I listened to this twice to confirm what I thought I heard: Johnny Willow, the hero protagonist of this song, went into battle and vanquished the enemy while holding his gun in one hand and a letter to his sweetheart in the other. I think he would have done better to put the letter in his pocket and use two hands to fire. But then, thankfully, I've never been in a battle.
Fred Darian was from Detroit, Michigan, and was born in 1927. "Johnny Willow" was his most successful recording but it only charted in specific regions: it was number one in Toronto and Boston, number three in Cleveland, and number four in Oklahoma City, but it only reached #96 on the national Billboard chart. He had a long, if not particularly well-known, career as a singer, songwriter, producer, and occasional actor. Some of his other songs had a military theme: he wrote songs titled "Battle of Gettysburg", "Mr. Custer", and "Return of Mr. Custer".
Searches turned up an Internet Movie Database entry for him and a biography on the Vancouver Pop Music Signature Sounds website. I couldn't find a date of death for him, but since his website, freddarian.com, no longer exists, I strongly suspect that he no longer exists either.
Created December 1, 2025.