- Clarence "Frogman" Henry
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Clarence "Frogman" Henry (born March 19, 1937, Algiers, New Orleans, Louisiana) is an American rhythm and blues singer and pianist.[1]
Contents
Career
Fats Domino and Professor Longhair were young Henry's main influences while growing up.[1] When Henry played in talent shows, he dressed like Longhair and wore a wig with braids on both sides.
His trademark croak, utilized to the maximum on his 1956 debut hit "Ain't Got No Home," earned Henry his nickname and jump-started a career that endures to this day.[1] "(I Don't Know Why) But I Do" and "You Always Hurt the One You Love", both from 1961, were his other big hits.[2]
Henry opened eighteen concerts for The Beatles across the US and Canada in 1964, but his main source of income came from the Bourbon Street strip in New Orleans, where he played for nineteen years.[1] His name could still draw hordes of tourists long after his hit-making days had ended.
Henry's pioneering contribution to the genre has been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. In April 2007, "Frogman" was honored for his contributions to Louisiana music with induction into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.
Secondary references and re-use of hits
Dianna Chenevert booked Clarence “Frogman” Henry for the Rolling Stones private party. According to the December 7, 1981 Times-Picayune article by Betty Guillaud the party was held aboard the Riverboat “S.S. President” in New Orleans, Louisiana. In 1982, Henry was also featured as a stellar singer from New Orleans, on the Southern Stars poster created by Chenevert to promote him and historically document his contribution to the music industry. Henry provided a classic photo of himself with a frog sitting on his shoulder. On October 12, 1983 USA Today reporter Miles White highlighted Frogman Henry as one of the famous entertainers on the poster, which gave him more nationwide attention.
Henry's trademark song "Ain't Got No Home" was featured on the soundtrack of the 1982 film Diner. It was used in a famous bathtub scene in the cult movie The Lost Boys with actor Corey Haim singing along to it. Rod Stewart uses the chorus of "Ain't Got No Home" in his 1984 single "Some Guys Have All the Luck". It achieved fresh notoriety in the 1990s through its use as the "Homeless Update" theme music on The Rush Limbaugh Show, and is still used as such as late as 2009. The song is in the movie Casino playing in the background as Joe Pesci asks Robert DeNiro for a 50K chip marker. Jimmy Buffett referenced Henry in his song "Saxophones".[3]
On his Live/Indian Summer album, Al Stewart introduced his song "Year of the Cat" with an odd anecdote about a mistaken-identity encounter involving Henry, Audrey Hepburn, and G. Gordon Liddy.[4]
Influence
During an interview in his home studio, Mark Sandman of the rock band Morphine cited Henry as an important influence.
References
- ^ a b c d "Biography by Bill Dahl". Allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p86008/biography. Retrieved September 2, 2011.
- ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 251. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ Burdeau, Cain (October 5, 2003). "New Orleans 'Frogman,' still jumpin' at 66". Associated Press. http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/100603/mus_LB0291-0.shtml
- ^ Golyr.de
External links
Categories:- 1937 births
- Living people
- American male singers
- American rhythm and blues musicians
- Musicians from New Orleans, Louisiana
- Rockabilly Hall of Fame inductees
- People from New Orleans, Louisiana
- Cadet Records artists
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