James M. Salem research materials for The Late Great Johnny Ace

This collection consists of the research done by Dr. James M. Salem, Professor Emeritus at the University of Alabama, for his book, The Late Great Johnny Ace and the Transition from R and B to Rock and Roll. Materials include audio recordings, correspondence, research notes and documents, that relate not only to Johnny Ace specifically, but to the larger context of African American Popular Culture in the 1950s.

Included in the collection are various 33 1/3, 78, and 45 rpm records of Johnny Ace's hit songs. The most significant of these recordings is the 78 rpm single "Pledging My Love," which reached number one on the Billboard R and B charts, and number seventeen on the Billboard Pop charts in 1955.

Among the correspondence within the collection is that between Dr. Salem, Lois Jean Alexander (Ace's widow), and BMI. This correspondence established John Marshall Alexander, Jr. (Johnny Ace) posthumously as a registered writer for BMI.

Assorted interviews made by Dr. Salem within the collection, recorded on audio cassette, include Lois Jean Alexander, Evelyn Johnson, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, and Johnny Otis.