Little Johnny From Down The Street
1970 · Decca DL 75173 · New York City, New York
- Artist
- The Wilburn Brothers
- Title
- Little Johnny From Down The Street
- Release
- Little Johnny From Down the Street
- Year
- 1970
- Label
- Decca # DL 75173
- Format
- LP · Album
- Language
- English
- Country
- New York City, New York, USA
- Songwriter
- Larry G. Whitehead
- Genre
- Country · Country
- Primary theme
- Home Front Perspective / Soldier's Perspective
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…
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Annotation — Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs
The group, which featured the brothers Doyle Wilburn and Teddy Wilburn from Hardy, Arkansas, both served in the US army during the Korean War. (1) They also released the 1971 Vietnam War single The War Keeps Draggin' On (Decca Records # 32909). Reaching # 37 in the Billboard country charts (on 14 March 1970), this album included the peace song "Vision at the Peace Table" (Decca Records # DL 75173), in which the group imagined the leaders of the world coming together to end war, with the help of god. The inclusion of this song would also support the view that the "Little Johnny" track leaned towards the anti-war side. 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…
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
About the artist
Formed 1953, Hardy, Arkansas, USA. Disbanded 1982
Themes
In collections
US Domestic Perspective Songs · Draft Songs · Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs · US Combat Perspective Songs