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Pete Johnson

I WAS 14 in 1954 when my family moved from Texas to Massachusetts, where I discovered Arnie "Woo Woo" Ginsburg and Joe Smith, disc jockeys who mixed doo wop with rock & roll and street-level rhythm & blues. I began collecting singles in pursuit of their mysteries.

I was a white kid going to a mostly-white high school. We didn't have a TV set and singles came in generic jackets, so I was surprised to learn that most of the artists I liked were Black.

One of the first rock & roll albums I bought was Here's Little Richard, yellow-orange and cover, Richard full face, mid-scream. That album still thrills me and I credit it with teaching me how to hear music. Richard himself was high voltage, but his New Orleans band cooked like a thousand watts.

We moved to Los Angeles in 1958. Radio was less alluring, though there were glimmers like Art Laboe, Hunter Hancock and Huggy Boy. I went to college, majored in English Lit. Saw Ray Charles, Bobby Bland, Junior Parker, Fats Domino, Ike & Tina Turner in local Black clubs.

Started at the Los Angeles Times as a copyboy. After a time I graduated to reporter trainee working the police beat and City Room. My father, a journalist, suggested that I introduce myself to the Entertainment Editor. The editor assigned me a music review. I didn't know how to write a review and my first was clumsy, but it was published. A month later he sent me on another and this time I found my balance.

That was in 1965. Soon the editor hired me as a reviewer and assistant editor. I wrote a million reviews and 500,000 interviews during the next several years. In 1968 KHJ contracted me to write "The History of Rock & Roll." The Times kept me on payroll but when the show aired in 1969 I was burned out. A few months later I left the Times for Warner Bros. Records.

I had a variety of jobs at WBR for 17 years, then bounced around, then went to Apple in 1992. I was there about 11 years, mostly writing, editing, managing writers and coding websites.

Now I'm retired, living in San Jose, California, listening to music, reading novels, walking our greyhounds and playing on the computer.

133 articles

List of articles in the library

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Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, The Rising Sons: Martha & the Vandellas, the Rising Sons: The Trip, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 12 March 1966

Martha and Vandellas True to Motown Sound ...

The Rising Sons: Rising Sons Sing Blue Tunes

Profile by Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 18 March 1966

THEY RADIATE a complete spectrum of Pop haberdashery — odd vests, coats of varying cuts, one or two neckties, assorted shirts and a miscellany of ...

Donovan, The Modern Folk Quartet: Donovan, the Modern Folk Quintet: The Trip, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 26 March 1966

Donovan Ranges From Satire to Folk ...

Otis Redding, the Rising Sons: Whisky a Go Go, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 2 April 1966

Otis Redding's Southern-Style Blues Band Lets Off Steam ...

Buffalo Springfield, Johnny Rivers: Johnny Rivers, Buffalo Springfield: Whisky A Go Go, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 14 May 1966

Rivers Returns to Discotheque for Another Spin at Vocalizing ...

Roger Miller: A Punny Man

Profile and Interview by Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 2 July 1966

"A WOMAN'S place is in the stove," Roger Miller drawled over the babble of four housewives sitting behind him in a plush Encino restaurant. ...

Clifton Chenier, Bob Dylan, Bert Kaempfert: Bob Dylan: Blonde on Blonde (Columbia C2L 41 028 841)

Review by Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 3 July 1966

Playboy Hops on Dylan Bandwagon ...

Vikki Carr, Aretha Franklin, Gale Garnett, The Mothers Of Invention, The Rolling Stones: Albums by the Mothers of Invention, Rolling Stones et al

Review by Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 10 July 1966

POPULAR RECORDS: PASS ASPIRIN, PLEASE ...

Burt Bacharach, Dionne Warwick: Composer Burt Bacharach Avoids Pop Music Pitfall

Interview by Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 11 July 1966

BETWEEN BITES of eggs Benedict in an elegantly subdued lunchery, Burt Bacharach, the gold-fingered composer of 'What's New Pussycat?', 'Wives and Lovers', 'What the World ...

The Temptations, Band of Gold: The Trip, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 6 August 1966

Rock Group Packs 'Em In at Trip ...

The Beatles: Revolver (Capitol ST-2576/T-2576)

Review by Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 7 August 1966

New Beatles Album Best Yet ...

The Beatles, Donovan, The Happenings, Bobby Hebb, The Kinks, The Lovin' Spoonful, Billy Stewart: Summertime Songs on the Heat Parade

Review by Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 28 August 1966

THIS SUMMER may rank along with most Christmases for the number of seasonal records it has produced — every radio station's hit list is loaded ...

The Beatles, The Cyrkle, Bobby Hebb, The Remains, The Ronettes: The Beatles, the Ronettes et al: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 29 August 1966

40,000 Yell, Weep as Beatles Belt Out 10 Hits at Stadium ...