Johnny Otis, influential bandleader and talent scout

Johnny Otis, an influential bandleader and a ubiquitous presence in rhythm-and-blues music who was credited with discovering singer Etta James and writing such hits as “Willie and the Hand Jive” and “Every Beat of My Heart,” the song that launched Gladys Knight, died Jan. 17 at his home in Altadena, Calif.

His manager, Terry Gould, confirmed the death but did not disclose the cause. Mr. Otis was 90 and widely promoted as the “godfather of rhythm and blues.”

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(Los Angeles Times/LOS ANGELES TIMES) - Johnny Otis in his studio in his Altadena home in 1990.

At the dawn of the musical genre in the 1940s, Mr. Otis was an iconoclastic figure: a son of Greek immigrants who grew up in a black neighborhood in northern California and embraced African American culture during a period of strict racial segregation.

“As a kid, I decided that if our society dictated that one had to be black or white, I would be black,” he wrote in “Listen to the Lambs,” a 1968 book penned in reaction to the earlier Watts race riots in Los Angeles. The title was taken from a black spiritual and was a meditation on politics.

In a career spanning more than six decades, he was a drummer, vibraphonist, club owner, disc jockey, record label owner and talent scout. He first made an impression in show business as a bandleader, notably with his 1945 hit recording of Earle Hagen’s jazz standard “Harlem Nocturne.”

After further entries on the Billboard R&B charts, his 1958 recording of his own composition, “Willie and the Hand Jive,” sold more than 1 million copies; it was later covered by guitarist Eric Clapton. Another Otis composition, “Every Beat of My Heart” became a best-selling record in 1961 for Gladys Knight and the Pips.

The Otis band, with Mr. Otis on drums, backed Big Mama Thornton on her original version of “Hound Dog” (1952), later a signature song for Elvis Presley.

In 1994, Mr. Otis was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. “Over the years he has exhibited an uncanny ear for talent, and by bringing that talent to the fore has served to advance the growth and development of rhythm & blues,” his citation read.

Johnny Alexander Veliotes was born Dec. 28, 1921, in Vallejo, Calif. Survivors include his wife of 70 years, the former Phyllis Walker; and seven children. His son, Shuggie, played guitar in the Otis band and recorded several albums under his own name.

Mr. Otis began his career at 18 drumming with a juke joint pianist near his home. In his 20s, he went to Los Angeles to drum with Harlan Leonard’s Kansas City Rockets, a popular draw on Central Avenue, the city’s black entertainment strip, and recorded with jazz saxophonist Lester Young. When a chain saw accident impaired his right hand and limited his drumming, Mr. Otis took up vibraphone.

In part because it was too expensive to support a large band, Mr. Otis started a “jump combo” in the late 1940s. This group, usually with fewer than 10 musicians, focused on the blues and boogie-woogie.

“To compensate for all the instruments we were eliminating, we had to put in some new ones, each with a fuller sound: an electric guitar, a blues guitar, a boogie piano,” Mr. Otis told the Los Angeles Times. “We ended up creating a new hybrid music that became known as rhythm and blues.”