Johnny Otis was born in Vallejo, California, in 1921. His parents Alexander J. Veliotes and Irene Veliotes (nee Kiskakes) were from Greece; they named him Ioannis Alexandres. He grew up in Berkeley in a largely Black community, with whom he identified. He has written: “As a kid I decided that if our society dictated that one had to be black or white, I would be black.”
During his teens he bought a drum kit and joined the West Oakland House Rockers, a local band. He married Phyllis Walker in 1941, at the age of nineteen. Phyllis was eighteen. Because she was of African American and Filipino descent, the marriage took place in Reno, Nevada, where such a union was permissible. They later had four children, Shuggie, Nicholas, Janice and Laura.
Meanwhile, Ioannis was developing his career in music as Johnny Otis. He played in a number of swing orchestras in the early forties, before forming his own band in 1945. Some well-known performers came to join him, including at various times singer Wynonie Harris, pianists Charles Brown and Bill Doggett, tenor saxophonist Illinois Jacquet, and alto saxophonist Rene Bloch.
In 1947 he and Bardu Ali opened a club in the Watts area of Los Angeles which they called the Barrelhouse Club. Otis hired vocalists Mel Walker and Little Esther, along with the Robins (later to be renamed the Coasters) and embarked on a series of tours across the USA, calling themselves the California Rhythm and Blues Caravan. The orchestra appeared that same year on the bill of the third annual Cavalcade of Jazz at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles along with some important West Coast musicians including T-Bone Walker, the Three Blazers, Sarah Vaughn, and the Honeydrippers.
Otis was now in position to widen his scope. He began to play vibraphone, started organising recording sessions, began writing songs. Later he became a radio DJ and hosted his own TV show. In the course of this expansion in his work portfolio, Otis came across a host of talented young performers, whom he tried to help. He “discovered” saxophonist Big Jay McNeely, Johnny Ace, Big Mama Thornton, Jackie Wilson, Etta James, Sugar Pie DeSanto, Little Willie John, and others!
At the same time, his own career was developing well. He cut his first single for Excelsior in 1945, accompanying Jimmy Rushing. He then recorded a series of singles for Excelsior before playing on a few tracks for Exclusive with Joe Swift on lead vocal.
“Harlem Nocturne” was a great success in 1947. In 1950, Otis moved to Regent Records, a subsidiary of Savoy Records, and then switched to Savoy, where he achieved a major breakthrough. “Double Crossing Blues”, “Mistrustin’ Blues” and “Cupid’s Boogie” on the Savoy label all went to number one on the Billboard R&B Singles Chart. Over the next five years Otis had singles issued by Federal, Duke, Peacock and Mercury.
However, there was still one thing missing from his CV. He didn’t have his own record label. The gap was filled in 1955 when he established Ultra Records in Los Angeles with Frank Gallo, Eddie Mesner and Leo Mesner (the owners of Aladdin Records), with three names on the roster: Preston Love And His Orchestra, Tony Allen And Barbara, and Cell Foster And The Audios. A handful of singles were released in 1955, featuring orchestral R&B instrumentals from the Preston Love Orchestra, an R&B swinging duet from Tony Allen and Barbara, and a slow Doo-Wop ballad from Cell Foster And the Audios. The tracks were recorded in the main at Otis’ own studio, which he had set up in his home.
During 1955, Ultra became Dig Records, probably to avoid a label name clash, and a year or two later Otis became the sole owner of the label. Around forty singles and four LPs were issued between 1955 and 1958, when Otis retired the label, having signed a new contract with Capitol Records.
The Dig singles centre label underwent a few changes over the company’s short life. The early releases are maroon and silver or plain maroon, while later issues are blue and silver, followed by a pink version.
The Dig roster consisted of around twenty acts, covering a little Jazz, some Blues, one Boogie-Woogie, quite a lot of Doo-Wop, some Pop and some R&B. The collection is an excellent compendium of the various genres of music that were popular amongst the Black community of Los Angeles.
The Pop contributions came from Mel Williams, Tony Allen, Billy Mann and The Premiers. The Doo-Wop was provided by the Tears, Lawrence Stone, Little Julien Herrera, Arthur Lee Maye, and the Gladiators.
Johnny Otis and His Orchestra recorded a dozen singles for his label, with a variety of lead singers for some. Others are R&B instrumental tracks, such as “The Midnite Creeper” from 1956 or “Wa Wa” from 1957 with its unusual wah-wah saxophone lead. The best of the dance tracks is “The Night Is Young (And You’re So Fine)” from 1957.
More R&B dance tracks came from Julie Stevens & the Premiers, Little Arthur Matthews, Billy Robbins, and Larry Waters.
There were also some excellent Blues tracks recorded at Dig. Larry Waters started the ball rolling with “Don’t Tell Me That You Love Me” in 1955. Guitarist Abe Moore added slow Blues instrumentals “S And J” and “Moore Boogie” in 1956. Always on the look-out for new talent, Otis found Alex Spearman via one of his talent shows. Spearman was a sailor, whose ship came to Los Angeles in 1956, giving him the opportunity to sing at the Otis talent contest. When he won it, Otis recorded a few tracks, calling Spearman Sailor Boy. Maybe he had forgotten Spearman’s name! The resulting singles are slow Blues, “What Have I Done Wrong” and “Country Home”. (Details from Sir Shambling, with thanks).
The best of the Blues recordings came from Slim Green And The Cats From Fresno, issued in 1957. Their first Dig single (serial number 138) has Al Simmons on vocal for “Old Folks Boogie”; then harmonica player Sidney Maiden takes the lead on Side B for “Hand Me Down Boogie”.
Their second Dig single (serial number 142) features Al Simmons on vocal for “You Ain’t Too Old” on side A, which is a reworking of “Old Folks Boogie”. Guitarist Slim Green takes over on side B for “My Woman Done Quit Me”. All four tracks have the flavour of Chicago with a foretaste of the Rolling Stones.
Dig Records issued one LP album in 1957. It is a collection of Johnny Otis’ R&B Rock & Roll favourites.
By 1958, Johnny had signed to Capitol, Dig Records was no longer in operation. However, several companies have later acquired the rights to issue compilations of the Dig recordings, including a number of unreleased tracks that have finally been made available.
Relic Records has issued a compilation of the Dig vocal groups Doo-Wop recordings.
And Ace Records UK have released a multi-CD compilation of all the Dig recordings, the first in the 1991 and the last in 2000. The second in the series is a collection of Los Angeles Blues.
Once at Capitol. Otis renamed his band the Johnny Otis Show and found success first in the UK with “Ma! He’s Making Eyes At Me” in 1957 and then in the USA with “Willie and the Hand Jive” in 1958, which reached number one on the Billboard R&B Singles Chart and number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart.
In 1960, Otis decided to launch a new label, Eldo Records. He released twenty-four singles during 1960-1, and then a further nine up to 1968. The majority were Doo-Wop or Pop ballads, but Otis five by the Johnny Otis Show.
He moved to King Records in 1961 and Columbia in 1969. His final chart entry was “Country Girl” in 1969. In 1973, he set up Blues Spectrum Records to showcase the best of the 1950’s R&B artists. The label released a series of thirteen compilations, paying tribute to Louis Jordan, Pee Wee Crayton, Big Joe Turner, Eddie Vinson, and many more. Several Los Angeles artists are featured: Charles Brown, Joe Liggins, Roy Milton, and Amos Milburn.
During the eighties and nineties, Otis continued to tour and his radio programmes on KPFK and then KPFA remained successful. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Blues Hall of Fame in 1994.
He died in Los Angeles in 2012. Finally, he was inducted into the National R&B Hall of Fame in 2017.
Over twenty years, Otis had eighteen entries in the R&B chart. All but the last were top ten hits. Not for nothing has he been called the Godfather of Rhythm & Blues.
