John R.

John R. (born John Richbourg, August 20, 1910 - February 15, 1986) was an American radio disc jockey who attained fame in the 1950s and 1960s for playing rhythm and blues music on Nashville radio station WLAC.

He was also a notable record producer and artist manager.

Richbourg was arguably the most popular and charismatic of the four announcers at WLAC who showcased popular African-American music in nightly programs from the late 1940s to the early 1970s.

(The other three were Gene Nobles, Herman Grizzard, and Bill "Hoss" Allen.) Later rock music disc jockeys, such as Alan Freed and Wolfman Jack, mimicked Richbourg's practice of using speech that simulated African-American street language of the mid-twentieth century.

Richbourg's highly stylized approach to on-air presentation of both music and advertising earned him popularity, but it also created identity confusion.

Because Richbourg and fellow disc jockey Allen used African-American speech patterns, many listeners thought that both announcers were actually African-Americans.

When Gene Nobles took an extended vacation from the station in the late 1940s, Richbourg filled in for him.

Richbourg followed Nobles' lead in playing artists such as Otis Rush, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and Sonny Boy Williamson, artists primarily heard on specialty jukeboxes and in mostly Southern markets after hours, if at all, on radio, men who performed what Richbourg later termed "cornfield" blues music.

Although some white listeners protested against the music, black audiences responded with enthusiasm and began to write fan letters to Richbourg.

Because many of the fans misspelled Richbourg's surname, the disc jockey shortened his on-air moniker to "John R."

After a year there, in 1942 Richbourg moved to WLAC in Nashville.

During World War II, from 1943 to 1946, Richbourg served in the U.S. Navy.

He returned to Nashville after his honorable discharge and was invited back to his old job on the air.

WLAC first assigned Richbourg to the news desk.

By the mid-1950s, John R. began attracting white listeners again — young people.

Teenagers listened to the programs featuring blues music and "street talk", some as an act of adolescent rebellion.

Richbourg became an influential figure in the fledgling black music trade by featuring ground-breaking R&B and early rock performers like Chuck Berry and Fats Domino on his program.

Later Richbourg capitalized on his reputation by becoming a manager to several artists, an occasional record producer, and later entrepreneur in Nashville's booming recording industry.

Nashville has long had an international reputation for country music, but it has also always had studio facilities devoted to soul, R&B, and gospel.

Richbourg may have gained his most enduring reputation as a pitchman who used "down-home" phrasing to ad-lib copy for advertisers.

One example: ''Now, friends, I know you got some soul.

If you didn't, you wouldn't be listenin' to ol' John R., 'cause I got me some soul.

I'll tell you somethin', friends.

You can really tell the world you got soul with this brand-new Swinging Soul Medallion,'' a jewelry pendant.

Richbourg sold exotic or unusual products, such as baby chicks from a Pennsylvania hatchery, family Bibles, hot-rod mufflers, and so on.

Most of these were marketed to an African-American clientele.

The disc jockeys used the mystique to their commercial and personal advantages until the mid-1960s, when the fact that they were actually white became public knowledge.

Richbourg was a descendant of French Huguenot immigrants.

As a young man, he moved to New York City to work as a theater actor.

Because of the Great Depression and lack of work, he shifted to voice work on radio soap operas.

Tiring of the instability of life as an actor, Richbourg returned to his native South Carolina.

He obtained a job announcing at WTMA in Charleston.

John R. featured artists such as James Brown, 'Baby' Washington, Otis Redding, and other popular soul acts of the 1960s.

Despite the popularity of newer white performers such as Elvis Presley and The Beatles, Richbourg continued to play chiefly African-American artists.

He only played mainstream pop when Ernie's Record Mart required him to do so in a commercial hour-long radio show.

According to Wes Smith's book, The Pied Pipers of Rock 'n' Roll: Radio Deejays of the 50s and 60s (Longstreet Press, 1989), many such products turned out to be defective and/or scams, but few irate customers ever sought legal action against the station or manufacturers.

One long-running legitimate sponsor was Ernie's Record Mart, owned by a record label entrepreneur who specialized in recording local Nashville R&B acts.

On that nightly show titled "Ernies Record Parade", John R. would announce, "now this six-record special, the Big Blues special, from Ernie's Record Mart is just two dollars, ninety-eight cents ($2.98) plus shipping and handling, a total of just three ninety-nine ($3.99) from Ernie's Record Mart, 179 3rd Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee. When you order, ask for the Big Blues special or simply say, offer number two; now, let's dig this.."

and he would proceed to the next set of offers on the Ernie's Record Parade radio show after playing one or more songs.

While still working at WLAC, Richbourg branched out into record production.