Johnny Cymbal was born in Ochitree, Scotland on February 3, 1945 and named John Hendry Blair. People often thought Johnny Cymbal was a stage name, but that was not the case. At a young age, he was adopted by his mother's second husband, Nick (possibly Nikolas) Cymbal, who was a Polish national and a member of the Free Polish Forces stationed in Scotland during World War II. John, who always spoke of Nick as his father, took that surname, and thereafter was known as John Hendry Cymbal. 　　 　　When Johnny was seven or eight years old, the family moved from Scotland to Goderich, Ontario, Canada, and later to Cleveland, Ohio. Growing up outside Toronto and then Cleveland, during the genesis of rock and roll, Johnny (who was a fan of, and heavily influenced by, Elvis Presley) became fixated on music and quickly taught himself guitar. He began writing his own songs and singing at the age of 13. 　　 　　During a career that spanned four decades, Johnny Cymbal was a songwriter, singer, performer and record producer. In addition to his rock and roll anthem, “Mr. Bass Man”, he was responsible for hit records including: “Teenage Heaven”, “Cinnamon”, “Mary In The Morning,” “Rock Me Baby” and “I'm Drinking Canada Dry”. 　　 　　First and foremost, Johnny Cymbal thought of himself as a songwriter; throughout his life he kept diaries of ideas and notes for future use. Though he was an excellent vocalist with a wonderful stage presence, he believed his greatest talent was composing. By 1966, having married and started a family, he no longer wished to be on the road as a performer so he committed himself to songwriting. Thereafter, although he continued to make records as a singer throughout his career, most of those recordings were released with the names of others (such as his brother, Derek) or pseudonymic "groups" as the artist. 　　 　　A prolific composer, Johnny has a catalog of over 200 published songs. During his career he wrote alone and with many partners, including: CMA Hall Of Famer Charlie Black; Austin Roberts of “I.O.U.” fame; Mark Sameth; multiple CMA award winner Gene Pistilli; legendary Nashville writer David Malloy; Bill Holmes, Peggy Clinger; and with Michael Rashkow as his co-writer, he penned the 10,000,000+ seller and BMI Million Performance Award Winner, “Mary In The Morning.” With that song, John attained a lifetime ambition - to have one of his compositions recorded by Elvis Presley. 　　 　　As a singer, Cymbal had releases on numerous labels, including MGM, Columbia, Musicor, Kapp, Roulette, Bang, Curb, and Scepter. His recording pseudonyms included “Brother John,” “Derek,” “The Eye-Full Tower,” “Dallas” and “The Non-Conformists,” among many others. 　　 　　Cymbal’s songs have been recorded by numerous artists: Elvis Presley, Glen Campbell, Gene Pitney, Al Martino, The Partridge Family, Spencer Davis Group, Frankie Ford, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Eddy Arnold, Ed Ames, Adam Wade, Aaron Tippen, Mike Curb, Jan and Dean, Trini Lopez and David Cassidy, among others. He also placed material in movies such as Tender Mercies and the TV show "Barnaby Jones." 　　 　　Johnny Cymbal died in his sleep of a heart attack on March 16, 1993 at the age of 48. At his wish, he was cremated and his ashes were spread at Lake Radnor in Nashville.