As a
freshman at
Duke University, Long joined with ten other freshmen to create a school band named
The Duke Collegians. He also joined
Sigma Nu fraternity. During their second year, they were adopted as the official school band. The band stayed together throughout their school years and, upon graduation, renamed themselves
The Johnny Long Orchestra, with Long as the bandleader. For a number of years they toured the country and were eventually signed on to
Vocalion Records (owned by
ARC) in 1937 for the release of
Just Like That. They performed their first national radio broadcast in 1939 on
The Fitch Summer Bandwagon Show, which boosted their national popularity. This resulted in the band being signed on by
Decca Records. His orchestra earned the label "Miracle Band of the Year" thru a series of lengthy engagements at some of the top and locations in the country. His Johnny Long Orchestra accompanied
Ella Fitzgerald on her
Decca recording of "Confessin' That I Love You". He was chosen to play the President's Birthday Ball in Washington in 1942, and also that his has been the only record of "Back Up the Red, White and Blue with God," official song of the Treasury's War Bond Dept. This song quickly became the band's signature tune. This song, and numerous other hits, made the band one of the most successful big bands in the country during the 1940s. Other popular covers included "
My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time" and "
Poor Butterfly". One of the high points of his career was playing
Franklin D. Roosevelts Birthday Ball in April 1941. However, as the big band style diminished over the years, so did Long's ensemble. Long continued to lead the band, with various members, up until his death in 1972. The cause of death was
melanoma. He is buried in the cemetery of King’s Church (formerly Newell Baptist Church) in
Charlotte, North Carolina. ==Film roles==