Johnny Mann, who won two Grammy Awards
as leader of the clean-cut easy-listening vocal group the Johnny Mann
Singers, died on Wednesday at his home in Anderson, S.C. He was 85.
The cause was heart failure, his wife, Betty, said.
In
the 1960s and ’70s, as rock ’n’ roll exerted itself as the driver of a
rebellious youth culture, Mr. Mann represented a stolid old guard,
musically speaking.
With
their gently driven rhythms and tightly controlled harmonies,
Eisenhower-era hairdos and neatly natty attire, the Johnny Mann Singers
were well scrubbed and tone perfect, recording more than 30 albums of
college songs, Christmas songs, patriotic songs, Beatles songs and
familiar tunes spanning several musical eras, from “Ol’ Man River” to
“Chattanooga Choo Choo” to “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” and “Mrs. Robinson.”
Along
with Lawrence Welk, Mitch Miller, Ray Conniff and other bandleaders who
offered popular melodies in palatable choral arrangements, Mr. Mann
helped define a musical genre that was potently counter-countercultural.
Their
first Grammy Award was for the 1961 album “Great Band With Great
Voices,” recorded with the Si Zentner Orchestra. That album included the
W. C. Handy classic “St. Louis Blues” and the sweetly hopeful romantic
ballad “Baubles, Bangles and Beads,” from “Kismet.”
Their
second Grammy, in 1967, was for “Up, Up and Away,” including not just
the Jimmy Webb composition that gave the album its title, a hit for the
Fifth Dimension, but also the Mamas and the Papas favorite “Monday,
Monday” and “Somethin’ Stupid,” which Frank and Nancy Sinatra had turned
into a popular duet.
From 1971 to 1974, Mr. Mann was the host of “Stand Up and Cheer,”
a syndicated television variety show with a patriotic slant that also
featured the Johnny Mann Singers, dressed in color-coordinated outfits,
and guests like the Lennon Sisters, Andy Griffith, Trini Lopez and
Bobbie Gentry.
From 1967 to 1969 he had been music director for “The Joey Bishop Show,”
a late-night talk show on ABC that was meant to compete against “The
Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.” It featured Regis Philbin as Mr.
Bishop’s Ed McMahon-style sidekick.
Before
that, Mr. Mann was musical director for “The Alvin Show” (1961), the
original animated series about three singing chipmunks (it was created
following the success of a 1958 novelty record) who have since been
revived in a number of television shows and movies.
John
Russell Mann was born in Baltimore on Aug. 30, 1928, where his father,
Elsworth, was a building superintendent. His mother, Lillian, his
primary musical influence, taught piano and voice. After high school,
Mr. Mann served in the Army during the Korean War, playing trombone in
the Army Field Band.
After
mustering out he moved to Los Angeles, where he worked as an arranger
and music director for movie studios. In 1956, he was choral director
for a short-lived variety show, “NBC Comedy Hour,” that led to the
creation of the Johnny Mann Singers. In the late ’50s and early ’60s,
the group recorded with Bobby Vee, Johnny Burnette, Walter Brennan and
others. The group also became known for recording theme songs and jingles, especially for radio stations.
Mr.
Mann’s first two marriages ended in divorce. In addition to his wife,
the former Betty Weinmann, whom he married in 1983, he is survived by
two daughters, Lori Susan Mann and Jennifer Lee Mann; a sister,
Josephine Steciuk; and a grandson.
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