Can you believe this? Johnny Otis, the R&B impresario who discovered Etta James, passing away on the same day as Etta James.
One of the thrills of my life was having a one-one-one conversation with him in 1998. The International Society of Ethnomusicologists was having its annual convention on the Indiana University campus. One of the symposia was on his contribution to American music, and he was part of the panel discussion. That evening, the Johnny Otis Show gave a concert at the Bloomington Convention Center. A friend who knew I was a music historian got me comp tickets to all of it.
Anyway, in the evening, before the show, I was standing in the hallway beside the auditorium. A side door opens, and out steps Johnny Otis. Carpe diem, baby! I asked him about the postwar labels he talent-scouted for and about life on the chitlin circuit. He was really gracious with his time.
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