JOHNNY FORTUNE

by Gary E. Myers

Born John Sudetta in Warren, Ohio on May 15, 1946, Johnny Fortune was introduced to the guitar at the age of twelve. As a youngster he won amateur talent contests and appeared at the state fair in Columbus. The family moved to California while John was still in school and he spent a couple of years in Hollywood before returning to Ohio. After playing in Michigan and Ohio he returned to southern California, realizing the musical pastures were greener there. He landed some studio work, which he said included a Sam Cooke session.

In 1963 Fortune went into an El Monte studio owned by Bobby Summers, brother-in-law of guitarist Les Paul. Jim O’Keefe, son of actor Dennis O’Keefe, played sax and, amazingly, Fortune’s 10-year old brother played drums. John Fisher produced and Fortune overdubbed the bass line on “Soul Surfer”. Fisher, who reportedly later worked for Atlantic and other major labels, also promoted the record. “Soul Surfer” was the intended B-side but it proved to be Fortune’s biggest success. He claimed that it was number one in Bakersfield for sixteen weeks. The Lively Ones covered the song on their “Surf City” LP (Del Fi 1237).

The regional success of the record brought work up and down the California coast. Fortune said that his surf-style arrangement of the standard “Siboney” reached the top five on KFWB in Los Angeles, and that “Dragster” and “Sunset” from his original LP, were later used in movies.

The guitarist wrote most of the songs he recorded, and after the instrumental success, his later records were mostly vocals. He explained that “I Wanna Make It With You” (not the 1970 Bread hit) had been completed as an instrumental track by a studio orchestra that included Glen Campbell on guitar. A high voice was needed for the vocal, and he recorded it and wrote the flip side. The record was released as by the Sweet Souls.

Singer Al Wilson had played drums in one of Fortune’s bands and, in later years, Fortune toured with Terry Stafford and was on shows with Willie Nelson and Barbara Fairchild. Because Santo & Johnny of “Sleepwalk” fame no longer toured together, Fortune was the “Johnny” for the Santo & Johnny appearance at a KRTH Legends of Rock and Roll show in the late 80’s at Los Angeles’ Greek Theater.

At the time of our 1979 interview he and his family had been living about forty miles east of Los Angeles in Ontario, California for about 15 years, For eight of those years, he taught at a music store while continuing to perform regularly in clubs, playing everything from country-western to disco. His brother played drums with him and he still got requests for “Soul Surfer”.

Originally published in Record Exchanger #31, 1981.

Discography

Emmy	1001	Alone N’ Cryin’/If You Love Me	/59
	1001	Almost Crying/ I’m In Heaven	/60
	1002	Gee But I Miss You/I’m In Heaven (When You Kiss Me)	/60
Arhaven	1001	Gee But I Miss You/I’m A Fool For You	/62
Arena	102	Gee But I Miss You/I’m A Fool For You	/63
Park Ave	101	Soul Surfer/Midnight Surf	/63
	103	Surfer’s Trip/Soul Traveler	/63
	104	Need You/One Less Angel	/63
	130	Siboney/Dragster	/64
	4905	My Wandering Love/I’m TaIking About You	/64
Crusader	104	Gee But I Miss You/If You Love Me	May-64
Current	101	Say You Will/Come On And Love Me	/64
	105	I Am Lonely For You/I’ll Never Let You Go	/65
United Artists	720	It Ain’t Necessarily So/Juarez	Jun-64
	780	Don’t Stay Out After Midnight, Don’t You Lie To Me	Dec-64
RPR	112	I Wanna Make It With You/Your Baby (as by the Sweet Souls)	/66
Beaver	111	I’m Requesting A Love Song/Stay Just One More Day	/66
Vault	954	Your True Love/Tell Me You Love Me	Apr-70

There was apparently much confusion in the Park Ave. numbering system. 101 was reportedly also issued as
110, 297, and 597; 103 was also issued as 126.

Park Ave LP 1301	SOUL SURFER
Soul Surfer/Midnight Surf/Chinese Surfer/Surfer’s Trip Lone Surfer/Wild Weekend/
Surf.Rider/ Sunset/Soul Traveler/Moonglow And Theme From Picnic/Siboney/Dragster