Layton & Johnstone

Layton & Johnstone
Turner Layton and Clarence "Tandy" Johnstone. From The Crisis, January 1933.
Background information
Origin	New York City
Years active	1922 (1922)–1935 (1935)
Past members	Turner Layton and Clarence “Tandy” Johnstone

Layton & Johnstone were an American vocal and piano duo in the 1920s and 1930s, consisting of Turner Layton (baritone and piano) and Clarence “Tandy” Johnstone (tenor). After forming in New York City in 1922, they moved to England two years later and met with immediate success. Between 1924 and 1935, they sold over 10 million records. They appeared at top venues in London, Paris and across Europe, and gave command performances for the British royal family on numerous occasions. They also appeared frequently on BBC Radio. The duo disbanded in 1935 after Clarence Johnstone became involved in a highly publicized divorce scandal.

John Turner Layton, Jr. (1894 –1978) was born in Washington, D.C., and in 1916 moved to New York City, where he soon formed a successful songwriting team with Henry Creamer. Clarence Nathaniel "Tandy" Johnstone (1885 – 1953) was an orthopedic surgeon from Manhattan who also worked as an entertainer. After Layton’s songwriting partnership with Creamer ended in 1922, he turned his attention to performing. Johnstone, speaking with a newspaper reporter in 1948, gave his version of meeting Layton and forming the duo. "It was in 1922, at the Biltmore Hotel, that I met Turner Layton. He was well known and was looking for a partner whose voice blended with his. We ran through 'Japanese Sandman'—and the team of Layton and Johnstone was born. It was a natural." The two performed in Harlem and at private parties for wealthy patrons that included members of the Astor and Vanderbilt families. In a 1984 article for The Black Perspective in Music, Henry Robsinon wrote that Layton & Johnstone "followed their clients to Palm Beach in the winter and to Newport in the summer, returning to New York for the autumn and spring." In Florida, Lord and Lady Mountbatten heard them perform and convinced them to go to England.

Layton & Johnstone arrived in England in 1924, performing at exclusive London clubs such as the Kit Kat and large venues like The Coliseum and The Holborn Empire. One of their fans was Edward, Prince of Wales, who would later become King Edward VIII. Robinson states, "The Prince took a liking to the talented pair and on several occasions invited them to entertain at his residence, St. James’s Palace."

The duo also had successful engagements at major theatres across Europe, including Berlin, Brussels and in Paris at the Salle Pleyel. They were frequent performers on BBC Radio and appeared in a motion picture in 1931.