Big John Patton wasn't big. Playing the organ-combo circuit in late 1961 and early '62, a club owner began calling him "Big Bad John." The name was inspired by Jimmy Dean's record, Big Bad John, which was released in September of '61 and went to #1 on Billboard's pop chart in early November. Patton told an interviewer he resisted the name at first but s…
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to JazzWax to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.