Johnny Ramone

Infobox musical artist
Name = Johnny Ramone


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Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth_name = John William Cummings
Alias = Sharby
Born = birth date|mf=yes|1948|10|8|mf=y
Long Island, New York, USA
Died = death date and age|mf=yes|2004|9|15|1948|10|8
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Instrument = Guitar
Genre = Punk rock
Occupation = Musician
Songwriter
Years_active = 1974 - 1996
Label = Sire, Radioactive, Chrysalis
Associated_acts = Ramones
URL = [http://www.ramones.com Official Ramones site]
Notable_instruments = Mosrite

John William Cummings (October 8, 1948 – September 15, 2004) [ [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000630922 "Punk Legend Johnny Ramone Dies At 55"] . By Tom Ferguson. [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/index.jsp Billboard.com] .] , better known by the stage name Johnny Ramone, was the guitarist for the seminal punk rock group The Ramones. Along with vocalist Jeffrey Hyman, aka Joey Ramone, he remained a member of the band throughout their career. In 2003, Cummings was named the sixteenth greatest guitarist of all time by "Rolling Stone". [ [http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/5937559/page/13/ "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time"] .]

Career

As a teenager, Cummings played in a band called the Tangerine Puppets alongside future Ramones drummer Tamás Erdélyi (better known as Tommy Ramone). When he was older, he was known as a "greaser," though was later described as a tie-dye-wearing Stooges fan.

He met future bandmate Douglas Colvin, later to become Dee Dee Ramone, in the early 1970s when he was delivering dry cleaning. They would eat lunch together and discuss their mutual love of bands like the Stooges and MC5. They went to Manny's Guitar Emporium in New York City in January 1974. Johnny bought a used blue Mosrite Ventures II for $54 and change, including tax. On the same trip Colvin bought a Danelectro bass, which he later smashed. They collaborated with future bandmate Jeffrey Hyman and formed the Ramones, with the almost-unknown Ritchie Stern on bass, who left after a few rehearsals. Erdelyi joined the band in the summer of that year, after failed public auditions for the position of Ramones drummer. Although Johnny Ramone wasn't as prolific of a songwriter as his bandmates,especially Dee Dee Ramone, his guitar style was a key part of the Ramones sound and was a major punk rock influence.

Cummings was at the center of the major source of stress for the band when he started dating Hyman's ex-girlfriend. Allegedly, the song prompted Hyman to write the song "The KKK Took My Baby Away", although it has been speculated that the song was actually written before the founding of the Ramones in 1974. Though the band remained together for years after this incident, relations between the two remained frosty and verbal communication was almost non-existent. Years later, when Hyman was in the hospital dying of cancer, Cummings refused to telephone him. He later discussed this incident in the film "", saying an attempt at such a reunion would have been futile. He did add that he was depressed for a week after Hyman's death. In their road manager, Monte Melnick's, book on the band Johnny is quoted as having said "I'm not doing anything without him. I felt that was it. He was my partner. Me and him. I miss that."

Alongside his music career, he appeared in nearly a dozen movies (including "Rock 'n' Roll High School") and documentaries. He also made television appearances on such shows as "The Simpsons" (1F01 "Rosebud", 1993) and "Space Ghost Coast to Coast" (Episode 5 "Bobcat").

Politics

Infamous in the punk community as being one of a few conservatives, Cummings made his political affiliation known to the world in 2002, when the Ramones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. After thanking everyone who made it possible — clad in his trademark T-shirt, ripped blue jeans and leather jacket — he said "God bless President Bush, and God bless America," [ [http://www.washingtontimes.com/entertainment/20040311-085521-1823r.htm] "Washington Times"] . He said in an interview, when questioned on his conservatism, "I think Ronald Reagan was the best President of my lifetime." This was evident at least in the mid-Eighties: when the band released the UK single "Bonzo Goes to Bitburg/Go Home Ann" in 1986, Cummings pressed for a name change, finding it insulting to Ronald Reagan, and the song was retitled on American releases to "My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down (Bonzo Goes to Bitburg)" after a line from the song's chorus.

Altercation

In August 1983, Cummings got in a fight [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9400EFDE1638F936A2575BC0A965948260] "New York Times" ] with Seth Macklin of the band Sub Zero Construction, in front of his apartment in the East Village. Johnny was seeing a girl (he found out she was a drunk) who was cheating on him with Macklin. Macklin kicked Cummings in the head and caused extensive injuries which required brain surgery. Cummings had to wear a baseball cap on stage until his hair grew back. The event made the newspapers across the country. He recovered, and the Ramones' next album was titled "Too Tough to Die", partly in his honor. The other reason for the title was that it was a message about their recent lack of success, but also saying that they weren't going to quit, and they were going to persist through their slump and find success again.

Death

On September 15, 2004, Cummings died in his Los Angeles home after a five-year battle with prostate cancer; Eddie Vedder and Rob Zombie were at his side when he died. After his death, his remains were cremated. A cenotaph was built in Hollywood Forever Cemetery, near to his former bandmate Dee Dee's grave.

Posthumous honors

In 2006, the remake of the horror film "The Wicker Man" was dedicated to Johnny Ramone's memory, as he was a close friend of the film's producer and star, Nicolas Cage. The lyrics for Pearl Jam's 2006 single "Life Wasted" were written by Eddie Vedder while driving home from Cummings' funeral. [Hiatt, Brian. [http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/pearl_jam_the_second_coming/page/4 "The Second Coming of Pearl Jam"] . "Rolling Stone". June 29, 2006.]

Guitar technique

Cummings was known for his fast, high-energy playing style that consisted of rapid down strokes and both barre chords and power chords, often in a simple I-IV-V progression. Called "buzzsaw", this technique was highly influential on first- and second-wave punk, this technique was used in New Wave Of British Heavy Metal bands like Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, and Judas Priest, its also used in alternative rock bands, as well as thrash metal. Guitar Virtuoso Paul Gilbert has cited Johnny Ramone as one of his influences.Cummings was strictly a rhythmist, as evidenced by live recordings. Johnny played very few leads on the studio albums (e.g. "Time Has Come Today", "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue", and "California Sun" amongst others). The lead guitar parts on studio albums were overdubbed by Erdelyi, Ed Stasium, Daniel Rey, Walter Lure and other uncredited guests. [Sharby Coms, "How The West Was Lost", in Mojo Punk Special Edition, p. 94]

Musical equipment

* Mosrite - White Ventures II - Owned until the end of his retirement later sold to producer Daniel Ray
* Mosrite - Blue Ventures II - Stolen in the 1970's.
* Mosrite - Brown Ventures II - Ended up in a musicstore along with a pair of Johnnys jeans.
* Mosrite - Ventures II - Mint condition never played on stage saved as a backup guitar.
* Mosrite - Ventures I/V1 - Unknown whereabouts.
* Mosrite - White 1 pickup.
* Mosrite - Black 1 pickup.
* Rickenbacker - 450 - Used on th Don Kirshner's Rock Concert, later stolen.
* Rickenbacker - Fireglo 450 - Later traded for a Mosrite.
* Fender - White 1950's Stratocaster - Owned briefly by Johnny before stolen.
* Hamer - White custom endorsement guitar - Traded in the 1980's for another guitar.
* Boss - TU-12 Chromatic Tuner
* Marshall - JMP 100Watt Master Volume Head

External links

* [http://www.officialramones.com Official website]
* [http://72.166.46.24//boston/events/state/documents/04091495.asp Johnny Ramone interview, Boston Phoenix, September 2004]
* [http://www.scrammagazine.com/johnnyramone Johnny Ramone interview in Scram Magazine, 2000]
*imdb name|id=0708497|name=Johnny Ramone
*Monte A. Melnick - Ramones Tour Manager "On The Road With The Ramones" [http://www.myspace.com/ontheroadwiththeramones]
* [http://www.redshift.com/~jpeoples/guitars.htm Johnnya Ramone guitar site]

References