Johnny Pearson
| Johnny Pearson | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | John Valmore Pearson |
| Born | 18 June 1925 |
| Origin | Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England |
| Died | 20 March 2011 (aged 85) |
| Genres | Pop, jazz, easy listening |
| Occupation(s) | Arranger, songwriter, orchestra leader |
| Instruments | Piano |
| Years active | c.1945–1990s |
| Labels |
Parlophone Oriole Pye Penny Farthing Page One KPM |
| Associated acts |
Cilla Black Sounds Orchestral |
John Valmore Pearson (18 June 1925 – 20 March 2011), known as Johnny Pearson, was a British composer, orchestra leader and pianist. He led the Top of the Pops orchestra for sixteen years, wrote a catalogue of library music, and had many of his pieces used as the theme music to television series.
Born in Chesterfield, Derbyshire Johnny Pearson showed talent with the piano at an early age. By nine, he had won a scholarship with the London Academy of Music. Here he spent four years under English pianist, Solomon. In his teens, he would give classical recitals, but his true love at the time was jazz. His first band was the Rhythm Makers. During the second world war, Johnny Pearson served in the famous Royal Artillery Band and Orchestra at Woolwich. After World War II, he signed up and became one of the founding members of the Malcolm Mitchell Trio, before leaving in 1954 after Malcolm Mitchell broke up the group to start a solo career. During his time with the trio, Johnny Pearson toured England and Europe, playing the West End and theatres. The early Malcolm Mitchell Trio consisted of Malcolm Mitchell, Teddy Broughton and Johnny Pearson.
After leaving the Malcolm Mitchell Trio, Pearson turned his talents to British radio, as well as performing in the Peter York Concert Orchestra. By 1960, he was conducting the Romance in Rhythm Orchestra. He recorded two singles for Parlophone, "Waterfall" in mid 1959, and "Theme from The L Shaped Room" in 1962. He was then offered a solo album deal with Oriole Records, which first teamed him up with John Schroeder. The Oriole album, Piano Sweet - Piano Wild was released in 1962 and was Johnny Pearson's first full vinyl album release. Also there was a 45 single released, "Ooh La La", in 1962 but this track and its b-side did not appear on the album. After the Oriole releases, Johnny Pearson continued to perform with various concert orchestras until 1964.
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