Add Johnny Malone’s name to the list of Chattanoogans who have gone on to make a living in the entertainment industry.
He also goes on my list of really nice people.
Malone grew up in the Orchard Knob area and graduated in 1967 from Riverside, where he won All-City and All-State honors for band. Sitting behind him back in those days during band practice was Samuel L. Jackson.
“He was a prankster,” Malone said. “He used to flick my ears.”
After high school, Malone said he really wanted to attend Florida A&M, but his parents insisted he attend the University of Chattanooga, now UTC.
He enrolled at 17 and was the first black in the music department.
“There were only about 15 or 20 blacks in the whole school,” he said, adding that he never had any problems being in such a small minority.
“For some, it might have been a problem, but I was used to being the only black in the orchestra. I was the principal horn player for the youth players.”
Still, he said he wanted to go to FAM and he hatched a plan.
“I flunked out hoping my father would send me to Florida, and, instead, he sent me to work.”
Soon enough, he got back into UC and earned a degree and got a job as a junior planner with the city’s planning commission. Music became a side gig, and he formed two groups — Crystal Climax and Haze — that played around town.
When Albert King came to town, Malone’s uncle got him an audition to be a part of the new band that King was putting together because he had recently fired his other band while on tour. Malone got the job but lost it within a week or two, he said.
“I couldn’t play like I do now,” Malone said.
In the late ’70s, Malone said the city phased out his office and he started playing and waiting tables at the Station House at the Choo Choo. He also recorded a demo with one of his bands, which earned some attention from Elektra Records.
While that didn’t pan out, it opened what would be a series of doors that took him to Atlanta, Detroit, where he was a writer at Motown, and Los Angeles, where he lives and works today. He was a high school teacher for 17 years and recently retired from that.
During his career, he has played with Shalamar, Manhattan Transfer, Ray Charles and Patrice Rushen, who was responsible for getting him to LA.
He is a member of the Los Angeles Symphonic Winds. For the last couple of years, he’s been traveling to Chattanooga to care for his aunt, Tommie Crumsey.
Part of Malone’s mission has been to influence young people through music. He is especially interested in making a connection with local youth.
“Music has done so much for me,” he said. “I want people to understand that. And I want the young people to hear the music. Real music, played by real people.”