Post ASh4vDRImNxaWhSbXU by jasonisaacdrums@heads.social
 (DIR) More posts by jasonisaacdrums@heads.social
 (DIR) Post #ASh4utsDWbbdqNtoiO by jasonisaacdrums@heads.social
       2023-02-15T03:42:29Z
       
       0 likes, 1 repeats
       
       RIP to Huey "Piano" Smith, one of the all time greats of New Orleans music. His influence on rock and roll is unimpeachable. https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/new-orleans-rock-n-roll-pioneer-huey-piano-smith-dies/article_1a451915-0f9f-5e14-a98d-c1372185dc62.html#NewOrleans #RockNRoll #RhythmAndBlues #Blues #RIP
       
 (DIR) Post #ASh4v4cJa4QDAFXlxI by jasonisaacdrums@heads.social
       2023-02-15T04:10:21Z
       
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       I'm gonna post a few Huey Smith classics. I'm sure all of these and more will get plenty of airplay on WWOZ and WFMU in the next few days. First up, his biggest hit, Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu, which has been covered by many. When I taught a clinic on New Orleans drumming a few years ago, I played this tune as an example of the unique (and impossible to notate) swing of the NOLA groove, sitting in the region between swing and straight eighths. https://youtu.be/-WWlwgoAxPE
       
 (DIR) Post #ASh4v6NV27l8cscy8m by jasonisaacdrums@heads.social
       2023-02-15T04:15:40Z
       
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       Next up, Don't You Just Know It. This was a top ten hit on both the pop and r&b charts in 1958. The call and response chorus is unforgettable! https://youtu.be/3P3yqQ4vgHA
       
 (DIR) Post #ASh4v8G82V3GSbC6vg by jasonisaacdrums@heads.social
       2023-02-15T04:17:58Z
       
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       The b-side to Don't You Just Know It was High Blood Pressure, another stone cold classic. Surely one of the greatest double-sided singles of early rock and roll. https://youtu.be/zzaFE7CqLJo
       
 (DIR) Post #ASh4v9x3kMzDi2HuU4 by jasonisaacdrums@heads.social
       2023-02-15T04:24:04Z
       
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       Little Liza Jane is a standard of New Orleans brass band and Mardi Gras Indian repertoire, with roots going way back into the 19th century. Huey's version from 1956 brought the song into the rock n' roll era, and is still one of the best known. https://youtu.be/ob0umJgcY5E
       
 (DIR) Post #ASh4vBdzSEvAxTNi2S by jasonisaacdrums@heads.social
       2023-02-15T04:28:27Z
       
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       Well I'll Be John Brown is another scorcher, with the great Bobby Marchan on lead vocals. This song along with High Blood Pressure and Don't You Just Know It were covered in a medley to great effect on Dr. John's Gumbo album. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0HvvHevlPY
       
 (DIR) Post #ASh4vDRImNxaWhSbXU by jasonisaacdrums@heads.social
       2023-02-15T04:40:09Z
       
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       Frankie Ford had a big hit with Sea Cruise, but it was actually a Huey Smith and the Clowns song in disguise. Huey recorded it and sung it as a duet with Gerri Hall, but the label owner replaced the vocal track with teenager Frankie Ford because he thought it would sell more with a white singer. Here's Huey's original version with the same instrumental track.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7BA1pu4sXk
       
 (DIR) Post #ASh4vFR1MOvKiPLPNY by jasonisaacdrums@heads.social
       2023-02-15T04:58:39Z
       
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       And I'll end the thread with a couple of examples of Huey's session work. As a regular at Cosimo Matassa's studio in the '50s, he recorded with damn near everyone in New Orleans. He was on one of Earl King's first hits, Those Lonely Lonely Nights, in 1955. https://youtu.be/lfYx4hg75nU
       
 (DIR) Post #ASh4vH1DTJTFcxHpR2 by jasonisaacdrums@heads.social
       2023-02-15T05:03:23Z
       
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       Also from 1955, I Hear You Knocking was the biggest hit for singer Smiley Lewis, with Huey Smith on piano. https://youtu.be/F3-2nOlO528
       
 (DIR) Post #ASh4vIlKzJxR2HsAxk by jasonisaacdrums@heads.social
       2023-02-15T05:13:27Z
       
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       And finally, I'll note that Huey Smith was in the house band that backed Little Richard on his first recording session in New Orleans for Specialty Records. The sources I checked were in conflict as to which ones he played and which ones Little Richard played himself, so I won't link to any here. But Huey *might* have been on Tutti Frutti. After everything we have heard in this thread, would you be surprised?  RIP one more time to Huey Piano Smith, a hugely influential artist. /end thread