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Release Little Johnny From Down the Street
Year 1970
Label Decca # DL 75173
Format LP · Album
Country USA
Language English
Songs here 2 in the archive
Citation: Justin A. Brummer, Vietnam War Song Project (VWSP) — The Wilburn Brothers, Little Johnny From Down the Street; cite each song by its SongID

Little Johnny From Down the Street

1970 · Album · Decca # DL 75173 · USA
2 songs from this release are in the archive, listed below in catalogue order. Track positions are not recorded; the release may carry other songs that do not reference the war.
Annotation
The group, which featured the brothers Doyle Wilburn and Teddy Wilburn from Hardy, Arkansas, both served in the US army during the Korean War.2 They also released two anti-war / peace songs: "Vision at the Peace Table" on this album, and the single "The War Keeps Draggin' On" (Decca Records # 32909). Reaching # 37 in the Billboard country charts (on 14 March 1970), the track "Little Johnny From Down the Street" (Decca Records # DL 75173) focused on the plight of a soldier called Johnny.1 The front cover of the album featured a freckled-faced boy - presumably Little Johnny? Larry G. Whitehead composed the song.

It started by recalling the childhood of Johnny, who got up to various misadventures, and eventually fell in love with a girl called Janie. This early section personalised the life of the soldiers sent to fight in Vietnam, focusing on their 'normal' or 'happy' American childhood. But then the protagonist received his draft letter: "orders from his country came" , and most likely the army sent him to Vietnam. At the end of the track, the listener discovered that Johnny "died in a foreign land all alone" , before having the chance to marry Janie. Thus this track mainly dealt with the impact of the war on both the life of the soldier and on those left behind in the US. To a small extent it leaned towards the anti-war side, by portraying the negative impact of the war.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
The songs
1.
1970 · Album · Decca # DL 75173 · New York City, New York · Little Johnny From Down the Street

Formed 1953, Hardy, Arkansas, USA. Disbanded 1982

2.
1970 · Album · Decca # DL 75173 · New York City, New York · Little Johnny From Down the Street

Formed 1953, Hardy, Arkansas, USA. Disbanded 1983

Theme: Anti-War