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Book Review:   

Just Walkin' In The Rain
Author:Warner, Jay
Publisher: Renaissance Books (Distributed by  St. Martin's Press)
Year: 2001 ISBN: 1580631401

Singer Johnny Bragg is hardly a household name, but his influence and life are more than worthy of this wonderful biography by author Jay Warner. The book purports to be the story of "a convict quartet, a liberal governor, and how they changed southern history through rhythm and blues", but it is so much more. Titled after the 1953 composition written by convicts Robert S. Riley and Johnny Bragg and released by their group The Prison Aires on Sun Records it became a favorite song of the Sun labels favorite son, Elvis Presley, with Presley becoming a close friend of Bragg, a man imprisoned wrongfully at sixteen years of age, making for a soul-stirring story of racism, cruelty, strength of will, and how those forces led to the creation of important and lasting music.

There is so much history packed into this 251 page project it goes far beyond politics, and biography, evolving into stories of songs as well as people. The tune the book was named after has a history of its own which  Chapter 14 brings to life in stunning detail, from Gene Autry's cover of "Just Walking in The Rain" in 1954, to record producer Don Law (father of Boston promoter Don Law Jr.) bringing the tune to Mitch Miller leading to the 1956 smash by the late Johnny Ray backed by the Ray Coniff Orchestra. The nuggets do not stop there, valuable information on the late Hal Hebb joining Johnny Bragg's singing group, information this writer has not found anywhere else, sheds light on the figure who taught legendary songwriter Bobby Hebb, Hal's younger brother. This book claims that Sunny, BMI's #25 song of all time, was written by Bobby after Hal Hebb's tragic passing. Now signed to Excello Records, the band called The Marigolds, evolved from The Prison Aires, performed on December 21, 1957 for Elvis Presley at Governor Frank G.Clement's mansion. They sang Jailhouse Rock for Elvis, only
to be joined by The King for a rendition of Just Walkin' In The Rain}, a song Elvis did not record. The prisoner outrage at the preferential treatment and star power their fellow inmates attained led to threats against Hebb, Bragg and others. Their triumph over incredible odds, and the evolution of music that impacted many, is chronicled lovingly by author Jay Warner. Just Walkin' In The Rain is spellbinding, intellectual, informative, and worth reading multiple times for its lessons on man's inhumanity to man, and how one individual could create beautiful sounds despite unwarranted hardship.

Joe Viglione for www.allmusic.com