JOHNNY KEYES and THE MAGNIFICENTS

Feature: DuWOP History

Johnny Keyes, Reggie Gordon, Rufus Hunter, and Julius Hawkins have been singing together since the mid fifties as the Magnificents, and they recorded on the Vee-Jay Label. The group became famous when, after traveling on the road playing one-nighters in the midwest for several month, their record "UP ON THE MOUNTAIN" became a big hit, selling over half-a-million records. The group toured the country and worked the "Chittin Circuit" (The Apollo Theatre in New York, Howard Threatre in Washington D.C. The Royal Theatre in Baltimore, the Circle Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio; the Regal Theatre in Chicago, and in Philadelphia, The Uptown Theatre). They appeared with groups like The Drifters, The Clovers, Otis Williams and The Charms, Frankie Lyman and the Teenagers, The Cadets, The Dubs, and many others... Their career got another jump-started again in the last few years as a result of a book Johnny Keyes wrote. The book is about various singing groups and the Du Wop history that these groups made famous in the 1950's-60's. The book, is deftly titled, "DU-WOP", recorded details of history of Du-Wop music and various famous groups and their journeys. It explained how the music got started and how it evolved to become the root of Rock N Roll, Rythm and Blues and modern musics. The Magnificents' members are the original singers and Johnny Keyes is the lead singer. Du Wop - The Book

What's New?

Johnny Keyes and The Magnificents are currently working on a very special program. They are performing for the local schools and various Organizations in Chicago. The program is called Do-Wop in the schools, The program aims to educate younger generation and school children of the history of Do-Wop and the influence and root of music in the early 50's. They also talk about Do-Wop's origin, Definition, the people who were the inspiration of this Music Form, and they demonstrate the difference in styles, region by region. (Starting with the East Coast, then the West Coast, and the Midwest Coast. In between each segment they explain what they did and who sang the songs originally. The 90 minute presentation concludes with a question and answer period. The Program is sponsored in part by the Rhythm and Blues Foundation, Inc's Grant Program. Eventually they intend to take it to cities all over the world. A slide presentation will be incorporated as part of the show in the near future. The Rhythm and Blues Foundation is located in Washington, D.C. and Johnny and The Magnificents are proud to be involved with this program. Johnny said that they had fun at all their shows and their last Presentation /Concert at The James Jordan Boys and Girls Club, in Chicago in no exception. Michael Jordan built the Club for children ages 6 through 18 in honor of his memory of his father. R&B Grant Recipients Johnny's Official Web Site Booking Info See more photographs