Johnny Fortune, "I'll Never Let You Go" c/w "I Am Lonely For You," Current 105 (issued ?/1965)

 

At a record show in Olympia, WA last year, a renowned local DJ spun favorites from his collection of 45s. He was open to suggestions, and a record seller slipped this single into his to-be-played stack. When "I'll Never Let You Go" by Johnny Fortune came on, I did a double-take: Hey! I know this record...I think I have this record. 

    The seller and I chatted about Johnny Fortune's five Beatle-esque self-released singles of 1964 and '65. "They're the best-kept secret in the record world," he said. I agreed. Before their performer and composer heard The Beatles and was inspired to make similar records, John Sudetta, an Ohio-born musician, was a youthful responder to the first wave of rock 'n' roll. His first single, issued in 1959, features a Sun Records-worthy rockabilly item, "Alone and Cryin'," that displays his versatility with the guitar.
    A few years later he reinvented himself as a first-rate surf guitarist. His hit "Soul Surfer" displays his impressive chops, fluid fingering and a mastery of complex harmonies on his instrument. He returned to vocals just before The Beatles strummed America's strings in early 1964 and, at age 18, was electrified by what he heard. He had a gift, like the members of Uruguay's Los Shakers, to write delightful Beatle simulacras redolent of the Hard Day's Night album. (That film inspired hundreds of young musicians to start bands.)
    The kid had a way with words and melodies and his fluidity with all kinds of music gave him insights about what made Lennon and McCartney's songs work so well. Fortune synthesized their elements and proved that--just as L&M took a little bit from one song, a skosh from another and built their own songs--he could turn Beatle fragments into impressive new pop songs.
    Why these fab faux-Liverpool efforts have been so obscure is a mystery. If these had been released with a garage band group name—say, The Yorkshire Four or The Dukes of Lickfold—they’d be sought-after items and going for far more than they are at present.
    This is the third of JF’s UK-sound singles. It died upon release, and like all three singles, wasn’t mentioned or reviewed in any of the music biz papers. They must have sold decently in the Los Angeles area for this tiny label to have put out three of them. It’s also possible Fortune might have sold them at his live shows. No one ever discussed it while the parties involved were alive.
    The top-side blends Hard Day’s Night Beatles and Buddy Holly with a bubbly froth of surf guitar. “I’ll Never Let You Go” is a delightful piece of heartfelt pop, with double-tracked Johnny doing solid vocal harmonies and a structure that rivals the average Lennon-McCartney song from the year before. Because The Beatles so constantly changed their musical course, by the time their records came out they’d moved on to other sounds. Those inspired by the group’s records were always a bit behind them.
    Fortune beat The Beatles in his guitar expertise. He wipes George Harrison out with his fleet-fingered, twangy guitar interludes and solo. Where Harrison struggled with his early solo work, Fortune seems confident, agile and adventurous. Catchy as heck, “I’ll Never Let You Go” exudes a joyful innocence and charm.
    Fun fact: Johnny's 12-year-old brother plays drums on these sides. He gets to show off on the minor-keyed flipside!

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/jew9iqitlmhzkgikx5dlb/2197a.mp3?rlkey=wcx1erk5df4t084pf8how09gj&st=p9tkg1m9&dl=0

“I Am Lonely for You” was the intended A side of this coupling. Minor-key moods were an essential part of the British beat groups. The song starts off like The Beatles’ “I’m Happy Just to Dance with You,” but goes somewhere different. Intense, exotic and moody, with touches of Middle Eastern music in melody and delivery, it’s a gripping song and performance.
  Johnny’s nimble guitar runs and his brother the drummer’s tasty, atmospheric fills drive the record along. Johnny plays electric and acoustic guitars on this exciting track and sings his heart out. The sincerity and passion of this recording is striking. If this had come out on some marginal Midwestern or Southeastern label under a group name, it would fetch three figures in collectorsville. But it wasn’t, and it doesn’t—yet.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/pj23f0fehga3grcgu9pti/2197b.mp3?rlkey=2xo65uxdxoykogrr8l8r01q5m&st=h90vx0to&dl=0

It’s not about the monetary worth of a record—it’s what’s in the grooves that counts. The divergent sides of this obscure 59-year-old single contain all the elements of a hit record and of first-rate pop/rock. As has been said here countless times before, there are many records from this year of similar quality that are just as unknown and unheralded. 1965 was a peak year for recorded music all over the world. There was too much great stuff for it all to rise to the top.

Tomorrow: songwriter Rudy Clark shines with a pair of ambitious, moody girl-group items sung to perfection by Jenny Lee and The Starlets on yet another one-record wonder, released by Congress Records in 1962.