the era of ragtime and blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
was fueled by his Aunt Zula Cothron. She played ragtime piano at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition
Louisiana Purchase Exposition
The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the Saint Louis World's Fair, was an international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States in 1904.- Background :...
in St. Louis, and taught Johnny to play. Johnny played his first public concert when he was only five and began his professional career at the age of twelve.
In 1950 Maddox worked with his friend, Randy Wood
Randy Wood
Randy Wood may refer to:*Randy Wood , American artist*Randy Wood , American ice hockey player*Randy Wood , American recording executive; founder of Dot Records...
, at Randy’s Record Shop in Gallatin when Randy launched Dot Records
Dot Records
Dot Records was an American record label and company that was active between 1950 and 1977. It was founded by Randy Wood. In Gallatin, Tennessee, Wood had earlier started a mail order record shop, known for its radio ads on WLAC in Nashville and its R&B air personality Bill "Hoss" Allen...
. Maddox became the first artist to record for Dot Records, and his instant first success helped build the label into one of the most successful labels in the 1950s. His very first single "Crazy Bone Rag" with "St. Louis Tickle” on the flip side sold over 22,000 copies in five weeks. He continued to record for Dot through its acquisition by MCA
Music Corporation of America
MCA, Inc. was an American talent agency. Initially starting in the music business, they would next become a dominant force in the film business, and later expanded into the television business...
into the 1970s. During his career with Dot and MCA, Johnny recorded 50 albums and 87 singles. From these he racked up nine gold records with total record sales of over 11,000,000.
In 1955 Maddox recorded "The Crazy Otto Medley
The Crazy Otto Medley
"The Crazy Otto Medley" is a 1955 ragtime recording made by pianist Johnny Maddox.The song is actually a medley of several pieces of music originally recorded by the German comic performer Fritz Schulz-Reichel under the pseudonym of Otto der Schrage....
," made up of pieces written by German comic performer Fritz Schulz-Reichel
Fritz Schulz-Reichel
Fritz Schulz-Reichel was a German jazz and pop pianist.Schulz-Reichel's father was a classical musician, and he began playing piano at the age of six...
under the persona Otto der Schräge. It spent 14 weeks at #2 and became the first million-selling ragtime record, eventually selling more than two million copies. Crazy Otto soon became Maddox's nickname, as well as Schulz-Reichel's. In fact, the reference to Crazy Otto in the Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
song "Ramble on Rose" is a reference to Maddox. Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival was an American rock band that gained popularity in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a number of successful singles drawn from various albums....
also did a song called "Crazy Otto", although it is not known if this is a reference to Maddox.
Maddox still performs annual concerts in Durango, Colorado
Durango, Colorado
The City of Durango is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of La Plata County, Colorado, United States. The United States Census Bureau said that the city population was 16,887 in 2010 census.-History:...
.
Trivia
- Upon hearing him play in 1952, W.C. Handy is reported to have called Maddox "the white boy with the colored fingers."
- Referenced in the Hoagy CarmichaelHoagy CarmichaelHoward Hoagland "Hoagy" Carmichael was an American composer, pianist, singer, actor, and bandleader. He is best known for writing "Stardust", "Georgia On My Mind", "The Nearness of You", and "Heart and Soul", four of the most-recorded American songs of all time.Alec Wilder, in his study of the...
composition "Crazy Otto Rag"
- In 1954, Maddox was voted America's Number One Jukebox Artist by the Music Operators Association.
- An avid collector of ragtime memorabilia, he has amassed a collection of over 30,000 recordsGramophone recordA gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
, wax cylinders, and piano rollPiano rollA piano roll is a music storage medium used to operate a player piano, piano player or reproducing piano. A piano roll is a continuous roll of paper with perforations punched into it. The peforations represent note control data...
s, as well as a sheet musicSheet musicSheet music is a hand-written or printed form of music notation that uses modern musical symbols; like its analogs—books, pamphlets, etc.—the medium of sheet music typically is paper , although the access to musical notation in recent years includes also presentation on computer screens...
collection of over 200,000 pieces, some 3,000 of which he claims to have committed to memory.
- Maddox has been honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of FameHollywood Walk of FameThe Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
.
- The flipside of "The Crazy Otto Medley," entitled "Eight Beat Boogie," is an updated arrangement of Tommy Dorsey's and Pinetop Smith's "Boogie Woogie," and became a popular disc jockey theme song used often up to the 1970s.