Rock and Roll, I Gave You All the Best Years of My Life
a biography of Kevin Johnson

Arguably one of Australia’s finest singer/songwriters, Kevin Johnson’s career has spanned over 20 years of both local and overseas success and looks set to continue.

Kevin was born in Rockhampton, Queensland, the only child of Richard and Elinor Johnson. He spent his early years in a tiny town called Tungamull, between Rockhampton and the coast where his father worked as a timber contractor and his mother ran the local post office/telephone exchange.

Elinor was a good violinist and tried to teach Kevin the violin at an early age, but gave up when he showed a total lack of interest in music. It was not until Kevin’s late teens that he became infatuated with the music of the day and he consequently "bought his first guitar" and, after singing in a few Rockhampton beer gardens, progressed to the Beatles era and to "buying all their records." With a local group, called the Candymen, he aspired to "sounding just like Paul" while playing at the local dances.

Kevin was employed at this time as a clerk in the Queensland Public Service, in the Department of Main Roads, playing and singing at night and writing unsuccessful songs in his spare time. These songs eventually came to the notice of Col Joye, one of Australia’s original rock stars; who signed Kevin to his publishing company, and, for the next couple of years, he wrote songs for singers on the Col Joye label. He transferred to the Department of Main Roads to Brisbane where he continued to write for other Australian artists and, in 1967, married his wife, Jill, also from Rockhampton.

After a year in Brisbane, they moved to Sydney where he recorded his first single, "Woman You Took My Life" on the ATA label. This song was not a big success in Australia but was picked up for release by Decca Records in England. Kevin then left the Col Joye label and signed with a small independent company called Sweet Peach and wrote and recorded his first LP called, "In the Quiet Corners of my Mind".

Again this album, while receiving critical acclaim in Australia, was not a big seller, so Kevin went on and wrote and produced his next single called "Bonnie Please Don’t Go" which topped the charts in Australia and, importantly, was released for him in the USA. A cover version by Jim Ed Brown in the USA became a big hit in the US Country Music charts. The song has since been a great success in other countries, for Kevin and for other artists who have covered it.

Following on the success of "Bonnie Please Don’t Go", Kevin signed a 3 year writing/recording deal with Tree International, a giant publishing company based in Nashville, Tennessee. They paid him a weekly advance and enabled him to leave his day job and concentrate on writing, and, after an initial period of performing in Australia, he returned to Brisbane and stayed there for a year writing songs. It was during this time that some of his most introspective songs, like "Shaney Boy", about his eldest son, Shane, "Iridescent Shadows", Kedron Brook", and "Over the Hills and Far Away", were written.

After a year in Brisbane, moved back to Sydney and continued to write songs for his forthcoming LP. One of these songs was "Rock and Roll I Gave You the Best Years of My Life". Kevin left Tree International and signed with a new Australian production company called Good Thyme, and immediately produced his first single for them, "Rock and Roll I Gave You the Best Years of My Life"

This landmark song was picked up immediately for release in the USA and has since become a hit in almost every country in the world. Kevin’s version was charted in the US, U.K. and many European countries. There have been, to date, 50 recorded versions by various artists around the world. Subsequently, Kevin released his second album, named after the hit single, "Rock and Roll I Gave You the Best Years of My Life".

Despite the offers to work overseas that followed the outstanding success of "Rock and Roll", Kevin remained at home in Sydney with his family, performing around Australia and writing songs for his next LP. "A Man of the 20^th Century". one of the songs off this LP, "Scotty", was written for his youngest son, Scott.

In 1976, to coincide with the release of his "A Man of the 20^th Century" album, Kevin embarked on his first overseas tour. He taped TV and radio specials and appeared in concerts in Switzerland, Germany, and Ireland.

Since then, Kevin has written and released a number of albums of original material and has had his work recognised with numerous awards. (see Discography)

Kevin has built up a large following in Europe where he has made yearly trips to perform. During this time he also made two European TV specials of his own that were shown in many European countries. Kevin also appeared on numerous top European shows with artists such as Billy Ocean, Frida (ABBA), James Last, Bonnie Tyler, Val Doonican, Hot Chocolate, Richard Clayderman, the Bellamy Brothers, Vicki Leandros, Boney M, and also toured Australia with Roberta Flack.

He also recorded two songs with James Last in Germany, "My Bonnie Lies over the Ocaen" and "Rolling Home". These were released on James Last’s album, "Nimm Mich Mit Kaptn James Auf De Reise" (Polystar Europe). This album was the soundtrack of a TV spectacular of the same name on songs of the sea, featured a number of well known European artists as well as James Last. This album was released in 1982.

He has also appeared in Royal Command Performances before Prince Charles and Lady Diana, and the Prince and Princess Michael of Kent. Kevin has also appeared in many Australian TV spectaculars including David Frost at the Opera House and the Dave Allen Show.

Over the years, Kevin’s songs have received the ultimate accolade of being covered by many famous overseas artists, such as Tom Jones, Roger Whittaker, Mac Davis, Terry Jacks, Val Doonican, Doug Kershaw, Joe Dassin, Des O’Conner, Jim Ed Brown, The Cats, Springfield Revival, Sonny Curtis, Gary Glitter etc.

Kevin’s writing has also seen widespread exposure in movies. He wrote the music for Magee and the Lady" which starred Sally Kellerman (MASH), and Tony Lo Blanco (The French Connection).He also wrote the music for "Fatal Bond" which starred Linda Blair (The Exorcist), and Jeremy Elhers (Weekend with Kate). He also appeared briefly in an acting role in this film.

Concert tours of Australia have also been part of Kevin’s career. The first tour (1971) was with Col Joye, Little Pattie, and Sandy Scott, the famous train tour around Queensland. Since then he has done numerous tours on his own.

More recently, at the request of the Australian Football League, Kevin re-wrote his song, "Rock and Roll I Gave You the Best Years of My Life" to make it the official AFL Centenary Song, "Aussie Rules I Thank You for the Best Years of Our Lives" which he performed at large AFL Centenary Presentations throughout 1996. This re-work of the classic "Rock and Roll" is included on Kevin’s latest CD, "The Sun will Shine Again"

This latest album, containing 13 original songs by Kevin and is co-produced and co-arranged with Bruce Brown. The songs represent a collection of songs that have been written over a long period of time and so provides a distillation of the many experiences that have moulded Kevin’s song writing career over many years.

As well as writing/singing/recording/performing, Kevin has also been popular with advertisers who have used his music in many promotional areas. Kevin has long running exclusive involvements with Sydney’s Sun Herald newspaper ( John Fairfax) Carlton Draught (Carlton and United Breweries), Freightliner (Mercedes Benz), AMP Society ("You’ll Never Walk Alone") AFL, ("Aussie Rules I Thank You for the Best Years of Our Lives")