Handsome Johnny - Richie Havens.
BTW, the words “Handsome Johnny” appear in every verse:
“It looks like Handsome Johnny with a flintlock in his hand”
“It looks like Handsome Johnny with a carbine in his hand”
Etc.
A BÖC Fan (named John) checking in:
One of those songs you won’t find via a Title Search.
"The Marshall Plan" - By Blue Öyster Cult
Song about a guy who takes his girl to a rock concert and she dumps him for the guitarist in the band. Our title character, Johnny, isn’t stting right with this one. He learns to play guitar and becomes a legend in his time. The song even has a cameo voice over by old Mr. Satin Baseball Jacket himself: Don Kirschner
(Paraphrasing here)
…Enter cliched Buck Dharma guitar solo.
Wash your mouth out! Buck Dharma is a genius! (Though the song sucks).
Dire Straits - Walk of Life
“Here comes Johnny singing oldies, goldies,
Baba luba baby what I say…”
There’s a song from the 50’s/early 60’s, female singer that sings:
Oh, johnny, oh johnny…(something something something)
It was the first thing that came to mind other than:
when johnny comes marching home again, hoorah! Hoorah!
Johnny Feelgood, by Liz Phair
“Johnny feelgood, Johnny right on,
Johnny miss you, Johnny light on
Johnny makes me feel strangely good about myself…”
When the Beatles Hit America by John Wesley Harding. (Sort of a spoken blues satire riff to it…)
*Due to a miracle marketing strategy
beyond the realms of reasonable possibility,
it is announced simultaneously
on radio, compact disc and TV,
that John, Paul, George and Ringo,
they’re gonna be reforming as The Beatles in 1993.
And things skip into action immediately.
George buys the film rights in a flurry of activity;
Paul says they’re not gonna play Japan;
Ringo cancels his chat show plans;
and John, who was never the quiet one,
John stays silent, for the time being…*
And there’s also at least one line in The Red Rose and the Briar by the same artist.
My Ride’s Here by Warren Zevon
I was staying at the Marriott
With Jesus and John Wayne
I was waiting for a chariot
They were waiting for a train
The sky was full of carrion
“I’ll take the mazuma”
Said Jesus to Marion
“That’s the 3:10 to Yuma
My ride’s here…”
Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye is a traditional Irish song.
Liz Phair also did “Johnny Sunshine”:
<i>You left me nothing
You left me nothing
Johnny Sunshine</i>
Johnny Angel
Father John by Lemming.
“Oh Johnny Oh!” by Richard X. Heyman (who probably belongs in the “recommend an obscure CD” thread)
John Barleycorn - traditional
Surabaya Johnny - Brecht/Weill
Hold On, Slow John by Firewater.
- So hold on, Slow John
There’s no getting used
To the taste of a gun *
Subterranean Homesick Blues, by Bob Dylan
“Johnny’s in the basement, mixing up the medicine…”
I know the theme song for Johnny Bravo probably doesn’t count… but it should!
Johnny 99 - Springsteen
John Wesley Harding - Dylan
Tell Me Momma - Dylan (Hey, John, come and get me some candy goods)
Tomstone Blues - Dylan (Well, John the Baptist after torturing a thief)
Talking John Birch Paranoid Blues - Dylan
Intagio wrote:
That would be Shelly Fabres. Not Motown.
Most of my favorites have been covered, but looking at my collection of sea shanties, I find:
Whiskey Johnny
… Whiskey is the life of man
Whiskey from an old tin can
Whiskey, o, Johnny, o,
Rise 'er up from down below
Whiskey, whiskey, whiskey, o,
Up, and up this yard must go
John, rise 'er up from down below…
Heave Away Me Johnny
There’s some that’s bound for New York Town
And some that’s bound for France
Heave away me Johnny, heave away
And there’s some that’s bound for the Bengal Bay
To teach them whales a dance
Heave away, me Johnny, heave away
We’re all bound to go…
Johnny Brown
My Sally girl she’s hard to beat, boys,
Weigh-hey, Sally-o,
Always pulling at the old main sheet, boys,
Heigh-lo, Johnny Brown, stand to your ground…
Johnny Todd
Johnny Todd he took a notion,
For to cross the raging sea
And he left his true love behind him,
Weeping by the Liverpool sea…
Let’s see. Some other folk tunes:
Winsome Johnny
I know where I’m going, and I know who’s going with me;
I know who I love, and the Lord knows who I’ll marry.
I’ll have dresses of silk; and shoes of bright green leather;
Combs to buckle my hair, and a ring for every finger.
Leather shows are fine, and silken dresses are bonny,
But I would trade them all for my handsome, winsome Johnny.
Some may say he’s bad, but I say he’s bonny;
Fairest of them all is my handsome, winsome, Johnny.
Oh, dear! What can the matter be
Oh, dear! What can the matter be?
Oh, dear! What can the matter be?
Oh, dear! What can the matter be?
Johnny’s so long at the fair…
Well, then there’s all the ballads.
The traditional Frankie and Johnny - “Frankie and Johnny were lovers, oh and how they could love”
Terence Trent D’Arby had his own take, **“T.I.T.S.”/“F&J”
** - Frankie and Johnny were lovers alright, a man and a woman toughened by the weight of time."
Violent Femme’s Johnny - “Oh Johnny, do you miss your mother, do you miss your father, oh and johnny, do you miss me?”
Duran Duran’s First Impression - “Here comes little Johnny, from the backstreets of the UK.”