Vere Johns

Template:Short description Joseph Vere Everette Johns (28 November 1893 – 10 September 1966)<ref name="kg 11-09-1966">"Vere Johns, journalist, dies at 73", Kingston Gleaner, 11 September 1966, pp. 1–2.</ref> was a Jamaican journalist, impresario, radio personality, and actor, who helped to launch the careers of many Jamaican musicians through his popular talent contests.

Biography

Johns was born in Mandeville in 1893, and after working for the Post Office, served in the South Lancashire Regiment in World War I before finding success as a newspaper columnist in the United States in the 1920s.<ref name="Hill">Hill, Robert A. (1992), Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers: November 1927-August 1940 v. 7, University of California Press, Template:ISBN, p. 540.</ref> While in the US he divorced his first wife and married his second, actress Lillian May, known as "Lady Luck". He began running talent contests while in the US, and continued on his return to Jamaica in 1939. In the late 1940s he began a long-running "Vere Johns Says" column in the Jamaica Star newspaper, often on the topic of music.<ref name="Hill" />

He made a major contribution to Jamaican music with his "Vere John's Opportunity Knocks Talent Show" on RJR Radio and helped launch the careers of several major recording artists including Lloyd Charmers, Hortense Ellis, John Holt, Bob Andy, Desmond Dekker, The Wailers, Alton Ellis, Jackie Edwards, Dobby Dobson, Boris Gardiner, Laurel Aitken, and Millie Small.<ref name="Larkin">Larkin, Colin (1998), The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae, Virgin Books, Template:ISBN, pp. 54, 94, 124, 256.</ref><ref name="Bradley">Bradley, Lloyd (2000), This is Reggae Music, Grove Press, Template:ISBN, pp. 19-21.</ref><ref name="JG1">"Millie not so 'small' anymore Template:Webarchive", Jamaica Gleaner, 15 October 2006, retrieved 2010-05-03</ref> His talent contests began as theatre shows held in downtown Kingston venues such as The Majestic, Palace and Ambassador theatres,<ref name="Chang">O'Brien Chang, Kevin & Chen, Wayne (1998), Reggae Routes, Temple University Press, Template:ISBN, p. 31.</ref> with the winners judged by audience reaction, and going on to appear on his radio shows.<ref name="Bradley" /> Producers such as Clement "Coxsone" Dodd and Arthur "Duke" Reid scouted for talent at the shows, taking singers to record at Stanley Motta's studio to cut records to be played on their sound systems.<ref name="Cooke2">Cooke, Mel (2010), "Lincoln traces Ambassador music role to England", Jamaica Gleaner, 2 March 2010, retrieved 2010-05-03.</ref> Lloyd Bradley, in his book This is Reggae Music, described Johns as "the most influential man in Jamaican music in the second half of the 1950s", a period in which indigenous Jamaican styles were coming to the fore.<ref name="Bradley" /> Johns, despite his antipathy towards Jamaica's Rastafarians, also provided exposure for Count Ossie's group of drummers after singer Marguerita Mahfood refused to appear on his show unless she was backed by Ossie's Mystic Revelation group; The group proved popular with the audience and went on to perform regularly in Kingston.<ref name="Thomas">Thomas, Polly & Vaitilingam, Adam (2003), The Rough Guide to Jamaica, Rough Guides, Template:ISBN, p. 412.</ref>

Johns also worked as an actor, performing in Shakespeare plays and solo recitations, and taught acting.<ref name="Hill" />

Vere Johns died in Kingston, Jamaica on 10 September 1966.

Honours

• Military Medal, November 1917<ref name="kg 11-09-1966" />
• British War Medal<ref name="kg 16-09-1966">"Vere Johns gets military burial", Kingston Gleaner, 16 September 1966, p. 4.</ref>
• Victory Medal<ref name="kg 16-09-1966" />
• Member of the Order of the British Empire, June 1953<ref name="kg 11-09-1966" />
• Seprod Award, 1964 and 1965<ref name="kg 11-09-1966" />

In 2008, Johns was posthumously inducted into the Jamaica Association of Vintage Artistes and Affiliates (JAVAA) Hall of Fame.<ref name="Cooke">Cooke, Mel (2008), "JAVAA opens Jamaica Music Hall of Fame" Template:Webarchive, Jamaica Gleaner, 16 November 2008, retrieved 2010-05-03.</ref> In 2012, former Minister of Culture Olivia Grange called for Johns to receive a posthumous honour in recognition of his contribution to Jamaican popular music.<ref name="Walters">Walters, Basil (2012) "Vere Johns, forgotten man of Jamaican music: Opportunity lost", Jamaica Observer, 4 November 2012, retrieved 10 November 2012.</ref>

External links

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