Bow to General Johnson: ‘King of Carolina Beach Music’

General Norman Johnson Jr. of Norfolk, Va., earned the undisputed title as “King of Carolina Beach Music.” He was simply the best there ever was, commented The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer in its obituary notice of Johnson’s passing in 2010. He died from lung cancer at age 67.

 

Jim Newsom, a musician and journalist in Norfolk, proclaims that Johnson ranks as beach music’s original and only “five-star general.”

Johnson’s voice could “wrap itself around a lyric and pull out every ounce of emotion,” Newsom wrote.

In a listing of the “All Time Beach Music Top 100,” compiled by the deejays at 94.9 The Surf, a beach music radio station in North Myrtle Beach, S.C., General Johnson totally dominates. His musical groups claim 11 of those 100 slots.

He is mentioned nine times with Chairmen of the Board songs and twice as the lead singer with his former group, The Showmen, which originated in Norfolk in 1961. Back-up singers with The Showmen were Leslie Felton, Gene Knight, Dorsey Knight and Milton Wells.

 

The Showmen had two big hits. “It Will Stand” (1961), which became “a rock’n’roll anthem,” and “39-21-40 Shape” (1964), which continues as a beach music classic.

Oddly, the latter song’s title was misprinted by the Imperial record company as “39-21-46.” For some unknown reason, the label was never corrected.

“39-21-40 Shape” ranks #13 on The Surf’s top-100 chart, while “It Will Stand” is #31.

 In 1968, it was time for Johnson to move on. He amicably left The Showmen and found a new home in Detroit, Mich., aligning with Holland-Dozier-Holland, a stellar songwriting and production team that had composed 130 charting songs for Motown Records. (Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian and Eddie Holland exited Motown Records to start their own labels, Invictus Records and Hot Wax Records.)

Johnson formed the Chairmen of the Board, bringing in Detroit area vocalists Danny Woods, Eddie Custis, Harrison Kennedy and Ken Knox, forming an ensemble that was also proficient with several musical instruments.

General Johnson and the Chairmen of the Board charted six major hits in the 1970s, including “Give Me Just a Little More Time,” “Everything’s Tuesday” and “(You’ve Got Me) Dangling on a String.” (The first two tunes continue to resonate today, ranking high on The Surf’s top 100-list – at #18 and #56, respectively.)

The core group begin to drift apart, and Johnson opted to embark on a solo career in 1976…but brought back the Chairmen of the Board in 1978 (with Woods and Knox) to focus chiefly on “beach music.” Johnson partnered in a new venture – Surfside Records in Charlotte N.C.

The hits just kept on coming for the “new and improved” General Johnson and the Chairmen of the Board in the 1980s. Six of the Surfside label songs are in The Surf’s top-100. Counting down:

“Beach Fever” #40; “Down at the Beach Club” #39; “I’d Rather Be in Carolina” #29; “Gone Fishin’” #26; “On the Beach” #22; and “Carolina Girls” #1.

 

“Carolina Girls” was released in 1980. Was it a bit of a “take that” jab directed at The Beach Boys, who had a smash hit in 1965 with “California Girls”…said to be “the cutest girls in the world?”

Whereas, on the other hand, “Carolina Girls” are “sweet Southern pearls…so fine…one of a kind… more precious than diamonds…the best in the world.”

Contributions by The Showmen (and other beach music kingpins) are immortalized in the lyrics of “I Love Beach Music,” a 1979 hit released by The Embers, a group that formed in Raleigh, N.C., in 1958.