Died On This Date (April 15, 2005) John Fred / Had Hit With “Judy In Disguise (With Glasses)”
themusicsover John Fred Gourrier
May 8, 1941 – April 15, 2005
John Fred was one of the earliest practitioners of “blue-eyed soul.” His biggest hit, “Judy In Disguise (With Glasses)” was in fact a parody of the Beatles’ “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.” Released in 1968, it became an immediate smash and has since sold over 5 million copies. John Fred & the Playboy Band suddenly broke far beyond his beloved Gulf Coast region. Unfortunately, because of the song, he was unfairly branded a novelty and never had another hit. And it wasn’t until many years and legal battles later, that he was able to collect full legal rights to and royalties from the song. Fred became a fixture in Baton Rouge as he stayed active in the local music scene, hosted his own radio show, and even coached the high school basketball and football team. He released his final album in 2002, but fell ill just a couple of yeas later resulting in a kidney transplant. His health continued to fail until his 2005 death due in part to complications from that transplant. In 2007, he was inducted into the The Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame.
Johnnie Johnson was a jazz and blues pianist who joined forces with Chuck Berry with whom he spent over twenty years collaborating on such rock ‘n’ roll classics as “Sweet Little Sixteen,” “Roll Over Beethoven,” and “Nadine,” even though he never received song-writing credits or royalties. It has been reported that “Johnnie B. Goode” was actually inspired by Johnson. After his run with Berry, Johnson was all but retired from music and working as a bus driver in St. Louis until he heard the praise being given him by the likes of Keith Richards. That motivated him to get back into music and record his first album in 1987 which lead to him sharing the stage with such luminaries as Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Bo 
Niki Sullivan will always be remembered as the original guitarist in 
Ral Donner was a singer who came on to the scene in the early 1950s and for better or worse had an uncanny resemblance, both physically and vocally to