The Band General Johnson and The Chairmen of the Board

General Johnson has diversely affected and helped many other artists' careers. His continued success as a writer naturally captured the attention of various industry producers, managers, and major record companies who were looking for hits for their clients. The magic worked as "Want Ads", "Stick Up", and "One Monkey Don't Stop No Show" were all top chart hits for the group Honey Cone. In 1989, "Want Ads" was also performed by Arista recording artist Taylor Dane. In 1970, General's multi-million seller and Grammy Award Winning "Patches" launched the career of Clarence Carter and made it to Number 4 on the BILLBOARD charts. "Patches" was also a major hit for country singer Jerry Reed. That same year brought General his second Grammy nomination for writing "Somebody's Been Sleeping In My Bed", which was recorded by the group 100 Proof and recorded again later by Foghat. In 1972, General was honored as R&B Songwriter of the Year by BMI.

As the second lead singer, DANNY WOODS' charisma and energy has absolutely no limits. As General reflects on finding Danny... "We saw this guy jumping chairs and doing back flips. He had all this energy and people were going crazy." Danny, born and raised in Atlanta, moved to Detroit at the age of 19 with the band The Tears looking for a deal in the Motor City. That band broke up, but Danny had a successful single act playing with David Ruffin, Eddie Kendrix, Walter Jackson, and a band that was to become Rare Earth. Then Danny was introduced to General Johnson who made him a permanent fixture with the Chairmen of the Board.
The latest addition, coming in 1972, was sax player Ken Knox. Ken was born in Charleston, West Virginia, but moved to Detroit at an early age. Listening to his brother play the saxophone in band, Ken would eventually perfect this instrument by sneaking and playing it while his brother was away. Soon, Ken found himself playing with such acts as Millie Jackson and The Detroit Emeralds. It was while playing with The Emeralds that Ken was spotted by Chairmen member Danny Woods and offered an audition.

The Chairmen Of The Board have had considerable international success in Europe and England where they toured 6 to 8 months a year from 1972 to 1975. They have also made appearances on AMERICAN BANDSTAND, THE TONITE SHOW STARRING JOHNNY CARSON, and SOUL TRAIN.

In the late 1970's General moved the Chairmen's headquarters to Charlotte where, along with his late partner Mike Branch, He formed his own record label SURFSIDE RECORDS.

Pictured left to right:

DANNY WOODS

GENERAL JOHNSON

KEN KNOX

General Johnson

The Chairmen of the Board

1409 East Boulevard, Suite 231
Charlotte, North Carolina 28205
Telephone: (704) 372-9918 Fax: (704) 372-2754

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