78rpm FAQ

Frequently asked questions from the new collectors

this page first published by John Wright, 13 Feb 1999
last update 21 Oct 2006vintage@jabw.demon.co.uk

FAQ 5

Who were Layton and Johnstone and why are

their 78rpm records so common in Britain in the 21st century??

Source: 'Oxford Companion To Popular Music' via my 78-L colleague Alan Bunting

Turner Layton was born in Washington DC in 1894 and died in London 6th February 1978. American composer, pianist, singer and entertainer.

The son of a music teacher, he had early music training, studied medicine for a while and then decided to become a professional pianist. He made his first appearance at Times Square Theatre, New York in 1920 and made his first recording for the Black Swan label in 1921.

He played in vaudeville with Henry Creamer, with whom he was to write many songs, was in a musical review THREE SHOWERS (1920) and the all-black review STRUT, MISS LIZA (1922) and also contributed to SPICE OF 1922 and SOME PARTY (1922).

He teamed up with Clarence 'Tandy' Johnstone (died 1953) to form the popular singing duo Layton and Johnstone with Layton at the piano. They went to London in 1923 to work in nightclubs and made their stage debut at the Queen's Theatre in ELSIE JANIS AT HOME (1924) going on to become favourite performers in Britain on stage, radio and records. The partnership lasted until 1935, by which time they had sold 10 MILLION records including 'It Ain't A Going To Rain No More', 'River, Stay Away From My Door', 'We'll All Go Riding On A Rainbow' and having a special hit in 'Bye Bye Blackbird'.

Johnstone returned to the USA and lived in obscure and impoverished retirement. Layton continued as a popular solo entertainer until 1946. Among his best songs (mainly with Creamer as lyricist) were 'After You've Gone'(1918), 'Dear Old Southland' (1921), 'Way Down Yonder In New Orleans' (1922), 'If I Could Be With You One Hour Tonight' (1922), and 'Down By The River' (1923).

After hearing just one of their records I avoided Layton and Johnstone for years, then a while back I was given a whole 78 collection which contained about 20 of their records. I looked through them admiring the fact that the discs looked MINT and then I realised that many of my favourite 1920's songs were there, and I played a few. Some of them are excellent examples of the '20's period popular songs. Forget 'Bye Bye Blackbird' but look out for 'Happy Feet', 'You're The Cream In My Coffee' etc.

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