Plas Johnson

All Music Guide:

Plas Johnson's seductive tenor sound has been utilized on many studio sessions, including -- most notably -- the Pink Panther film (1963). A more versatile player than one might think, Johnson sounds equally at home in blues, R&B-ish, and hard bop settings. He recorded a single in New Orleans (1950), moved to Los Angeles, and was quickly established as a popular studio musician. Johnson worked with Johnny Otis and Charles Brown, recorded dates as a leader for Tampa (1956-1957), Score, Capitol (1958-1960), Ava (1964), and Concord (1975-1976), worked with the Capp-Pierce Juggernaut, and toured with the Gene Harris Superband in 1990.

Wikipedia:

Plas John Johnson Jr. (born July 21, 1931) is an American soul-jazz and hard bop tenor saxophonist, probably most familiar as the lead on Henry Mancini’s "The Pink Panther Theme".

Born in Donaldsonville, Louisiana, he and his pianist brother Ray first recorded as the Johnson Brothers in New Orleans in the late 1940s, and Plas then toured with R&B singer Charles Brown. After army service, he moved to Los Angeles and began session recordings as a full-time musician, backing artists such as B.B. King and Johnny Otis as well as scores of other R&B performers. An early supporter was Maxwell Davis, who hired him to take over his own parts so that he could concentrate on producing sessions for the Modern record label.

Recruited by Capitol Records in the mid-1950s, Johnson also played on innumerable records by Peggy Lee, Nat "King" Cole, Glen Gray, Frank Sinatra and others. He remained a leading session player for almost twenty years, averaging two sessions a day and playing everything from movie soundtracks to rock and roll singles, by such artists as Ricky Nelson and Bobby Vee. He played on many of the Beach Boys’ records, and was an integral part of a number of instrumental groups that existed in name only, such as B. Bumble and the Stingers. In 1963, he recorded the Pink Panther theme, but played on only the first few of the cartoon series. Another solo for a well-known television series was on The Odd Couple's theme music. Johnson was also used by Motown, and played on hits by Marvin Gaye, the Supremes and others.

Johnson can be heard on the 1963 album "Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Jerome Kern Songbook", recorded under the baton of the great Nelson Riddle. His sax is also heard on two of the other great Ella Fitzgerald songbooks - The Harold Arlen Songbook and The Johnny Mercer Songbook.

In 1964, Johnson was the featured performer on "Blue Martini" ( Ava Records ), a concept album by John Neel. It was a groundbreaking album, with the saxophone being the lead "voice" surrounded by a full string section. This jazz/classical hybrid contains some of Johnson's best and most innovative playing, with the standout being "Bury Me Blue".

In 1970, he joined the studio band for "The Merv Griffin Show" and also played with a number of jazz and swing bands of the period. He continues to record and perform, particularly at jazz festivals.

Johnson plays T990 (brass) and T9937 (solid silver) tenor saxophones made by Yanagisawa, fitted with a Berg Larsen 140/2 stainless steel mouthpiece and Rico Plasticover no. 2 reeds. In January 2011, he put his Yanagisawa B990 baritone saxophone (serial number: 00168847) for sale on eBay with a Buy-It-Now price of $6,995.

Selected Discography

As sideman

With Clifford Coulter

With Lalo Schifrin