John Fred

Early life John Fred Gourrier was born on May 8, 1941 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the son of John Fred Gourrier Sr. and Miriam Chaisson. He had two sisters, Ann Gourrier Kleinpeter and Kay Gourrier Begue; and one son, Kevin Morris Gourrier.

Career In 1956, at the age of fifteen, Gourrier formed the rhythm and blues band John Fred and the Playboys. Their first charting single was "Shirley", which featured instrumentation by Fats Domino's backing band. The track peaked at #82 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1959, leading to the Playboys appearing on Alan Freed's television show The Big Beat. However, Fred later turned down an invitation from Dick Clark to perform on American Bandstand due to his commitment to a high school basketball game. After a series of non-charting followup singles on the Montel label, the band split in 1961 when Fred attended college, where he lettered in basketball and baseball at Louisiana State University and Southeastern Louisiana University, winning two Gulf State Conference baseball championships with the latter in 1962 and 1963. whose name is a parodic play on the title of The Beatles' song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds". The song, issued by Louisiana-based Jewel Records on the Paula label, became successful, knocking "Hello, Goodbye", another Beatles song, out of the No. 1 chart position on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in January 1968. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. With the success of the single, John Fred & His Playboy Band was branded as a novelty act and never had another major success. The follow-up single, "Hey, Hey, Bunny", peaked at No. 57 on the Billboard chart, and the band never again hit the Hot 100. Only after years of struggles did Fred obtain full legal rights to "Judy in Disguise" and its royalties.

Later life and death Gourrier continued to perform in bands, coached high school basketball and baseball, and remained a fixture at concerts and shows in his hometown. He produced records for other artists, including Irma Thomas and Fats Domino, and hosted a local radio show, The Roots of Rock 'n' Roll, on WBRH in Baton Rouge. He released several solo albums and one group effort, Louisiana Boys, with Joe Stampley and G. G. Shinn. He also wrote and produced radio commercials and jingles, earning two Clio Awards. and in 2007 was the first artist inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. Later, he was appointed to serve on the Louisiana Music Commission.

Discography Studio albums YearAlbumBillboard 200 Record label Notes 1966 John Fred and His Playboys -- Paula 1967 34:40 of John Fred and His Playboys — Agnes English 154 Reissued as Judy in Disguise With Glasseswith same tracklist 1969 Permanently Stated — 1970 Love My Soul -- Uni1977 Juke Box -- Guinness 1993 Louisiana Boys — Bayou Music As The Louisiana Boys 1999 I Miss Y'all: The Unreleased Masters — Club Louisianne CDCL 2002 Somebody's Knockin – TJ Records 2016 Roots Rockin' Blues — CD Baby Posthumous releaseAs the Louisiana Riverfront Band

Compilation albums YearAlbumBillboard 200 Record label 1984 The Best of John Fred and the Playboys — Sugarcane 1991 The History of John Fred and the Playboys — Paula 2001 ...With Glasses - The Very Best of John Fred and His Playboy Band:The Jewel and Paula Recordings 1964-69 — Fuel 2022 Judy in Disguise with Glasses — Liberation Hall

Singles

YearSong Titles(Songwriters)Peak chart positionsLabelAlbum Billboard Hot 100 CanadaCHUM/RPM1958 "Shirley" (T. Bryan-J. Gourrier)b/w "My Love for You" (T. Bryan-J. Gourrier) 82 78 — —Montel SJM 1002——1959 "Mirror, Mirror (On The Wall)" (Bryan-Montel-J. Gourrier)b/w "To Have and To Hold" (Bryan-Montel-J. Gourrier) — — — —Montel SJM-2001——1960 "Good Lovin'" (Charles)b/w "You Know You Made Me Cry" (Smith-Caronna) — — — —Montel 1007——1961 "Down in New Orleans" (Gourrier-Bryan)b/w "I Love You" (Gourrier-Bryan) — — — —Montel M-X-904——1964"My First Love" (Lynn Ourso)b/w "Boogie Children" (Lynn Ourso) — — — —N-Joy 1005—John Fred and His Playboys"Dial 101 (Cause I Still Love You)" (Gourrier-Bryan)b/w "There Goes That Train" (R. McGee) — — — —Jewel 730——"You're Mad at Me" (L. Ourso)b/w "Lenne" (L. Ourso) — — — —Jewel 736——"My First Love" (Lynn Ourso)b/w "Boogie Children" (Lynn Ourso) — — — —Jewel 737—John Fred and His Playboys1965"Wrong To Me" (J. Fred-L. Ourso)b/w "How Can I Prove" (J. Fred-L. Ourso) — — — —Jewel 743——"Making Love to You" (Gourrier-Ourso-Hawkins)b/w "Fortune Teller" (Naomi Neville) — — — —Paula 225——1966"Sun City)" (Goodson-Cowart-Ourso)b/w "Can't I Get (A Word In)" (J. Fred-L. Ourso-H. Cowart) — — — —Paula 23434:40 of John Fred and His PlayboysJohn Fred and His Playboys"Doing The Best I Can" (Gourrier-Ourso-Hawkins)b/w "Leave Her Never" (Naomi Neville) — — — —Paula 24434:40 of John Fred and His Playboys"Outta My Head" (John Fred-C. Yost)b/w "Loves Come in Time" (Lynn Ourso) — — — —Paula 2471967"Up and Down" (John Fred-A. Bernard)b/w "Wind Up Doll" (Cyril Vetter-John Fred) — 142 — —Paula 259Agnes English—"Agnes English" (John Fred-A. Bernard)b/w "Sad Story" (John Fred-A. Bernard) 125 126 108 4/89Paula 273Agnes English"Judy in Disguise (With Glasses)" (J. Fred-A. Bernard)b/w "When the Lights Go Out" (J. Fred-A. Bernard) 1 1 1 31/3Paula 282"Judy in Disguise (With Glasses)" (J. Fred-A. Bernard)b/w "No Letter Today" (J. Fred-A. Bernard)Hip Pocket HP-251968"Hey, Hey Bunny" (J. Fred-A. Bernard)b/w "No Letter Today" (J. Fred-A. Bernard) 57 41 39 37/41Paula 294Permanently Stated"We Played Games" (J. Fred & A. Bernard)b/w "Lonely Are The Lonely" (J. Fred & A. Bernard) 130 122 111 —Paula 303"Little Dum Dum" (J. Fred, A. Bernard & R. Goodson)b/w "Tissue Paper" (J. Fred & A. Bernard) — — — —Paula 310"Sometimes You Just Can't Win" (R. Brians-K. Henderson)b/w "What Is Happiness" (J. Fred, A. Bernard & H. Cowart) — — — —Paula 315Agnes EnglishPermanently Stated"Shirley" (J. Fred)b/w "High Heel Sneakers" (R. Higgenbotham) — — — —Montel-Michelle M-998——1969"Silly Sarah Carter (Eating on a Moonpie)" (J. Fred-L. Ourso)b/w "Back in the U.S.S.R." (J. Lennon-P. McCartney) — — — —Uni 55135—Love My Soul"Three Deep in a Feeling" (J. Fred-L. Ourso) b/w "Open Doors" (J. Fred-A. Bernard) — — — —Uni 55160Love My Soul"Love My Soul" (J. Fred-A. Bernard)b/w "Julia Julia" (J. Fred-L. Ourso) — — — —Uni 55187Love My Soul—1970"Where's Everybody Going" (J. Fred-L. Ourso)b/w "Miss Knocker" (J. Fred-A. Bernard) — — — —Uni 55220Love My Soul—1973"I'm in Love Again"/"In The Mood" (A. Domino/Joe Garland-Andy Razaf)b/w "Bayou Country" (D.Bardwell-T. Veitch) — — — —Bell 45.382——1976"Hey Good Lookin'" (Hank Williams)b/w "Juke Box Shirley" (J. Gourrier-B. Chehardy) — — — —Sugarcane VPUS-11/12Juke Box1984"Shirley" (T. Bryan-J. Gourrier)b/w "Harlem Shuffle" (R. Reif-E. Nelson) — — — —Paula 445——"Judy in Disguise (With Glasses)" (J. Fred-A. Bernard)b/w "Agnes English" (John Fred-A. Bernard) — — — —Paula 447Agnes English1988"Louisiana's Gonna Rise Again" (Chris Ballard, Margie Ballard, Daryl Speights)b/w Same (instrumental) — — — —Straight Talk ST-101-A——Reissues"Judy in Disguise""Mother in Law" (Ernie K-Doe)————Eric 303"Judy in Disguise (With Glasses)""Hey, Hey, Bunny"————Collectables 3315"She's My Baby Doll" (The Tune Tones)"Shirley"————Louisianna L01"Judy in Disguise (With Glasses)""Hold Back the Night" (The Trammps)————Ripete R45-182"Judy in Disguise""Do You Want to Dance" (Bobby Freeman)————Rebound RB 228"Pushin' Too Hard" (The Seeds)"Judy In Disguise"————Trip TR65

Discography notes