Today’s classic song of the day takes us back to the late ’60s and a band called John Fred & His Playboy Band. The song is “Judy in Disguise (With Glasses)” and it went all the way to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100 in January of 1968.
As you might suspect, “Judy in Disguise (With Glasses)” was a play on the Beatles’ John Lennon-penned tune, “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” John Fred, who co-wrote the tune with fellow band member Andrew Bernard, says it came about when he misheard the Beatles tune as “Lucy in Disguise.”
John Fred & His Playboy Band was led by John Fred Gourrier. He formed the group John Fred and the Playboys in Baton Rouge back in 1956 when he was just 15 years old. He renamed the band in 1967 and recorded “Judy in Disguise” in a small studio in Tyler, Texas. It was the group’s only hit, making them a one-hit wonder.
John Fred continued to perform around the region and do some producing for a number of years. He passed away in 2005 at age 63.
And here’s your daily bonus video of the day, John Fred & His Playboy Band lip synching “Judy in Disguise” on some television program in 1968. It is very psychedelic.
