John Fred & His Playboy Band

Born John Fred Gourrier on 8 May 1941 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA, and passing away on 15 April 2005 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, the 6 foot 5 inch blue-eyed soul singer launched his musical path by assembling John Fred And The Playboys in 1956. Two years afterward the ensemble cut its debut single, “Shirley,” backed by Fats Domino’s regular studio musicians. Throughout the early 1960s shifting lineups issued sides on the modest Jewel and N-Joy imprints before the outfit stabilized under the name John Fred And His Playboy Band. Only at the close of 1967 did widespread recognition arrive via the international success of “Judy In Disguise (With Glasses),” a playful send-up of the Beatles’ “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” that outsold a competing rendition by Amboy Dukes. The achievement unfortunately cast the group as mere novelty purveyors, despite its reputation as a disciplined, cohesive and enduring ensemble. Fred’s blue-eyed soul delivery surfaced most clearly on the album Agnes English, which featured a gritty reading of “She Shot A Hole In My Soul.” By the close of the decade the band had disbanded, prompting Fred to form a fresh unit for further recordings and to take on production duties at RCS in Baton Rouge.