Johnny Ace
Johnny Ace (not to be confused with the late great R&B singer) hails from New York City and is one of the most respected bassists in blues today. He honed his chops by studying the great Bobby Anderson of The James Cotten Blues Band . Ace was given the nickname "Ace" by pals when he was growing up and coming into his own as a bassist. Paul Oscher and John Leslie gave him the name because in their opinion he was number one. He never wanted to use the name out of respect for the original Johnny Ace, but as he says "somehow the name just stuck."Ace has worked with some of the great legendary figures in blues: Victoria Spivey, Otis Rush, John Lee Hooker, Eddie "Clean Head" Vinson, Lowell Fulson, Charlie Musselwhite, Roscoe Gordon to name a few. Not only is Johnny Ace an excellent bassist, but he is also a fine vocalist and band leader. He has a unique and charismatic stage presence matched by a tremedous energy as a performer that few can keep up with, and his sense of humer is as brilliant as it is scathing.
Johnny Ace was born on June 7th, 1949 in Jamaica, Queens (N.Y.C.) and grew up during the rock & roll craze of the early 1960's. He especially learned to love the early Doo Wop groups and would later sing Doo Wop in his early twenties. New York City was a hot spot for all the great touring groups in both blues and rock & roll and gave the young Ace a chance to hear and see many of the movers and shakers that inspired a younger (and whiter) generation of players: B.B. King, Muddy Waters, James Cotten, Freddie King, and others. He felt an instant connection to the blues. When he was 15 years old, after saving up his money earned by working as a Shea Stadium vendor, he bought a new Japanese-made bass for $44.00 from "Manny's," the famous music store in NYC . Originally Ace wanted to play the guitar--but he couldn't afford one at the time, and the group of teenagers he knew that were forming a blues band needed a bass player, not a guitarists. So he was talked into giving the bass a try; it was a good match.
From 1967-1970 Johnny Ace played with The Thompson Ferry Blues Band of Brooklyn, New York. Bobby Dupree who was the band's vocalist/harp player went on to record the 1980 hit "Steal Away," and Niles Rogers another band member went on to produce Madonna, Duran Duran and Mick Jagger. The Thompson Ferry Blues Band opened up for Muddy Waters in 1968. They also starved. Gigs were hard to come by. NYC catered to big name acts, not local blues players,. So Ace quit and joined up with The Brooklyn Blues Busters in 1970 whose members were John Leslie, harpist/vocalist, Frannie Kristina (later the drummer for the Fabulous Thunderbirds), Howard T. Levine on guitar and a magnificent keyboardist Bill Hyde--whom the guys nicknamed "Baseball Bill.
The Brooklyn Blues Busters quickly rose in the blues ranks and often backed up John Lee Hooker on his East Coast shows. They also backed up the Queen of the Blues, herself, Victoria Spivey, whom they called "Queenie." In 1999 a CD was made, capturing the eccentric "Queen" in all her glory! The Brooklyn Blues Busters backed her up for the 1973 Ann Arbor Jazz and Blues Festival! Check out Queenie and the Brooklyn Blues Busters on her song "Organ Grinder"--HILARIOUS! Though Ace left the Brooklyn Blues Busters for a short, experimental stint with another group based in San Francisco, Perry and the Pumpers, he was soon back in NYC working with them again. The Brooklyn Blues Busters would remain a solid, working blues group for 5 years. In 1974 their home base became Ann Arbor, Michigan, a liberal college town, where the guys had the time of their lives. However, John Leslie --nicknamed "Rat" by Ace--soon answered to a different calling--the Porn industry! He became a porn star, and later an award winning writer and producer, rivaled only by John Holmes, and so the Blues Busters broke up in 1975.
After the years with the Brooklyn Blues Busters, Ace decided to try something a little different. He went to a small, hot, HOT, farm town--Lisbon, Iowa--where he joined up with former "pumper" and vocalist of The Elvin Bishop Group, Perry Welsh. They formed the Steve Miller Band, working with talented vocalist and keyboardist, Steve Miller (not to be confused with the rock star Streve Miller). The band was great! In their first year, they were written up in Rolling Stone, several labels were interested, and Mike Kappus (of Rosbud agency) tried to sign them up to manage them on the night of their last performance. But lead singere Steve Miller wanted a solo career and that was that.
Ace went to Boston in 1975 and got together with old friends to form the Rhythm Rockers: John Nicholas on guitar, Frannie Kristina on drums (later of The Thunderbirds), Mark Kazinof on saxophone and the great David Maxwell on piano, who had already toured with Bonnie Raitt and Freddie King. This band was also great! They backed up the blues legends Big Walter Horton and Boogie Woogie Red, and were the steady opening act for Roomful of Blues. Ronnie Horzac--not yet Ronnie Earl--was a psychology student who was just learning to play blues back then. He would often come by the clubs they were playing to listen to their band.--and sometimes they would let him sit in to Ace's dislike--"Let him practice at home--he's stinkin' up the stage!" Later, of course, Ronnie Earl became a real great guitarists in blues--matched by few in intensity and feeling. Ace lasted six months with the Rhythm Rockers. He was tired of living on popcorn and koolaide. He left for NYC and once there, put together a Doo Wop group called the Blendanairs with Jack Scandora as the lead who to this day still sings Doo Wop--now with The Five Discs. They were really very good, but again, work was hard to come by, so Ace went back to the blues, performing with x-harpist for The Muddy Waters Blues Band, Brooklyn Slim, A.K.A, Paul Oscher. They made an L.P. with Victoria Spivey and played the local, New York City blues club circuit.
Between 1975 and 1978, Ace traveled back and forth between NYC and Rapid City Iowa. He was often on the road with yet another blues band, The Lynne County Band. They toured throughout the Mid West. In 1978, Ace started hangng out with The Elvin Bishop Group. His old friend Perry Welsch was still in that band and it seemed like a fun thing to do. Ace this time dropped the bass and just sang. He did a "Three Stooges-psycho" routine complete with the splits. He danced; he told jokes; he carried his dwarf pal, Randy Bachman (the band's photographer) on his back and through the audience singing "Mickey's Monkey." They were a huge hit! They brought the house down! They wrecked the house! Because he had such success, he formed the West Coast Sheiks and used Elvin's band to back him up. They performed as Elvin's opening act--same band--different lead singer--Ace! They often played The Mystic Theater and other large venues. Using the same band members is always difficult, however, and feeling some strain over a potentially difficult situation, especially given the fact that Elvin had let Ace stay in his own house), he felt compelled to leave The Elvin Bishop Group.So Ace packed up and went to San francisco.
Ace then took a job playing bass for Charlie Musselwhite. His old Pal Walter Shuffelsworth (of the Dynatones) played drums and Luther Tucker played guitar. They traveled all over America which included parts of the deep south. Ace never forgot what it was like in Mississippi where black people were made to walk on the other side of the street and were afraid to look a white person in the eyes. He remembered seeing chains near the docks where the old plantations still stood. It gave him the chills. Tiring of the road, he went back to San Francisco in 1981.
Ace met the woman that was to be the mother of his 4 children --Annie Quain--in San Francisco in what was then called The Coffee Gallery (Now The Lost and Found). They moved to NYC and for a time, he quit the music business, trying to raise a family (Ace had four children with Annie). After four years, however, he missed playing music too much and with the encouragement of his wife went back to working with some of the greats in the business. In 1984 he played with the jazz saxophonist/vocalist Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, and then in 1985 he toured Europe and the United States with blues legend and star Otis Rush. A video was made on Otis Rush and his band in England. Ace is captivating on stage in this film--always moving--very handsome. You can see him standing in front of a dressing room doorway, giving the camera man a hard time in his typical East Coast manner---hilarious! During this period, Johnny Ace also played and recorded with Roscoe Gordon, the famous R& B singer from Memphis, Tennessee who wrote "Little Bit" and many other classic rhythm & blues songs.
Due to hard financial times in NYC, Johnny Ace with his wife and four children moved back to San Francisco in 1988. His marriage was falling apart and the stresses and strains that go along with being a musician in a country that does not pay or treasure its artists took its toll. His wife left him in 1990, and he took on the responsibility of raising four children on his own--with the help of his sister Claire. He was also having problems with alcohol and drugs but was still able to play and function. He worked with Johnny Nitro and the Doorslammers for five years in San Francisco, and also performed with other Bay Area musicians such as Blackie Jones (1995--with Stu Blank on vocals/piano and Victor Voce on guitar). He also played/sang with the guitar playing prodigy Nathan Cavaliere for 2 years (1994--1996), touring Alaska and other parts of the United States. In 1994, after many failed efforts, Ace was able to sober up completely. He has been without a drink or a drug for 16 years--and that's not even a cup of coffee or a cigarette folks! He found meditation to be very helpful in the healing process and often took classes at the Psychic Institute in San Rafael, San Francisco, and Berkeley.
Though Johnny Ace and Cathy Lemons as individuals met in 1987 and were friends who played in various bands together, it was not until 1995 that they actually teamed up as romantic and musical partners to form their band Cathy Lemons and Johnny Ace with Pierre Le Corre on guitar and Artie "Stix" Chavez on drums. Ace is much more than a bass player: he sings; he is a band leader; a comedian; hilarious MC; he is incredibly knowledgeable of music, particularly jazz, rhythm & blue, and blues; and he sets the groove down on the bass like nobody else can in blues today.
Johnny Ace is also a fine writer who has his own column, "Ace's Alley" in Big City Blues, a national blues magazine out of Detroit, Michigan. And Ace is a fine documentarist/ fine art photographer. He is currently working on gettiing a book published called "Is This Man Jesus," which primarily captures the poverty and grittines of San Francisco's Tenderloin. This book encompasses amazing shots: masked prostitutes posing in the shadows of a doorway, a man huddled under a ragged, flag-like blanket, thereby protected from the city's endless crash and moan, a ragged preacher with his hand-made sign and sardonic, soulful face; all lost souls trampled underfoot by a savagely selfish new breed.
Ace's photography can be viewed at;: http://johnnyacephoto.tripod.com. Ace also did all the photography for Tommy Castro's CD "Hard Believer.". Ace has had photography exhibits at the prestigious Scott Nichols Gallery and The San Francisco Art Exchange.
Check out another great photgrapher's website: http://shaunroberts.net to see a presentation of Ace's "Is This Man Jesus," while simultaneously checking out a young photgrapher, Shaun Roberts, whose recent work in North Carolina will blow your mind in its beauty!
Ace Has Worked With:
Big Time Sarah
Elvin Bishop
Lowell Fulsom
Roscoe Gordon
John Hammond
John Lee Hooker
Big Walter Horton
Johnny Little John
Charlie Musselwhite
Pinetop Perkins
Boogie Woogie Red
Louisiana Red
A.C. Reed
Fenton Robinson
Jimmie Rogers
Otis Rush
Boz Scaggs
Lighning Slim
Victoria Spivey
Hubert Sumlin
Luther Tucker
Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson
And worked with freinds:
Stu Blank
Tommy Castro
Nathan Cavalier
Ola Mae Dixon
Bryan Lee
Bob Margolin
David Maxwell
Paul Oscher
Jerry Portnoy
Lavay Smith and Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers
Ron Thompson
Jimmy Vivino
Ace has Jammed With:
Albert King
Sha Na Na
Peter Wolf