Clifford Joseph Trahan (September 25, 1938 – September 3, 2016), better known by the stage names Johnny Rebel, Pee Wee Trahan, Filthy McNasty, Jericho Jones, and many other pseudonyms, was an American singer-songwriter known for his openly racist songs. He used the Johnny Rebel name to voice sympathy for racial segregation, the KKK, and the Confederacy, and frequently used the racial slur "nigger". He used Pee Wee Trahan for more mainstream, family-friendly country music that focused on themes such as love, dancing, and rural life, and Filthy McNasty for sexually explicit lyrics. The Johnny Rebel name, inspired by Johnny Reb, the national personification of the common soldier of the Confederate States Army, was used for J. D. "Jay" Miller's Reb Rebel label in the 1960s in response to the civil rights movement.
After retiring in 2003, Trahan stated that he "just did it for the money" and that he "didn't set out to spread hate or start trouble". He said, "At that time, there was a lot of resentment – whites toward blacks and blacks toward whites. So, everybody had their own feelings. Lots of people changed their feelings over the years. I basically changed my feelings over the years up to a point." was born in Moss Bluff, Louisiana, on September 25, 1938, the son of Elizabeth Breaux Taylor and Homer Trahan. Two of these songs were eventually issued in album format by Reb Rebel Records under the title For Segregationists Only.
Johnny Rebel's songs found some popularity in some Southern juke joints, but never received radio airplay, and in time Trahan largely forgot about the venture. With the emergence of the Internet, Johnny Rebel gained newfound fame, and Trahan hired fan Brad Herman as his new manager in 2001. He then recorded and released a new song titled "Infidel Anthem", describing the "whipping" America should lay on Osama bin Laden following the September 11 attacks. Herman booked him on The Howard Stern Show, where he promoted the song. This led to increased interest in his music. Trahan eventually cut ties with Herman, but released two records in 2003. who achieved popularity during the 1970s and 1980s. The confusion stems in part from the song "Nigger Fucker", which appears on Coe's Underground Album.
Some of Johnny Rebel's songs have also been misattributed to Johnny Horton, an American country singer who died in 1960. The confusion appears to stem from a song by Horton titled "Johnny Reb".
Legacy
An Anti-Defamation League report noted that "since the 1960s, when racist country singer Johnny Rebel recorded songs such as 'N-- Hatin' Me,' more than 500 hate rock bands have formed worldwide".
In 2010, the television series The Boondocks lampooned the music of Johnny Rebel in the episode "The Story of Jimmy Rebel."
Discography
Studio albums
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! Year
! Album details
|-
| 1971
| align="left"| For Segregationists Only
|-
| rowspan=2| 2003
| align="left"| The Complete Johnny Rebel Collection
|-
| align="left"| It's the Attitude, Stupid!
|-
|}
Singles
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Album
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1966
| style="text-align:left;"| "Kajun Ku Klux Klan / Lookin' for a Handout" (Reb Rebel 504)
| style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2"| For Segregationists Only (Sunwheel SWCD001, 1994)
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| "Nigger Hatin' Me / Who Likes a Nigger" (Reb Rebel 508)
|-
| 1967
| style="text-align:left;"| "(Federal Aid Hell!) The Money Belongs to Us / Keep a Workin' Big Jim" (Reb Rebel 511)
| rowspan="4" |
|-
| 1968
| style="text-align:left;"| "Nigger, Nigger / Move Them Niggers North" (Reb Rebel 514)
|-
| 1969
| style="text-align:left;"| "Still Looking for a Handout / In Coon Town" (Reb Rebel 515)
|-
| 1970
| style="text-align:left;"| "Some Niggers Never Die / Stay Away from Dixie" (Reb Rebel 518)
|}