Lehman Monroe "Johnny" Tyler (February 6, 1918 in

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the ...

– September 25, 1961 in

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

) was an American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, o ...

ian.

Biography

His career began around 1945 on Fargo Records with the band ''Original Hillbillies''. In 1947 he signed a recording contract with

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Ar ...

, where he had the largest success of his career. His most well-known single for RCA was "

Oakie Boogie "Oakie Boogie" (sometimes "Okie Boogie") is a Western swing dance song written by Johnny Tyler in 1947. It is recognizable by its refrain: Jack Guthrie's version (Capitol 341) reached number three on the charts in 1947 and is often included in ...

", which hit the

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

charts in 1947. He also recorded eight tracks with Luke Wills for RCA, and was a member of Wills' band, the "Rhythm Busters" for a time. In 1953, he appeared on radio WGST out of

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

. He became a member of

Jimmie Smith James Howard Smith (born January 27, 1938) is an American jazz drummer. Early life and education Smith was born in Newark, New Jersey. He studied at the Al Germansky School for Drummers from 1951 to 1954 and the Juilliard School in 1959 and 196 ...

and His Texans, which often made appearances at the ''Joe Cotton Rhythm Ranch''. He recorded a few more singles at this time as well. In 1954 he played regularly on WGST and on the '' WSB Barn Dance'', with Jimmie Smith. Later singles were issued on Specialty, Ekko,

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

Starday Starday Records was an American record label producing traditional country music during the 1950s and 1960s. History The label began in 1952 in Beaumont, Texas, when local businessmen Jack Starnes (Lefty Frizzell's manager) and Houston record di ...

, and Rural Rhythm. He died in 1961 at age 43. In 2004, most of his RCA singles were collected and released on

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in Octo ...

as ''Two Dozen Western Swing And Boogie Jewels'' (Cattle Compact CCD-300). This compilation also includes six tracks with Luke Wills' Rhythm Busters, and the original 1946 Satchel Records version of "Oakie Boogie".

Discography

External links

Johnny Tyler
at Hillbilly-Music.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tyler, Johnny 1918 births 1961 deaths Western swing performers American country singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from Arkansas Ekko Records artists Starday Records artists Specialty Records artists RCA Victor artists Liberty Records artists 20th-century American singers Country musicians from Arkansas