LEROI CALLWELL JOHNSON - BMHOF CLASS OF 2019

It’s no coincidence that Rick James’ greatest commercial success and most of his artistic success came when his brother, LeRoi Callwell Johnson, was running the business side of things.

But there’s much more to LeRoi Callwell Johnson than just his brother’s success. Already an accomplished classical guitarist and visual artist in his own right, he went on to help build his brother’s Mary Jane Productions into one of the largest minority-owned entertainment businesses in the 1980s. Managing artists including Rick James, The Mary Jane Girls, Process and the Doo Rags, Val Young, and was Rick’s tour manager.

There’s no question that LeRoi will always be foremost connected with James, the funk punk king whose sound helped define a decade in American music.  After all, LeRoi is only 11 months younger than Rick

 

and is his only surviving full brother.  They were as close as could be – and as different as could be.  Together the brothers attended Catholic elementary schools, St. Anne’s and St. Bridget’s while living in the Perry and Willard Park Projects.

At age ten LeRoi was hurt in a truck accident and wound up being tutored at home for four years as he recovered.

LeRoi witnessed Rick’s development as a musician from banging on pots and pans to becoming a musical genius.  He credits their mother as a strong inspiration always having music around the house such as Ella Fitzgerald, Billy Eckstine, Billie Holiday, and Dakota Staton.  LeRoi says Rick was also influenced by family friends George Holt and Elvin Shepherd, two of Buffalo’s greatest
horn players.

 

“I had no influence on his music.  None. Rick was his own creature,” LeRoi said.  “I just happened
to be around during Rick’s development.

“I was with him growing up, when Rick first went to Motown, when he was 16 years old, to present the song “Malinda”, a hit with Bobby Taylor and The Vancouvers.  I was at Rick’s first talent show at Carpenters Hall his first recital. We both were a part of the African Culture Center, and the Cold Spring Cadets (drum corps).  We played football and basketball together at the Masten Boy’s Club (Now the Masten Boys and Girls Clubs). We spent the summers together at camp. So I know about Rick’s life and musical history and how he developed his style No one knows as much about Rick as I do.

I often visited Rick when he was in Toronto playing with the Mynah Birds, with Neil Young and Bruce Palmer who later went on to star with the Buffalo Springfield.

 

LeRoi graduated from Canisius College and attended the University at Buffalo.  He went on to law school at Georgetown in Washington, D.C.

After law school LeRoi went to work as a legislative counsel for D.C. City Council and was later
head of the Minority Business Affairs Commission.

During this time is when Rick’s career started taking off, and LeRoi started hearing from Motown. Rick and Motown wanted someone who could help manage Rick, because Rick  was in need of trusted management. Before the Motown deal Rick had  had had  contracts with a number of different record companies, and had a number of different groups- none cracked the big-time.

“By the time he got to Motown, around 1977, Rick had some serious product, he kind of what he wanted out of his music.”

LeRoi wasn’t thinking about joining his brother at the time because he was happily married and had a great position in D.C.  LeRoi said there was a lot of continued pressure from Motown and Rick.  Motown sent their Man to lure me to Los Angeles.

But still I wasn’t convinced. Then in 1981, LeRoi’s life changed tragically as his wife died from a long-term illness. LeRoi decided to leave D.C. and its suits and ties  and work with his brother.

“I started in merchandise with Rick,  took that over, and turned it into a multimillion dollar business,” LeRoi said. “And little by little, I took over parts of the business.  Before my first year was over, I was running everything.”

LeRoi applied rock ‘n’ roll style marketing to his brother’s career, something that was new to R&B, using his legal background and Washington experience.  LeRoi had already run a Washington agency with a $500,000 budget and a staff of 15 monitoring agencies businesses and over a billion dollars in government funds and contracts.  There was no better experience to have for Rick’s business.

“I wasn't star, money or people struck or anything like that.  Washington had its share of stars starting with the President.  I knew that business had to be taken care of,” LeRoi said.  “So I wasn't confrontational with Rick about anything. I would did what I had to do.

“And then, after a while, he would say, ‘well, just do it,’ because that's how Rick was: ‘Just do it, get
it done”.

 

LeRoi and Rick assembled a team that handled everything Rick James.  They put together a roster of artists, including many with Buffalo connections such as the Mary Jane Girls, Process & the Doo Rags, the Stone City Band and Kenny Hawkins to name a few. Rick got record deals for Bobby Militello, Kenny Hawkins and Big Daddy Kane, the first rap artist to sign with a major label and made Eddie Murphy an artist. LeRoi renegotiated Rick’s contact with Motown and Warner Brothers and negotiated contracts for The Mary Jane Girls and Process and The Doo Rags who signed the largest recording contracts of their day.

“I wanted to learn about everything, all the components of music.  In the end I think I knew as much as anybody because I went, I listened, and I did everything related to Rick’s career.  This included personally travelling with Rick everywhere.”  LeRoi said.  “In terms of making the deal, Rick would make the deal and I would work out the details, send the deals back to Buffalo to have them analyzed by our accountants and our attorneys.”

LeRoi was involved with everything his brother did which includes legal, business, recording, TV, movies, marketing and management.  Even to the point of having written songs with Rick and Val Young. He was instrumental in Rick’s role in taking on MTV in opening the doors to Blacks and various types of music in their programming. As a result the face of music forever changed becoming more diverse and open.

LeRoi oversaw a company with over 70 employees with offices in Buffalo and Los Angeles. Many from our camp have gone on to great thing which I am very proud of. Last year’s recipient Wayne Sharpe to name one and Al Hymon the fight game’s top promoter.

The music business comes down to people.  In this case one person Rick James. However, management is a team effort.

LeRoi and his team of Irv Shuman and Les Greenbaum, his accountant Dick Romerand right hand man Jeffery Maclin, and staff made great efforts to build Rick James into the icon he is today and is grateful to have been a major part of his legacy.

In 1990, LeRoi returned home permanently to Buffalo and opened up Zanzibar Café briefly and started focusing on private practice law.  He became actively involved in not-for-profit organizations such as Shea’s, the Burchfield-Penney Art Center, The Buffalo Society of Artists, and the Erie County Cultural Advisory Board.

He returned to painting and is internationally recognized.  LeRoi has had multiple international solo shows in Europe, Asia, Africa, the US, and Canada.  LeRoi returned to the playing Brasilian and classical guitar, which he had studied with internationally known teachers.  He is a co-founder of Attorney’s for the Arts. and the Willie “Hutch” Jones Educational and Sports program which he co-founded with Willie “Hutch” Jones and Bernard Mitchell 35 years ago. And his glowing star is his talented daughter Deysha Johnson who recently won an award in te 48 Hour Film Festival.

LeRoi continues to represent entertainers, reviewing contracts.

 LeRoi thanks the greatest team of entertainment people ever assembled in Buffalo.  Irv Shuman, Les Greenbaum, Dick Romer, Jim Bush, Lennie Silver, Jeffrey Maclin, Joe Jackson, Moses Johnson, Trence Spencer, Squeaky Johnson, Head, Camille, Birdie, the Band, Levi, Nate Billy Nunn, Kenny Hawkins, Treadwell, Jerry,  Oscar, E, Tommy, Jo Anne Mc Duffy, the Colored Girls Lisa and Tabby, the MJG’s, Val Young, the Doo Rags, the entire Mary Jane Productions Family and my mother who was the heart and soul of the organization.

 

 

 

~ Bio Written by LeRoi Callwell Johnson

 

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