NEW ORLEANS (April 16) - John Fred Gourrier, best known for his 1960s hit - "Judy in Disguise (With Glasses)'' - died Friday at Tulane Hospital after being ill for months, his former manager said. He was 63.
Gourrier, who went by the stage name John Fred, had been ill for months, said his former manager, Lynn Ourso, of the Louisiana Department of Economic Development.
"He had a kidney transplant seven months ago," Ourso said. "Two months after that he had another operation to remove his old kidneys and that's when things went wrong. He'd basically been in and out of the hospital since then."
John Fred & His Playboy Band had a regional following in the South when they recorded their parody of the popular Beatles' song "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds," in 1967. Written by Gorrier and fellow band member Andrew Bernard, "Judy In Disguise" was recorded in New Orleans with the Fats Domino band on Dec. 17.
By Jan. 20, 1968 it had replaced another Beatles song, "Hello Goodbye," as the No. 1 song in the nation. The song, well orchestrated with a snappy beat, remained at the top of the charts for two weeks.
"I have a great picture of John with the Beatles when the band toured the United Kingdom at that time," Ourso said.
Although "Judy in Disguise" was the only Top 40 song the group ever had, Fred had made the charts before.
Fred formed his first group while he was still in high school and recorded a song titled "Shirley."
"That made the charts and he was invited to do the Alan Freed show in New York," Ourso said. "After that show he got a call from Dick Clark to be on American Bandstand. He told him he couldn't do it because he had to go home to play in a basketball game."
Fred was a student at Catholic High School in Baton Rouge at the time, Ourso said, and the basketball team was in the state championship race.
Fred played college basketball for a while at Southeastern Louisiana. And worked as a high school basketball coach at times.
"He performed all his life," Ourso said. "There was always a band."
The last performance was about three years ago, Ourso said.
"We played for the Senate every year," Ourso said. "He loved that gig."
Fred is survived by his wife, Sandra, and one son.
― m coleman (lovebug starski), Sunday, 17 April 2005 17:01 (twenty years ago)
Freaky lyrics:
Judy in disguise,
Well, that's what you are,
Lemonade pie
with a brand new car.
Cantalope eyes come to me tonight
Judy in disguise with glasses.
Keep a-wearin' your bracelets
and your new rara,
Cross your heart
with your living bra.
Chimney sweep sparrow with guise
Judy in disguise with glasses.
Come to me tonight,
come to me tonight,
taking everything in sight,
except for the strings on my kite.
Judy in disguise,
Well, what you aiming for,
A circus of horrors, yeah,
Well that's what you are.
You made me a life of ashes,
I guess I'll just take your glasses!
― mnm, Sunday, 17 April 2005 17:38 (twenty years ago)
The album is worth getting, too - freaked out white garage soul, weird as the Hombres, but with Gregorian chant parts and stuff. My longstanding theory is that John Fred and his Playboy Band and the Residents (who both came from Shreveport and both parodied the Beatles in their own way) were the same people, but I was probably wrong. Either way, "Judy in Disguise" is one of the best dance songs and best rock'n'roll songs in the history of the world. Period.
― xhuxk, Sunday, 17 April 2005 19:19 (twenty years ago)
Hey, Chuck, that's my theory too! Wait a minute! I always say that to my buddy in Nashville, Tim Korstad, the world's biggest Residents nut..."those boys with the eyeballs on their heads, they're..."
I too have that LP of "Agnes English," and I always thought they were kinda like what the Box Tops would've been if they had been more willing to indulge their freaky side. The album even contains a Dan Penn/Spooner Oldham tune, "Out of Left Field," and a version of "She Shot a Hole in My Soul." And a really weird one called "Most Unlikely to Succeed," which I was putting on all the mix CDs I made for friends a while back. Good old Jewel Records in Shreveport. I mean I sure listen to this one far more than I do "Magical Mystery Tour"...
― edd s hurt (ddduncan), Sunday, 17 April 2005 19:31 (twenty years ago)