BunMVO Posted June 22, 2018 Report Share Posted June 22, 2018 I recently stumbled across an interesting piece of information. I found out that a young Don was in a psychedelic rock band in 1969 when he was 18. It was called "Horses", and they released an eponymous LP in 1969. I don't know if many of you guys knew about this. I wasn't able to find the full album, it must be extremely rare. But I did find one track called "Run Rabbit Run" on YouTube. You can tell it's him, he always had that Don Johnson ring in his voice even when young, and he is dressed in all black, in the upper-right-hand corner, I believe. Have a listen: 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
summer84 Posted June 22, 2018 Report Share Posted June 22, 2018 (edited) That's pretty cool. I had no idea about this! Don does have distinctive singing voice. And I've tried, but couldn't unfortunately recognize his young voice, when he starts to sing here? Edited June 22, 2018 by summer84 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators James Posted June 23, 2018 Administrators Report Share Posted June 23, 2018 Wowzers. Amazing find! Had no idea about this either. So I guess he was always into being involved in music. Not a bad song at all. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D. Posted June 23, 2018 Report Share Posted June 23, 2018 I like the song but I never would have recognized the voice as belonging to Don Johnson ( Sonny Crockett ). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators James Posted June 23, 2018 Administrators Report Share Posted June 23, 2018 The full album is on Spotify! https://open.spotify.com/album/1qOtHpR8yxZADTurY9KaeS?si=RvCbSgXGR0q1IGa8wgTGYA 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
summer84 Posted June 23, 2018 Report Share Posted June 23, 2018 (edited) Thank you for sharing James! I'll check out the album! Too bad, I can't recognize his voice at all here, compared to Don's adult singing voice. It's a nice song! Edited June 23, 2018 by summer84 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators James Posted June 23, 2018 Administrators Report Share Posted June 23, 2018 19 minutes ago, summer84 said: Thank you for sharing James! I'll check out the album! Too bad, I can't recognize his voice at all here, compared to Don's adult singing voice. It's a nice song! Yeah, being 18 his voice wouldn't have fully developed by then, but you can still hear a hint of the Don we know sometimes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
summer84 Posted June 23, 2018 Report Share Posted June 23, 2018 (edited) 2 hours ago, James said: Yeah, being 18 his voice wouldn't have fully developed by then, but you can still hear a hint of the Don we know sometimes. Yeah, but I can't even hear the hint of Don. Maybe I'll have luck with some of the other songs. Or hearing his young voice in a movie first. As Tony said, I also wouldn't have ever recognized it as DJ's voice. Edit: According to the articles, I just read about the bands history there had been some uncertainty to as whether it was the actor from MV. Though the guy was named Don Johnson. He is said to be the one laying in the front. Edited June 23, 2018 by summer84 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt5 Posted June 23, 2018 Report Share Posted June 23, 2018 10 hours ago, Tony D. said: I like the song but I never would have recognized the voice as belonging to Don Johnson ( Sonny Crockett ). Same goes - amazing really ! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt5 Posted June 23, 2018 Report Share Posted June 23, 2018 2 hours ago, summer84 said: Yeah, but I can't even hear the hint of Don. Maybe I'll have luck with some of the other songs. Or hearing his young voice in a movie first. As Tony said, I also wouldn't have ever recognized it as DJ's voice. Edit: According to the articles, I just read about the bands history there had been some uncertainty to as whether it was the actor from MV. Though the guy was named Don Johnson. He is said to be the one laying in the front. I remember Don as saying he started off singing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators timm525 Posted June 23, 2018 Administrators Report Share Posted June 23, 2018 2 hours ago, Matt5 said: I remember Don as saying he started off singing! Yeah, in the shower! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt5 Posted June 23, 2018 Report Share Posted June 23, 2018 24 minutes ago, timm525 said: Yeah, in the shower! Ha ha ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BunMVO Posted June 24, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2018 Huh, maybe I was easily fooled. I just knew that Don Johnson was into music, and this voice kind of sounded like him. I thought the guy in black looked like it could have been him. But then again, like Abraham Lincoln is quoted as saying, “don’t believe everything you read on the internet”. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt5 Posted June 24, 2018 Report Share Posted June 24, 2018 1 hour ago, pmconroy said: Huh, maybe I was easily fooled. I just knew that Don Johnson was into music, and this voice kind of sounded like him. I thought the guy in black looked like it could have been him. But then again, like Abraham Lincoln is quoted as saying, “don’t believe everything you read on the internet”. Good point pmconroy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codemaster94 Posted June 24, 2018 Report Share Posted June 24, 2018 Debunked, I'm afraid. http://therisingstorm.net/horses-self-titled/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
summer84 Posted June 24, 2018 Report Share Posted June 24, 2018 (edited) 12 hours ago, pmconroy said: Huh, maybe I was easily fooled. I just knew that Don Johnson was into music, and this voice kind of sounded like him. I thought the guy in black looked like it could have been him. But then again, like Abraham Lincoln is quoted as saying, “don’t believe everything you read on the internet”. There had been some uncertainty whether it was actually Don Johnson. I also thought he looked like the guy in black. Seeming at least from the statement below, that it's not entirely excluded that the guy could be Miami Vice's Don Johnson. Even though it's not certain. This is one of the articles I read and an extract from here: http://hooterollin.blogspot.com/2013/05/shango-horses-and-matt-kelly-1968-matt.html "For many years, the Horses album was impossible to find, probably due at least in part to legal issues involving White Whale Records. Time passes, however, and in 2003 Gear Fab Records re-released the album on cd, including a detailed interview with producer Dave Diamond, who spelled out at least some aspects of the strange tale. The strangest part is this: halfway through the album, the producers decided lead singer Fifefield was wrong for the project. They held auditions for a new lead singer, and the singer was a handsome, newly-arrived lad from the middle of the country named Don Johnson. Was Horses' lead singer Don Johnson the same Don Johnson who would go on to star in Miami Vice and other TV shows in the 1980s and beyond? No one seems really certain [update: Matt Kelly thinks the lead singer Don Johnson lacked the charisma to become the famous movie star, and thinks they were different people]. The timing is certainly correct, as that is when Don Johnson arrived in Los Angeles. Johnson was also an aspiring musician as well as actor. He co-wrote a song with Dickey Betts that appeared on a 1977 album ("Bougainvillea"from Great Southern) long before he was famous from television. Johnson also put out two solo albums in the 80s. And once, at least, in 1995, I saw the Allman Brothers at Concord Pavilion and Johnson came out and sang "Stormy Monday" without embarrassing himself. So the idea of Don Johnson as a potential rock star in 1968 is very plausible indeed. Yet was it him? All of the principals aren't sure, so you will have to look at the picture (above) and decide for yourself. Don Johnson himself remains quiet about his pre-Miami Vice life, so he's no help one way or the other." Zooming in on this album pic, to me it doesn't look like the guy laying down: https://www.discogs.com/Horses-Horses/release/6466229 There are some additional pic's here, but it's hard to tell, he mostly resembles the guy in black: https://www.discogs.com/Horses-Horses/release/4125362 I guess, the only way to find out is if Don mentioned it in some old interviews/articles from the 80's. Edited June 24, 2018 by summer84 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buddy Love Posted June 25, 2018 Report Share Posted June 25, 2018 Very interesting, it could still be him! One review on amazon - seems there was no definitive reply from his management company https://www.amazon.com/Horses-HORSES/dp/B0000C8AXW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D. Posted June 27, 2018 Report Share Posted June 27, 2018 The guy kneeling in the center looks like Philip Michael Thomas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retro80sfan Posted June 27, 2018 Report Share Posted June 27, 2018 (edited) On 6/23/2018 at 6:53 AM, summer84 said: Yeah, but I can't even hear the hint of Don. Maybe I'll have luck with some of the other songs. Or hearing his young voice in a movie first. As Tony said, I also wouldn't have ever recognized it as DJ's voice. Edit: According to the articles, I just read about the bands history there had been some uncertainty to as whether it was the actor from MV. Though the guy was named Don Johnson. He is said to be the one laying in the front. On 6/23/2018 at 9:19 AM, Matt5 said: I remember Don as saying he started off singing! On 6/24/2018 at 5:15 AM, pmconroy said: Huh, maybe I was easily fooled. I just knew that Don Johnson was into music, and this voice kind of sounded like him. I thought the guy in black looked like it could have been him. But then again, like Abraham Lincoln is quoted as saying, “don’t believe everything you read on the internet”. On 6/24/2018 at 2:37 PM, codemaster94 said: Debunked, I'm afraid. http://therisingstorm.net/horses-self-titled/ On 6/24/2018 at 3:06 PM, summer84 said: There had been some uncertainty whether it was actually Don Johnson. I also thought he looked like the guy in black. Seeming at least from the statement below, that it's not entirely excluded that the guy could be Miami Vice's Don Johnson. Even though it's not certain. This is one of the articles I read and an extract from here: http://hooterollin.blogspot.com/2013/05/shango-horses-and-matt-kelly-1968-matt.html "For many years, the Horses album was impossible to find, probably due at least in part to legal issues involving White Whale Records. Time passes, however, and in 2003 Gear Fab Records re-released the album on cd, including a detailed interview with producer Dave Diamond, who spelled out at least some aspects of the strange tale. The strangest part is this: halfway through the album, the producers decided lead singer Fifefield was wrong for the project. They held auditions for a new lead singer, and the singer was a handsome, newly-arrived lad from the middle of the country named Don Johnson. Was Horses' lead singer Don Johnson the same Don Johnson who would go on to star in Miami Vice and other TV shows in the 1980s and beyond? No one seems really certain [update: Matt Kelly thinks the lead singer Don Johnson lacked the charisma to become the famous movie star, and thinks they were different people]. The timing is certainly correct, as that is when Don Johnson arrived in Los Angeles. Johnson was also an aspiring musician as well as actor. He co-wrote a song with Dickey Betts that appeared on a 1977 album ("Bougainvillea"from Great Southern) long before he was famous from television. Johnson also put out two solo albums in the 80s. And once, at least, in 1995, I saw the Allman Brothers at Concord Pavilion and Johnson came out and sang "Stormy Monday" without embarrassing himself. So the idea of Don Johnson as a potential rock star in 1968 is very plausible indeed. Yet was it him? All of the principals aren't sure, so you will have to look at the picture (above) and decide for yourself. Don Johnson himself remains quiet about his pre-Miami Vice life, so he's no help one way or the other." Zooming in on this album pic, to me it doesn't look like the guy laying down: https://www.discogs.com/Horses-Horses/release/6466229 There are some additional pic's here, but it's hard to tell, he mostly resembles the guy in black: https://www.discogs.com/Horses-Horses/release/4125362 I guess, the only way to find out is if Don mentioned it in some old interviews/articles from the 80's. It looks like there's only one man that can truly know for sure! Everyone's gotta start somewhere! Pretty interesting find nevertheless, @pmconroy! Edited June 27, 2018 by Retro80sfan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt5 Posted June 27, 2018 Report Share Posted June 27, 2018 1 hour ago, Retro80sfan said: It looks like there's only one man that can truly know for sure! Everyone's gotta start somewhere! Pretty interesting find nevertheless, @pmconroy! I agree really interesting @Retro80sfan And @pmconroy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
summer84 Posted June 27, 2018 Report Share Posted June 27, 2018 1 hour ago, Retro80sfan said: It looks like there's only one man that can truly know for sure! Everyone's gotta start somewhere! Pretty interesting find nevertheless, @pmconroy! I agree, I also think that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt5 Posted June 27, 2018 Report Share Posted June 27, 2018 12 minutes ago, summer84 said: I agree, I also think that! Pleased to you add you to this growing consensus Summer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
summer84 Posted June 27, 2018 Report Share Posted June 27, 2018 5 minutes ago, Matt5 said: Pleased to you add you to this growing consensus Summer! Yes I do think, as Retro80sfan said, that there is only one person, who knows for sure! Too bad, there had been these contradictions on the web... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt5 Posted June 27, 2018 Report Share Posted June 27, 2018 5 minutes ago, summer84 said: Yes I do think, as Retro80sfan said, that there is only one person, who knows for sure! Too bad, there had been these contradictions on the web... yes difficult to know 100%! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ro-Ro Posted May 24, 2019 Report Share Posted May 24, 2019 http://cryptdev.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-chateau-liberte-and-season-with.html?m=1 In case anyone is still interested, it was him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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