White founded and managed the Crusaders in the late 1960s and eventually cut three records with them. In 1975, his band released “Surely (Someone Needs Love),” a polished ballad that sold well in the local market. By the 1980s, White regrouped with the Elite Band, an R&B and beach music outfit that he leads to this day.

Johnny White has been the featured vocalist of two prominent Durham groups.

The Dynamic Crusaders, seen here in an early promotional photo, were also known at various points as the Mighty Crusaders and the Mighty Crusaders Orchestra. Membership included (back row, left to right) Ernest Thompson, Charles Norman, and Willis Norman, and (front row, left to right), Harold Jeffreys, Clarke Egerton, Jr., Reginald Bynum, and James “Tweet” Toomer.

Membership of Johnny White’s Elite Band, founded in the 1980s, included Larry Duncan, previously of the Modulations, and Bobby Moody, who previously played with Duracha.