1960 Johnny Preston – Feel So Fine
Singer John Preston Courville was born in Port Arthur, Texas, in 1939. He began performing in singing competitions across the state and formed his own band, The Shades. Jiles Perry Richardson (aka The Big Bopper) caught one of John’s shows and offered to let John sing on a song he had written.
John recorded the novelty song Running Bear at a studio in Houston in 1958. The Big Bopper and Country singer George Jones supplied the Indian chants in the record’s background. Mercury Records signed John to a recording contract as Johnny Preston. Seven months after the 1959 plane crash that killed The Big Bopper and Buddy Holly, Mercury released Johnny’s single. The record topped the Hot 100 and the charts in the UK in early 1960. Somehow it also reached #3 on the R&B chart.
Johnny’s next single was the rockabilly single Cradle Of Love. The lyrics featured lines from several nursery rhymes. The record peaked at #7 on the Hot 100 and stalled at #2 on the UK chart.
Shirley and Lee had a string of top three singles on the R&B chart starting in 1952, including the #1 R&B hit Let The Good Times Roll that managed to reach #20 on the Hot 100. The duo peaked at #2 on the R&B chart in 1955 with the single Feel So Good.
Johnny’s reworked the song into a rockabilly record entitled Feel So Fine. The single became Johnny’s third hit in 1960. It reached #14 on the Hot 100.
Johnny’s next two singles failed to chart, and he released two singles that only reached #73 and #97 in 1961. He continued recording and releasing singles through 1968, but failed to reach the Hot 100 again. He continued performing through 2009 before heart problems slowed him down. His heart finally gave out, and he died in 2011.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Preston
I post links to my Lost or Forgotten Oldie of the Day each day on Facebook. My books are on sale on Amazon (or free with Kindle Unlimited) and contain a lot more Lost or Forgotten Oldies. You can visit my author page to see them and you can read them for free with Kindle Unlimited!
What Was Left In 