Episode #212 |12.17.24

Elvis Presley and Johnny Ace: A Deadly Christmas Story

Listen free:

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | SiriusXM | iHeart | Pandora | Amazon Music | TuneIn | Castbox

In this episode

Elvis Presley loved the Memphis singer Johnny Ace. Johnny died long before Elvis became the King of Rock ‘N’ Roll and the way in which Johnny Ace died was as tragic as it was violent. It involved a game of Russian roulette, a greedy and dubious rock ‘n’ roll impresario, BB King, Big Mama Thornton, Little Richard, and a killer conspiracy and music history myth in desperate need of busting. Buckle up for a Christmas story like no other.

Sources

The Death of Johnny Ace, by Steve Bergsman

Unsung Heroes of Rock ‘n’ Roll: The Birth of Rock in the Wild Years Before Elvis, by Nick Tosches

The Late Great Johnny Ace (Please Kill Me)

Sympathy for the Devil (Oxford American)

The Night Johnny Ace Died (Houston Press)

The Tragic Legacy of 1950s Pop Star Johnny Ace (Slingshot)

Don Robey: Gangster of Worship (Michael Corcoran)

Don Robey Built His Gospel Empire with Ruthless Street Tactics (Houston Press)

Don Robey and Peacock Records (Soulful Kinda Music)

Disgraceland is a podcast about musicians getting away with murder and behaving very badly. It melds music history, true crime and transgressive fiction. Disgraceland is not journalism. Disgraceland is entertainment. Entertainment inspired by true events. However, certain scenes, characters and names are sometimes fictionalized for dramatic purposes.