One Hit Wonder John Fred Gourrier
Gourrier's most Famous Song Is Beatles Parody Judy in Disguise
A star athlete and record producer, Gourrier will forever remain synonymous with his chart-topping hit from 1968. It was a parody of the Beatles, "Lucy in the Sky".
John Fred Gourrier gained lasting acclaim as the lead singer and co-writer of the 1968 No. 1 hit, “Judy in Disguise (with Glasses)”.
The leader of John Fred & His Playboy Band was much more than a one-hit wonder with his parody of the Beatles’ song, “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”.
While “Judy in Disguise” turned out to be his only Top 40 hit, Gourrier first reached the charts as a teen-ager in 1959 with his song, “Shirley”.
He enjoyed a successful tour of Europe and eventually returned to his hometown of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he produced records and remained a widely popular entertainer regionally.
Gourrier also remained active in sports, which stands to reason, given that he was a record-setting athlete at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond. His father, Fred, had played baseball in the Detroit Tigers’ minor league system.
In addition to setting baseball records that stood for more than 30 years at SLU, Gourrier also had played basketball. He coached youth sports in Baton Rouge, and in 1995 was the head coach of the freshman baseball team at Catholic High School, his alma mater.
He even wrote and recorded a song, “Baseball at the Box”, for then-coach Skip Bertman and the LSU baseball team, which played its home games at Alex Box Stadium.
Gourrier had grown up playing both music and sports, and it is said he once skipped an opportunity to appear on American Bandstand to play basketball for Catholic High.
As a 16-year-old, Gourrier did appear on Alan Freed's New York radio show. The popularity of “Judy in Disguise” also earned Gourrier a spot on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.
Gourrier was boyhood friends with Johnny Ramistella and often performed on the same musical bill locally with the singer who would later move to California and change his name to Johnny Rivers.
For all that, Gourrier is still remembered internationally for “Judy in Disguise”. When he died at 63 from complications following a kidney transplant in 2005, every obituary made certain to mention Gourrier’s chart-topping song.
“Judy in Disguise” entered the charts on December 16, 1967, and by Jan. 20, 1968, it had risen to No. 1, where it knocked the Beatles’ song, “Hello Goodbye”, from its lofty perch. “Judy in Disguise” remained on top for 2 weeks.
Gourrier earned the respect of other musicians and was touched by the fact that Elvis Presley said he enjoyed Gourrier’s cover of “Boogie Chillun”.
Still, nothing met with the success of “Judy in Disguise”, which remains the most identifiable of Gourrier’s many achievements.
