The Canary Flies: New Orleans' Johnny Adams Dies

Johnny Adams, one of the greatest practitioners of New Orleans-style rhythm and blues, died on Monday after a long battle with cancer. The singer, whose clear, trilling voice earned him the nickname "The Tan Canary," began his career in the gospel realm, moving into secular music in the late Fifties on the heels of close friend and Crescent City legend Mac "Dr. John" Rebennack.

Hugely popular in the deep south, Adams' first national hit came in 1969, when "Reconsider Me" -- still a staple on soul radio -- cracked the Billboard charts. He shifted gears in recent times, delving deeper and deeper into the blues on nearly a dozen albums recorded for Rounder Records in the past decade.

While he kept up a rigorous touring and recording schedule over the years, Adams was diagnosed with prostate cancer last fall, and after surgery, the disease was found to have spread. He was able to record one final album, the shimmeringly soulful Man of My Word, which was released just last month.

Adams was sixty-six years old.

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Song Stories

“(We're Not) The Jet Set”

George Jones and Tammy Wynette | 1973

George Jones and Tammy Wynette were still married when they recorded the tongue-in-cheek "(We're Not) The Jet Set." The lyrics, written by Nashville songwriter Bobby Braddock, who also penned Wynette's "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" and Jones' "He Stopped Loving Her Today," make fun of the good life by declaring, "We're not the Jet Set/We're the old Chevrolet set." Braddock recalled that while writing the song, he needed the name of a city that evened out the rhyme he had with "Riviera" and "Missourah." “I got out a Rand McNally atlas," he said. "In the first part are the maps. The last part is an alphabetical listing of cities. I wanted a rustic, small-time sound. I went to the listing for Missouri. And I found 'Festus.' I loved the sound of it."

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