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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZNASH, Johnny(b 19 August 1940, Houston TX; d there 6 October 2020) Pop/soul/reggae singer, songwriter. A breakthrough on Texas TV's KPRC Matinee led to rejection of a university place and signing by ABC Paramount; his only top 40 hit then was 'A Very Special Love' '57 (also 'The Teen Commandments' '58 in trio with labelmates Paul Anka and George Hamilton IV); with roles in films such as Key Witness he seemed set for an MOR career. Then 'Let's Move And Groove Together' '65 was no. 4 in the soul chart; having visited the Caribbean while filming racial melodrama Take A Giant Step '58, he returned there to work with producer Byron Lee, making an an abrupt turn to reggae: his own 'Hold Me Tight' was no. 5 UK and USA, also made the U.S. soul chart; 'You Got Soul' and cover of Sam Cooke's 'Cupid' did well (his vocal debt to Cooke, hitherto unremarked, was now acknowledged). He and Sims patronized the then-unknown songwriter Bob Marley, recording his 'Guava Jelly' and reaching top 15 both UK/USA with his 'Stir It Up'; Nash's own 'I Can See Clearly Now' was no. 1 USA, no. 5 UK '72; LP of that title was no. 23 USA, top 40 UK, with four songs by Marley (and backing by the Wailers), Marley's first important royalties. He carried on in soulful/reggae style with 'Tears On My Pillow' (no. 1 UK '75), Cooke's 'What A Wonderful World' (no. 25 UK '76). In the end he had done better in the UK (six top ten entries '68-75) than in USA, and his own song 'I Can See Clearly Now' was established as the song that everybody else wished they had written. He ran his own JAD and Joda labels with partner Danny Sims in '60s, writing Joey Dee hit 'What Kind Of Love Is This' and producer Sam & Bill's 'For Your Love' '65 (his own later hits were on Epic); he built his own studio in Jamaica and continued a sporadic career in films (i.e. Love Is Not A Game) during spells of residence in Sweden. But he loved his home town and in many ways never really left Houston, a much-loved local boy who devoted himself to many good works there. |