Johnny Heartsman -

Johnny Heartsman (Feb. 9, 1936 — Dec. 27, 1996) was an American jazz-funk/blues multi-instrumentalist who played guitar, keyboards, bass, and flute. He worked the Bay Area studio circuit from the early Fifties and scored a No. 13 R&B hit with the 1957 instrumental “Johnny’s House Party,” followed by session and touring work with artists including Jimmy McCracklin, Sugar Pie DeSanto, and Joe Simon. Heartsman returned to bandleading on Music of My Heart, Sacramento, and the 1991 Alligator release The Touch, which consolidated his blues, soul, jazz, and funk repertoire.

Background

Johnny Heartsman was born Johnnie Eastman Jr. on Feb. 9, 1936, in Houston, Texas, and grew up in West Oakland, Calif. He learned piano and guitar as a youth and received guitar guidance from Lafayette “Thing” Thomas, a guitarist with the Jimmy McCracklin Blues Blasters. By his teens, Heartsman also played bass with McCracklin at clubs along Oakland Seventh Street.

Heartsman formed the Rhythm Rockers in 1953 with pianist General Charmers, alto saxophonist Alfred Berry, tenor saxophonist James Jackson, and drummer Ray Cotton. The group rehearsed at the West Grand Avenue home of Heartsman and played school dances, Oakland beer joints, Chris’s Grill, Club Savoy in Richmond, and Slim Jenkins on Seventh Street.

Producer Bob Geddins hired the Rhythm Rockers for Oakland studio work and used Heartsman on sessions with singer Jimmy Wilson. Ray Dobard then employed Heartsman as an arranger and A&R man at Music City in Berkeley, where he worked on records by Alvin Smith, the Rovers, and Four Deuces. Heartsman also cut instrumental material under his own name for Music City.

Music City issued “Johnny’s Thunderbird” and “Johnny’s Blue Mood” in 1957, followed by “Johnny’s House Party.” The latter reached No. 13 on the Billboard R&B chart that June. Jack Archer Booking Agency then placed the Rhythm Rockers and Gaylarks on a 34-date package with Ruth Brown, the Coasters, Drifters, Five Satins, and Bo Diddley.

Heartsman joined Sugar Pie DeSanto and the Pee Wee Kingsley All-Star Band in 1958 and continued sessions for the Geddins operation. DeSanto recorded “I Want to Know” with Heartsman and Alfred Berry for Veltone; Chess acquired the master and carried the single to No. 4 on the Billboard R&B chart in September 1960. Heartsman also issued sides on Big Jay and Triad.

The early Sixties kept Heartsman active across Bay Area blues and R&B sessions on guitar, keyboards, flute, and bass. He backed Tiny Powell on “My Time After Awhile” for Wax and worked with Al King on Shirley sessions in 1964–65. King moved to Steve Brodie’s Sahara label in 1966, where Heartsman arranged and conducted sessions for Sahara Records.

A marijuana arrest in 1967 prompted Heartsman to leave the Bay Area. He continued with show bands, cocktail-lounge groups, and touring work, then led the house band at the Chateau Club in Midland, Texas, from 1970 through 1973. The Midland lineup included young Texas guitarist and singer Jay Boy Adams.

Heartsman returned to Northern California in 1975 as bandleader, arranger, and organist for soul singer Joe Simon. He settled in Sacramento and established Circles as a regular club unit, with singer Janice La Von and drummer J.J. Funderburke among the musicians associated with the group.

By 1976, Heartsman and Circles held a regular engagement at Basin St. West in Sacramento. The residency supplied Heartsman with an audience for a self-financed live recording, which he prepared for private release under the John Heartsman & Circles name as Music of My Heart.

Discography: