Johnny Bush

Johnny Bush, born February 17 1935 as John Bush Shinn III in Houston, Texas, is a country music singer, songwriter, and drummer. Starting out as a solo act in 1952 in San Antonio, Texas, Bush switched to drums, and in the 1960s began working with Willie Nelson's band, The Record Men, afterwards, joining Ray Price's Cherokee Cowboys. While with the band, Bush wanted a record deal, but record executives felt he sounded too similar to Price to be marketable. Instead, Nelson paid for Bush's first album, Sound of a Heartache, which was popular locally. Nationally, the album was picked up by Stop Records where his first single "You Ought To Hear Me Cry" became a minor hit in 1967. His next album "Undo The Right" became his breakthrough and he began starting to score Top 40 hits. His first Top 40 hit came with "What A Way To Live" in 1968, the followup "Undo The Right" became his first Top 10 later that year. In 1969, Johnny scored his biggest hit with "You Gave Me A Mountain" which went to #7 on the charts. He continued to score major hits with "Each Time" (1969), "My Cup Runneth Over" (1969) and "Warmth Of The Wine" (1970)

In 1972, Bush's song "I'll Be There" became a Top 20 hit, leading to a deal with RCA. He had a Top Ten hit with his song "Whiskey River", which later became Willie Nelson's signature song. Just as he was reaching the peak of his popularity, however, Bush began losing his vocal range. Doctors were unable diagnose the cause, until 1978, when they discovered he had a rare neurological disorder, spasmodic dysphonia. Although this did not prevent him from recording, Bush's career began to take a downturn. He worked with a vocal coach in 1985, and was able to regain 70% of his original voice.

In 1986, Bush teamed up with Darrell McCall, recording a successful honky-tonk album Hot Texas Country, and began assembling a large country band (as did Willie Nelson), performing around south Texas. In 1994 the band released Time Changes Everything, the same year that RCA released a greatest hits album. A major tour soon followed. Johnny Bush continues to tour regularly, often performing with Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard. Bush's latest album, produced by Ice House Music, is called Kashmere Gardens Mud. The record was released the same day as his co-written biography, Whiskey River (Take My Mind) and includes 13 tracks, a reprise, and a hidden track.