{"id":16428,"date":"2016-12-13T16:32:00","date_gmt":"2016-12-13T21:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/?p=16428"},"modified":"2017-01-17T11:55:37","modified_gmt":"2017-01-17T16:55:37","slug":"musics-first-african-american-student-looks-back-lifetime-musical-achievement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2016\/12\/musics-first-african-american-student-looks-back-lifetime-musical-achievement\/","title":{"rendered":"Music’s first African American student looks back at a lifetime of musical achievement"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"johnny-malone-trumpet-slider\"<\/a>Johnny Malone \u201874, professional musician and songwriter, was seventeen when he started his educational career at UTC, then still the University of Chattanooga, as the first African American student in the Music Department.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a challenge for us then. In 1967, there weren\u2019t many black students in the school. But, I was used to being in situations like that. I played in youth orchestras in high school, and I was usually the only black student.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Malone, the biggest challenge he faced in coming to the University was the same challenge that students face today.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Johnny<\/a>

Johnny Malone in 1967<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIt was a shock, coming from high school. College was more demanding, but there\u2019s more freedom too. You have the freedom to succeed, but you\u2019re also free to fall by the wayside. No one holds your hand and forces you to succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Malone had his heart set on getting away from his hometown to attend an out of state school.<\/p>\n

\u201cMe, being my rebellious self at that age, I tried to flunk out, thinking my dad would send me somewhere else. Well, he sent me somewhere alright \u2013 he sent me to work!\u201d<\/p>\n

Malone spent time working at Miller\u2019s department store, before he came back to UTC at 19, ready to get down to business.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t a bad job. I didn\u2019t want to follow money, though, I wanted to follow my passion, and that was music.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before Malone was a master of the keyboard, he used to practice in Cadek Hall when he thought it would be empty. \u201cI didn\u2019t want anyone to overhear me.\u201d<\/p>\n

On one such occasion, Malone overheard a phenomenal piano player. He followed the sound of the music to its source. \u201cI looked through the window in the door and there was this skinny little red headed kid playing amazingly, just tearing it up. I tapped on the door and he nodded me in. I said, \u2018Hey, man, that was great. Do you think you can help me work out some music I\u2019ve got in my head?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Together, the pair collaborated to bring the tunes Malone had thought up to life on the piano.<\/p>\n

\"1970-band-chamberlain\"<\/a>

The Marching Mocs on Chamberlain field in 1973<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cAfterwards, he told me, \u2018Hey, you\u2019re a great songwriter!\u2019 and I said, \u2018No, I\u2019m not a songwriter.\u2019 Because at that time, I wasn\u2019t good at writing out the notes on the page; I got a D in Sight Reading. He said to me, \u2018You thought it up, didn\u2019t you? Then you wrote it. And if you can write something like this, you could write music for a band.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Malone may have gotten a D in Sight Reading, but despite that, he ended up making a lifelong career out of music. When Malone\u2019s band cut their first demo, it drew the attention of Elektra Records.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis guy comes up to me at a bar in this fancy suit, telling me he\u2019s from Elektra Records and they want to talk about hiring me. I told him, \u2018No, you\u2019re not. Get out of my face, I\u2019m having a drink. Bye.\u2019 He went back to his table with some other fancy looking men, they laughed a bit, and he comes back with a business card, and I\u2019m like, \u2018Wait, you are for real!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

It turned out, however, that they were interested in hiring Malone for his songwriting – and only Malone.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey wanted me as a writer, not my band, so I turned them down. Which was stupid!\u201d laughed Malone. \u201cIt sounds morally great, but it was just me being young and dumb. If I\u2019d gotten that job at the record company, I could have just hired them as a recording band and we could have stayed together that way!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Johnny<\/a>

Johnny Malone’s senior picture<\/p><\/div>\n

Eventually, Malone moved to Los Angeles to pursue musical opportunities.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got to work with artists that I\u2019d only ever dreamed about \u2013 that I\u2019d listened to, but never thought I\u2019d meet.\u201d<\/p>\n

After being in Los Angeles for only a year, Malone auditioned with Stevie Wonder.<\/p>\n

\u201cStevie\u2019s office called me! They heard about me through my acquaintance, whose sister was dating Stevie\u2019s cousin. This was before the days of being discovered on Youtube, but you have to get lucky either way. I got a lot of breaks most people never get.\u201d<\/p>\n

Malone auditioned with Stevie Wonder while he was working on his Hotter than July album. It was 1 AM before Malone got to meet the famous musician, which gave him plenty of time to get cold feet.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was thinking, oh my god, this is Stevie Wonder\u2019s studio! And I was saying, \u2018Thank you, you\u2019ve all been so nice, but I don\u2019t think I should be here, I\u2019m going to go.\u2019 Then Stevie came in, and I heard his voice and I recognized him before I ever saw him, and he said, \u2018Come on, Johnny!\u2019 He liked my playing, but I wasn\u2019t what he was looking for. I wasn\u2019t good enough, yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Malone was included in several videos featuring artists like Ray Charles, Manhattan Transfer and F-MOB. He also had a brief stint in an artist development program at Motown as a songwriter. He also had one of his songs recorded and produced by the then hottest producer of the eighties for R&B, Leon Sylvers. Malone recently recorded a contemporary jazz song co-written with Sheldon Reynolds, former member of Earth, Wind and Fire.<\/p>\n

\"Johnny<\/a>

Johnny Malone playing the French horn in 2015<\/p><\/div>\n

Eventually, Malone\u2019s music career came full circle when he began teaching, which had been his goal when he started his music degree at UTC. He started off substitute teaching, and then became a high school band director in 2002.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had planned to be a band director when I started college in 1967, but those aren\u2019t the opportunities that presented themselves to me. I am where I am because of UTC. The seed was planted at Riverside High School, watered at UTC, and bloomed when I moved to L.A. I\u2019ve been so lucky to have a successful professional career doing what I love.\u201d<\/p>\n

When he\u2019s in Chattanooga, Malone still makes a point of visiting the UTC band. He likes to chat with current students and sit in with the jazz band.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a big deal to me when I saw myself on the wall of fame in the Music Department. One of the kids asked me, did you go here? And I said, yeah, this is me right here in this picture! He said, \u2018That was you?!\u2019 and he ran down the hall to grab the other kids to show them. They were so excited, and that meant a lot to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Malone semi-retired in 2007, though he still stays active in music.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been playing for forty years now, but I\u2019m still always trying to improve. I like to say I\u2019m a blue collar musician – a working musician. The music was always more important to me than fame. You know, I\u2019ve worked in music my whole life, and I\u2019ve worked with a lot of famous people. I\u2019m not famous, but I\u2019ve got a lifetime of musical achievement, and that\u2019s more valuable to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

UPDATED 12\/24\/16<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Johnny Malone \u201874, professional musician and songwriter, was seventeen when he started his educational career at the University of Chattanooga as the first African American student in the Music Department.<\/p>\n

Continue Reading <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":857,"featured_media":16432,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_slider":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_featurette":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[70,123864,61,8244,12777],"tags":[48261,4913],"class_list":{"0":"post-16428","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-academics","8":"category-advancement-and-alumni","9":"category-college-of-arts-sciences","10":"category-honors-and-awards","11":"category-music-college-of-arts-sciences","12":"tag-johnny-malone","13":"tag-music-department","14":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nMusic's first African American student looks back at a lifetime of musical achievement | UTC News Archive: Jul 2007 - 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