Plas Johnson, Saxophonist Behind 'Pink Panther Theme,' Dead at 94 ⁠11%

By Emily Zemler⁠10%

7/22/2026, 10:59:41 AM

Keywords: Obituary

BS Summary: This article contains 12 faulty reasoning types, including Biased Writer Voice, Halo Effect, and Representativeness Heuristic, with Framing Effect as the most egregious example at 14.5% saturation with 61 hits. Analysis detected 326 faulty-reasoning hits from 422 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 27.3% and a BS Rank of ⁠11% (19,649 of 21,887 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 89.80% of the article peer group.

American jazz saxophonist Plas Johnson, known for recording with artists like Frank Sinatra and B.B. 
King, died last week at 94. 
Johnson’s death was reported in his Louisiana hometown newspaper, the *Donaldsonville Chief*, and dated July 15. 
No cause of death was given. 
Johnson, who hailed from Donaldsonville, Louisiana, was most famous for his contribution to the “The Pink Panther Theme,” which he recorded in 1963 alongside composer Henry Mancini as part of the soundtrack for Blake Edwards' comedy film *The Pink Panther*. 
The song won three Grammy Awards and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Score at the 37th Academy Awards. 
“We only did two takes, I think,” Johnson once said of the song, according to the *Donaldsonville Chief*. 
“When we finished, everyone applauded, even the string players.” 
Throughout his career, Johnson performed on numerous songs, including recordings for the Beach Boys, Ricky Nelson, Johnny Otis, Ella Fitzgerald, Marvin Gaye, and Nat King Cole. 
Born on July 21, 1931 in Donaldsonville, Johnson began his musical career singing with his family. 
His father later bought him a saxophone and he made his recording debut in 1950 alongside his brother Ray for DeLuxe Records. 
He also toured with singer and pianist Charles Brown. 
Johnson moved to Los Angeles in 1954 after his Army service, where he became a prolific session musician. 
He was a regular in Mancini’s orchestra in the 1950s and 1960s, and began playing in Merv Griffin’s studio band on the *Merv Griffin Show* in 1970. 
He was well regarded for his saxphone solos, which often elevated a piece. 
“My solos always seemed to bring the record up another notch,” Johnson said. 
“I could do that in eight bars, I could do that in twelve bars, and I was used to maybe do fills behind the vocalist after that. 
As a solo artist, Johnson released several albums and compilations. 
In 1959 he released *This Must Be the Plas! 
* via Capital Records and in 1975 he shared *The Blues* on Concord Jazz, both well received by critics and fans. 
Johnson's work was documented in 2008 film *The Wrecking Crew*, a documentary about session musicians working in Los Angeles in the 1960s and 1970s directed by Denny Tedesco. 
As the film depicts, he left an indelible mark on the music landscape, which was often only celebrated behind the scenes. 
Johnson will be remembered both for his famous contributions, but also for the many he made that have largely gone unrecognized. 
Article reasoning-pattern comparisonThis article: 5.0%Emily Zemler: 1.4%Rolling Stone: 2.9%Confirmation Bias5.0%This article: 0.0%Emily Zemler: 0.2%Rolling Stone: 0.7%Anchoring Bias0.0%This article: 5.0%Emily Zemler: 1.3%Rolling Stone: 3.2%Availability Heuristic5.0%This article: 6.2%Emily Zemler: 1.2%Rolling Stone: 0.9%Representativeness Heuristic6.2%This article: 0.0%Emily Zemler: 0.7%Rolling Stone: 0.8%Hindsight Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Emily Zemler: 1.3%Rolling Stone: 1.5%Overconfidence Bias0.0%This article: 14.5%Emily Zemler: 2.3%Rolling Stone: 5.6%Framing Effect14.5%This article: 0.0%Emily Zemler: 0.9%Rolling Stone: 0.6%Loss Aversion0.0%This article: 0.0%Emily Zemler: 0.5%Rolling Stone: 0.8%Status Quo Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Emily Zemler: 0.0%Rolling Stone: 0.1%Sunk Cost Effect0.0%This article: 5.0%Emily Zemler: 2.0%Rolling Stone: 2.0%Optimism Bias5.0%This article: 0.0%Emily Zemler: 0.9%Rolling Stone: 1.1%Pessimism Bias0.0%This article: 5.0%Emily Zemler: 6.8%Rolling Stone: 7.5%Negativity Bias5.0%This article: 5.0%Emily Zemler: 3.0%Rolling Stone: 2.2%Self-Serving Bias5.0%This article: 0.0%Emily Zemler: 0.3%Rolling Stone: 1.1%Fundamental Attribution Error0.0%This article: 0.0%Emily Zemler: 0.0%Rolling Stone: 0.1%Actor-Observer Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Emily Zemler: 0.5%Rolling Stone: 1.3%In-Group Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Emily Zemler: 0.0%Rolling Stone: 0.2%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias0.0%This article: 6.6%Emily Zemler: 6.8%Rolling Stone: 4.8%Halo Effect6.6%This article: 0.0%Emily Zemler: 0.6%Rolling Stone: 0.3%Horn Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Emily Zemler: 0.0%Rolling Stone: 0.0%Dunning-Kruger Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Emily Zemler: 0.8%Rolling Stone: 1.3%Recency Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Emily Zemler: 0.4%Rolling Stone: 0.5%Primacy Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Emily Zemler: 0.0%Rolling Stone: 0.0%Blind-Spot Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Emily Zemler: 1.9%Rolling Stone: 1.1%Ad Hominem0.0%This article: 0.0%Emily Zemler: 0.1%Rolling Stone: 0.4%Straw Man0.0%This article: 5.0%Emily Zemler: 2.0%Rolling Stone: 3.4%Appeal to Authority5.0%This article: 0.0%Emily Zemler: 0.7%Rolling Stone: 1.5%False Dilemma0.0%This article: 0.0%Emily Zemler: 0.0%Rolling Stone: 0.7%Slippery Slope0.0%This article: 0.0%Emily Zemler: 0.0%Rolling Stone: 0.3%Circular Reasoning0.0%This article: 0.0%Emily Zemler: 3.6%Rolling Stone: 5.5%Hasty Generalization0.0%This article: 0.0%Emily Zemler: 0.0%Rolling Stone: 0.4%Red Herring0.0%This article: 0.0%Emily Zemler: 0.0%Rolling Stone: 0.7%Bandwagon0.0%This article: 0.0%Emily Zemler: 3.1%Rolling Stone: 5.8%Appeal to Emotion0.0%This article: 0.0%Emily Zemler: 0.6%Rolling Stone: 0.7%Begging the Question0.0%This article: 0.0%Emily Zemler: 1.5%Rolling Stone: 2.8%Post Hoc (False Cause)0.0%This article: 0.0%Emily Zemler: 0.0%Rolling Stone: 0.1%Tu Quoque0.0%This article: 0.0%Emily Zemler: 0.5%Rolling Stone: 0.3%Burden of Proof0.0%This article: 0.0%Emily Zemler: 0.0%Rolling Stone: 0.2%Appeal to Nature0.0%This article: 0.0%Emily Zemler: 0.3%Rolling Stone: 0.2%Composition/Division0.0%This article: 0.0%Emily Zemler: 1.2%Rolling Stone: 2.4%Anecdotal0.0%This article: 0.0%Emily Zemler: 0.1%Rolling Stone: 0.1%No True Scotsman0.0%This article: 0.0%Emily Zemler: 1.6%Rolling Stone: 1.8%Ambiguity (Equivocation)0.0%This article: 0.0%Emily Zemler: 0.0%Rolling Stone: 0.0%Gambler’s Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Emily Zemler: 0.0%Rolling Stone: 0.1%Middle Ground0.0%This article: 0.0%Emily Zemler: 0.5%Rolling Stone: 0.1%Personal Incredulity0.0%This article: 0.0%Emily Zemler: 0.0%Rolling Stone: 0.1%Special Pleading0.0%This article: 0.0%Emily Zemler: 0.0%Rolling Stone: 0.2%Genetic Fallacy0.0%This article: 4.3%Emily Zemler: 0.9%Rolling Stone: 1.5%Unattributed Quote4.3%This article: 4.3%Emily Zemler: 0.7%Rolling Stone: 1.3%Quote-first Misdirection4.3%This article: 11.6%Emily Zemler: 5.3%Rolling Stone: 8.6%Biased Writer Voice11.6%This article: 0.0%Emily Zemler: 0.1%Rolling Stone: 1.3%Indoctrination0.0%This article: 0.0%Emily Zemler: 1.4%Rolling Stone: 1.6%Politically Left Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Emily Zemler: 0.0%Rolling Stone: 0.2%Politically Right Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Emily Zemler: 0.1%Rolling Stone: 3.6%Attempt to Sell a Product or S…0.0%

422 words analyzed.

Speakers

2speakers20%attributed speech339writer words
Voice mapSelect a segment to jump to its words
Writer's voice • 10 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 15 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 6 words • 0.0% coverageDonaldsonville Chief • 16 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 6 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 40 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 21 words • 0.0% coveragePlas Johnson • 18 words • 100.0% coveragePlas Johnson • 9 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 26 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 16 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 22 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 9 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 18 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 27 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 13 words • 100.0% coveragePlas Johnson • 13 words • 0.0% coveragePlas Johnson • 27 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 10 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 9 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 21 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 28 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 21 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 21 words • 0.0% coverage
Selected voice

Plas Johnson

27%flagged-word coverage
67 attributed words81% of attributed speech53% writer coverage
0%15.0%30.0%Unattributed Quote+26.9 ptsWriter: 0.0%Plas Johnson: 26.9%26.9%Quote-first Misdirection+26.9 ptsWriter: 0.0%Plas Johnson: 26.9%26.9%Biased Writer Voice-14.5 ptsWriter: 14.5%Plas Johnson: 0.0%0.0%

Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.

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Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.