Moving on in the next segment of our Johnny Ace story, we jump into a deep dive into his interesting life. It’s the mid-to-late 1950s at this point in our story, and Johnny is out on the road in Florida at a pawn shop, in a situation that would turn out to be a pivotal point in his life.

On the Road in Florida with a Gun

While on the road in Florida, Johnny decides to purchase a Herrinton & Richardson Model Six, double-action, seven-shot 22 revolvers from the pawn shop. With a nickel finish and a plastic grip, this was a classic at the time. This type of gun was a low-cost and quality type of gun. Because of their mass production and low quality were coined “junk guns” or “Saturday Night Special.”

In addition, this type of gun was known as a suicide gun. And although he liked guns, he wasn’t big on firearm safety. One of his tour band members once commented that Johnny was like a kid with his gun. He would often be seen playing irresponsibly with his gun daily. Often, Johnny would shoot at hotel signs while driving his car, fire his gun out of hotel windows, and fire at other things that interested him without thinking through his actions.

Ace’s roadie and point man often complained that Johnny would take the gun, spin the barrel and point it at him, scaring him. The roadie complained to Otis about johnny’s behavior. There were four points in his career where Johnny turned over the gun to friends for safekeeping.

Johnny Otis Falling Into Depression

At this point in his career, Johnny had gained 40 pounds in 12 months, drank heavily, and grew a beard and mustache. BB King also said that being on the road constantly was getting to him.

The Mitchell Street Hotel, a black-owned and black patronized hotel, popular with musicians coming to the area, and a place that Johnny frequented, had started a rumor that Johnny was killed in a car accident, which was not the case.

At one of the record offices in Houston, Johnny jokingly pulls out his gun and points it at Gate Mouth Brown. He tells him to stop pointing the gun at him and to turn it on himself.

On Christmas Eve, 1954, Johnny’s current girlfriend for over a year, Olivia Gibbs, a 22-year-old cocktail waitress, considered herself to be engaged to Ace, even though he was married to a wife and kids. She even purchased him a diamond ring as a present for the holidays.

Listen in to discover what Johnny does when he plays Russian roulette with his gun at Christmas dinner, what happened to Johnny Ace at the Negro Christmas show in 1954, and the eyewitness account of the last moments of Ace’s life.

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