VIA Carolina Beach Music
Carolina Beach Music reports Chairmen of the Board General Norman Johnson died Wednesday night. A staff member at General Entertainment confirmed Johnson’s death this afternoon. Johnson recently had a knee replacement surgery, but his death was a shock. The band was originally based in Charlotte, but Johnson lived in Atlanta. According to Wikipedia he was 67.
Chairmen of the Board was one of the most popular beach music groups when the genre was huge. Beach music is a mix of R&B and soul music that bands performed live at the beach primarily during the segregation era. It’s extremely popular with shag dancers.
CNN reportedly dubbed Chairmen of the Board “Kings of Beach Music.” The band’s biggest hits included “Give Me Just a Little More Time,” “(You’ve Got Me) Dangling on a String” and “Everything’s Tuesday.” Johnson was also a songwriter. He won a Grammy for “Patches,” a hit for Clarence Carter. Check back for details.
This blog post by ROCKS! Magazine offers a great tribute to General Johnson and the relevance of beach music.
