THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

400-Pat Boone-Johnny Will.

1961-Number 4 single.

Best Bit-At 0.48. I have done some research, and it appears that $10 in 1961 is the equivalent of approximately $105 in 2025.

Patrick Charles Eugene Boone was born on June 1st, 1934, in Jacksonville, Florida, Unites States. He has sold in excess of 49 million records worldwide, and in the late 1950’s, was America’s second best selling artist behind Elvis Presley (1935-1977) (see also best songs 954-664-442 and 194.) Many of his early recordings were cover versions of ‘Rock N’ Roll,’ and ‘R&B’ songs, such as ‘Tutti Frutti,’ and ‘Ain’t That a Shame,’ bringing those genres, and the artists who wrote and recorded the originals to the attention of a much wider audience. Pat Boone also had great success in film and television, and also as a writer. Between October 3rd, 1957, through until June 23rd, 1960, ‘The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom’ ran for 115 episodes, over three seasons on the ‘ABC’ television network. Boone has also appeared in 27 films, between 1955-2017, and as a writer has had 26 books published, many sharing his religious beliefs. According to the American ‘Billboard’ magazine Pat Boone was the only singer that could compete in popularity with Elvis Presley during the 1950’s. Until the 2010’s, he held the record for spending 220 consecutive weeks on the Billboard charts with one or more songs. It has been estimated that over the course of his career, he recorded more than 2,600 official tracks, making him one of the most prolific artists in music history.

The discography of Pat Boone includes 78 studio Albums released between 1956-2015, and 113 singles released between 1953-1984, there are also 78 official compilation Albums, and three soundtrack Albums available. In America on the Billboard Hot 100, 30 of his singles have reached the top 40, with six of those tracks making the Number 1 position, with ‘Johnny Will’ making Number 35, while in the UK, he has had 26 top 40 hits, with ‘I’ll Be Home,’ from 1956, peaking the highest at Number 1.

‘Johnny Will’ which was the 53rd single released by Pat Boone, was the seventh of eight singles chosen for Pat Boone’s 1962 compilation Album ‘Pat Boone’s Golden Hits Featuring Speedy Gonzales,’ the song was co-written by Fred Tobias, (1928-2021) and Paul Evans, with the production being by Randy Wood (1917-2011.) Fred Tobias was born on March 25th, 1928, in New York City, New York, United States, he died on May 29th, 2021, at the age of 93. His other best known co-writes include ‘Born Too Late,’ by the Poni-Tails, (1958-Billboard Number 7 & UK Number 5) ‘Good Timin,” for Jimmy Jones, (1960-Billboard Number 3 & UK Number 1) and ‘Little Bitty Girl,’ for Bobby Rydell (1960-Billboard Number 19.) The other co-writer of ‘Johnny Will’ was Paul Evans, who was born on March 5th, 1938, in Queens, New York, United States, he is a singer/songwriter, and musician. As ‘Paul Evans and the Curls,’ he charted with the ‘novelty’ song ‘Seven Little Girls Sitting in the Backseat,’ (1959-Billboard Number 9 & UK Number 25) he has also had a further two Billboard top 20 hits. In the UK in 1978, his co-write of ‘Hello,This Is Joannie (The Telephone Answering Machine Song’) with Fred Tobias reached Number 6. Paul Evans’ two most successful co-writes are ‘When,’ for The Kalin Twins, (Billboard Number 5 & UK Number 1) and ‘Roses Are Red (My Love,’) for Bobby Vinton (Billboard Number 1 & UK Number 15.)

‘Johnny Will’ was produced by Randy Wood, who was born Randolph Clay Wood, on March 30th, 1917, in McMinnville, Tennessee, United States, he died on April 9th, 2011, from complications from a fall at his home at the age of 94. In 1945 he opened a store in Tennessee selling electrical appliances and some records. After noticing that many teenagers were seeking ‘R&B’ records, he started a mail order business for hard-to-find records. He began stocking ‘R&B’ records for sale to a white audience, and by 1950, the store had become ‘Randy’s Record Shop.’ He became co-owner of a local radio station, ‘WHIN,’ and in January 1950 set up ‘Dot Records,’ with the Nashville Radio DJ Gene Nobles, (1913-1989) so as to release recordings by musicians who appeared on the station. By 1955 Randy Wood realised that there was a market for ‘R&B songs’ re-recorded by white singers, which would allow them to be played on Pop Music stations catering for a white audience. At the time, many Pop radio stations in the U.S. would not play records by black musicians. Wood signed Pat Boone to ‘Dot Records,’ and had him record cover versions of ‘R&B’ songs. Many music critics criticised the ‘watering down’ of the original versions, but there is no doubt that it helped bring artists such as Little Richard, and Fats Domino even more into the mainstream.

‘I checked and found they’re sellin’ tickets at five bucks each, and all that kinda’ money ain’t within my reach. But if I want to be the guy who is her only thrill, I better take her to the dance next week or Johnny Will.’