For those not already aware of the sad news, Terry Johnson, the last surviving member of the Flamingos, died yesterday in Las Vegas at the age of 86 - "performing to the end", Marv Goldberg says. He can be seen above (with guitar) on the cover of Flamingos Serenade, the 1959 album of standards which includes his arrangement of I Only Have Eyes For You, the Al Dubin-Harry Warren film song which finally gave the group the crossover success they'd been seeking.
Terry Johnson was not an original member of the Flamingos but had a vision, when he first saw them perform in October 1956: "I saw a glow of light around them and I saw myself with them." He auditioned the day after this mystical experience and was invited to join on Christmas Eve.
It wasn't until they left Chess and signed with a major, Decca, the following year, however, that he really came into his own. When high tenor Johnny Carter, who also did the arranging, was drafted it fell to Johnson, as the only musician, to take over the task - and this, in effect, was the beginning of what could be termed a Mark II, more pop-oriented, Flamingos.