John R.

John R. (born John Richbourg, August 20, 1910, Manning, South Carolina; died February 15, 1986, Nashville, Tennessee) was an American radio disc jockey who attained fame in the 1950s and 1960s for playing rhythm and blues music on Nashville radio station WLAC. He was also a notable record producer and artist manager.

Richbourg was arguably the most popular and charismatic of the four announcers at WLAC who showcased popular African-American music in nightly programs from the late 1940s to the early 1970s. (The other three were Gene Nobles, Herman Grizzard, and Bill "Hoss" Allen.) Later rock music disc jockeys such as Alan Freed, Wolfman Jack, and others mimicked Richbourg's practice of using speech that simulated African-American street language of the mid-twentieth century.

Richbourg's highly stylized approach to on-air presentation of both music and advertising earned him popularity, but it also created identity confusion. Because Richbourg and fellow disc jockey Allen used African-American speech patterns, many listeners thought that both announcers were actually African-Americans. The disc jockeys used the mystique to their commercial and personal advantages until the mid-1960s, when their racial identities as Euro-Americans became public knowledge.

John R. Williams

John R. Williams (May 4, 1782 – October 20, 1854) was an American soldier, merchant, and politician who is most well known for serving as the first mayor of Detroit, Michigan. In total, he served as Detroit's mayor for five other terms. He also was a brigadier general in the United States Army during the Black Hawk War.

Early life

Born in Detroit, he was baptized as John Williams (he later adopted the ‘R’ in his name to distinguish himself from another John Williams who was living in Detroit at the time). Raised in his mother's French Canadian community, he spoke and wrote fluently in both French and English. Williams married Mary Mott in 1804, and the couple had ten children together. One of them, Thomas Williams, would later be killed in action as a Union general during the American Civil War.

Williams served in the Territorial Militia from 1796 to 1799 at Fort Marsac in Tennessee. Upon leaving the army, he returned to Detroit and joined his uncle, Joseph Campau, in his successful mercantile business. During the War of 1812, Williams again served in the militia, this time as the captain of an artillery company.