Happy Heavenly Birthday to Michigan’s own Hank Ballard! He was born on this day in 1927. He, of course, wrote and recorded the original version of The Twist. The song will be forever associated with Chubby Checker. He also had hits with Work With Me Annie, Annie Had a Baby and more.
I have featured Hank on this blog before with the 2021 Song Draft
I’d like to feature two of my other favorite Hank songs. I played both of these when I was working at Honey Radio in Detroit.
“Let’s Go, Let’s Go, Let’s Go” (also known as “There’s a Thrill on The Hill”) is a 1960 pop and R&B single written by Hank and performed by Hank and the Midnighters.
The single was the last of the Midnighters’ three number one singles on the US Billboard R&B Chart, staying there for three non-consecutive weeks. “Let’s Go, Let’s Go, Let’s Go” is also Ballard & the Midnighters’ most successful pop single, peaking at number six on the Billboard Hot 100. The record sold in excess of one million copies. In Canada the song reached number 16.
“Finger Poppin’ Time” is a song that was written by Ballard and reached number two on the US Billboard R&B chart. It reached number seven on the pop chart in 1960. It was featured on their 1960 album Mr. Rhythm and Blues.
The song was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance in 1961. It lost to Ray Charles “Let The Good Times Roll.” It ranked #49 on Billboard’s list of Top 100 songs for 1960.
It is time once again for one of my favorite blog posts – Turntable Talk, hosted by Dave at A Sound Day. If you are unfamiliar with this feature, Dave assigns the participants with a specific musical topic each month. This is the 15th installment. This month the topic is: My Hometown
Dave’s instructions for us this time read: “I’m leaving this one rather open-ended for your interpretation, but essentially if you’re in, write about either a song about your hometown, or highlight an artist from your hometown. Likewise, I leave it to you to define what your hometown is – it can be your literal one, or one you live in now or somewhere close by that you associate with.”
As many followers know, I live in Michigan. I was raised in the city of Warren, which is about 20 miles from Detroit (less than 20 miles in some places). When the topic was presented, my first thought was to pic the song Detroit City (which was done by numerous artists). I really don’t consider that song a favorite, so I started thinking about Motown Songs. There were SO many good ones to chose from, but I decided against that, too.
I then did a search of artists from Michigan hoping that one would jump out at me. One did. I wrote briefly about him in the past, but feel he is worth writing about for this topic. I will mention some of his biggest hits, which you will be familiar with, and maybe even include some YouTube links. There is one song that wasn’t a huge hit for him, but it is my favorite vocal by him. I hope you are ready for some excitement – Mr. Excitement, Jackie Wilson!
Jackie Wilson has ties to many other artists and groups, all prior to having a successful solo career. He was considered a master showman and one of the most dynamic singers and performers in soul, R&B, and rock and roll history. His story is really an amazing one to follow, although it does have a sad ending.
The iconic, soulful and energetic stage entertainer was born in Detroit on June 9th, 1934, and raised in the rough neighborhoods of Highland Park, Michigan (13 miles outside of Detroit). He actually began singing as a young boy, accompanying his mother, an experienced church choir singer. In his early teens he joined a quartet, the Ever Ready Gospel Singers, who gained popularity in local churches. Wilson was not very religious, but he enjoyed singing in public. The money the quartet earned from performing was often spent on alcohol, and Wilson began drinking at an early age.
Life was rough for him growing up. At age 15, he dropped out of school. He joined an area gang, which led to Jackie getting in trouble. He got locked up twice in juvenile homes where he eventually learned to box. He entered the amateur circuits around the Detroit area where he met fellow boxer and future Motown chief, Berry Gordy. Jackie would become a Golden Gloves boxer, but after his mother told him ‘that’s enough boxing’, and with a record of 2-8, he turned to music.
Forming the original Falcons, he would be discovered by Johnny Otis, who placed him in a group called the Thrillers. The Thrillers later became the Royals, the same group that backed another Detroit legend, Hank Ballard, but Jackie left before they made their big hits. Joining Billy Ward & the Dominoes in 1953, replacing Clyde McPhatter. He stayed with the group for 3 years, and cut their last real hit “St. Terese of the Roses.” It was after this (in 1957) that he decided going solo would be a better option. He was absolutely right and it paid off for him in a big way.
Signing with Brunswick Records, Jackie would have his first hit “Reet Petite” in 1957, co-written by Berry Gordy, who would become good friends with Wilson over the years, and co-writing a few of his early hits.
Jackie followed this with “To Be Loved,” “That’s Why (I Love You So),” and “I’ll Be Satisfied.” But it was “Lonely Teardrops” that would launch him to a whole new level!
Charting 54 hits from 1957-1974, his stage presence earned him the nickname “Mr. Excitement”! Audiences went wild for his stage show! Go to YouTube and watch some of his live performances! He was amazing. He sang while doing knee-drops, spins, the splits, back flips, one-footed across-the-floor slides, removing his tie and jacket and throwing them off the stage, basic boxing steps like advance and retreat shuffling. Jackie would sing anything from high-powered soul classics, to opera, to ballads – there wasn’t anything Jackie couldn’t sing.
One of those amazing ballads was a song called, “Doggin’ Around” from 1960. The vocal on this song blows me away every time I hear it! You can hear the pain in his voice as he pleads to this woman to stop playing games with him. There is that lone piano plinking along in the back ground and the back ground singers are just enough to enhance the “pain” Jackie is trying to convey. The song itself only went to #15, but I have always felt it should have gone MUCH higher.
Doggin’ Around – Lyrics
You better stop, yeah, doggin’ me around If don’t you stop, yeah, I’m gonna put you down
Cause, I can’t take it Much longer My heart’s getting weak, It’s not getting any stronger You keep me so upset, My head’s in a whirl, But if you wanna be my girl
You better stop, yeah, doggin’ me around Cause if you don’t stop, I’m gonna put you down
Now you know you go out nights, To have yourself a ball Sometimes you don’t, you don’t make it home at all I don’t mind you having yourself a real good time, But now what are you tryna do, tryna make me lose my mind
You better stop, yeah, doggin’ me around If you don’t stop, I’m gonna put you down Yes, put you down I don’t want to do it, but I’ll have to put you down I love you baby, but still, I’ll put you down…
Elvis Presley’s hairstylist, Larry Geller, once visited Jackie backstage with Elvis after one of his Las Vegas performances. He said that Jackie had a habit of taking a handful of salt tablets and drinking large amounts of water before each performance, to create profuse sweating. Wilson told Elvis, “The chicks love it.” This may not have been the healthiest thing to do, and may have contributed to his tragic end.
On September 29, 1975, Jackie was one of the main acts to be featured in Dick Clark’s Good Ol’ Rock and Roll Revue at the Latin Casino in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. While singing “Lonely Teardrops,” as he sang the words “My heart is crying” he collapsed on stage; audience members applauded as they initially thought it was part of the act. He had suffered a heart attack onstage. Dick Clark sensed something was wrong, then ordered the musicians to stop the music.
Due to the lack of oxygen, he fell into a coma, of which he never recovered. He was moved to a retirement community in Mt. Holly, New Jersey, where he needed constant care. Elvis Presley paid for a lot of his medical expenses. On January 21, 1984, Jackie Wilson died at the young age of 49.
So many great singers hail from Michigan, and the Detroit area. Jackie Wilson was an amazing talent who, despite a short career, left us so many great songs! He posthumously received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on September 4, 2019. He is buried at Westlawn Cemetery in Wayne, Michigan. His tombstone reads “No more lonely teardrops.” A bench in front of his grave says, “Jackie – The Complete Entertainer.”
Thanks again to Dave for allowing me to take part in this feature! I truly look forward to writing for it and reading the other participant’s entries. I am already waiting patiently for next month’s topic.
Welcome to Round Three of the 2021 Song Draft hosted by Hanspostcard. It has been fun for me to pick and share my songs, but even cooler to check out the picks of the other participants.
As I compiled my list of songs to pick from, I had Hank Ballard and Stevie Ray Vaughn on the list with two separate songs. Then, I had some music playing on YouTube at work and changed my Stevie Ray song to this one – just so I could share the video. More on that in a minute.
There are some songs that you can search and find pages and pages of notes and stories about. However, there really wasn’t a whole lot about this song. I removed Stevie’s name from the search and just searched “Look at Little Sister. All of a sudden, there was Hank Ballard.
Hank was born in Detroit in 1927. In 1953, he joined the Doo Wop group, the Royals. Because of the group The Five Royales, the group changed their name to The Midnighters. In 1954, Hank wrote “Work With Me Annie” which was a number one R&B song for 7 weeks. In 1959, he wrote and recorded “The Twist,” which became Chubby Checker’s signature song. In 1960 he had two top 10 records with “Finger Poppin’ Time” and my original Hank song draft pick “Let’s Go, Let’s Go, Let’s Go.”
In a concert clip of Hank singing “Look At Little Sister” he says he wrote the song in 1959 after watching his little sister out in the back yard dancing around. Whether or not that was true, or whether it was just a clever way to intro the song at the show, I didn’t know. I am friends with Hank’s son, Daryle, on Facebook (He is a singer, too) so I reached out to him and asked. He confirmed to me that his dad told him that his sister was indeed the inspiration for the song. I had no idea that the song was originally done (and written) by Hank. I had to find it. After listening to it, I was blown away. It sounds fantastic! It has that early Rock and Roll/R&B/Rockabilly feel to it.
Hank was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.
Look At Little Sister –
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey mama look at little sis Out in the backyard….shakin’ like this Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey….look at little sister Hey hey hey hey….look at little sister
What about the neighbors….what they gonna say Stop little sister….gettin’ carried away Hey hey hey….look at little sister Hey hey hey hey….look at little sister
Shakin’ like a tree….rollin’ like a log Shakin’ and a rollin’ now….that ain’t all Hey hey hey….look at little sister Hey hey hey hey….look at little sister
(Guitar solo)
Shakin’ like a tree….rollin’ like a log Shakin’ and a rollin’ now….that ain’t all Hey hey hey….look at little sister Hey hey hey hey….look at little sister
What about the neighbors….what they gonna say Stop little sister….gettin’ carried away Hey hey hey….look at little sister Hey hey hey hey….look at little sister
What about Stevie’s version??
Stevie Ray Vaughn released Look at Little Sister on his third album Soul to Soul in 1985. I gained a better appreciation for Stevie Ray’s music long after he had passed away. All I really had heard was “Pride and Joy” and “The Sky Is Crying” prior to that. The more I listened to it, the more I appreciated his vocals, and of course, his guitar playing. Which brings me to the video I wanted to share.
It was a toss up between a few of Stevie’s songs for this song draft, but then I saw a video of him doing Look at Little Sister live. What is so special about it? In my opinion, the video of this particular performance shows what an amazing talent he was. During the second half of his guitar solo, at around the 2:35 mark, he breaks a guitar string. Now if you just listen to it without watching it, you have no idea it broke. The solo is flawless. Watching it, you realize that he just improvises the rest of the solo around the strings he has left. I can watch this video over and over again and am amazed at how he never flinches.
What makes the video even cooler, is that his crew knows his string is broke. He looks at them mid-solo, after the solo, the crew brings him another guitar, Stevie keeps singing while the new guitar is handed to him, and without missing a beat, he is back to playing when he’s supposed to. It truly is an fascinating thing to watch.
Check it out:
Stevie Ray Vaughn was killed in a helicopter crash in 1990, the same year Hank Ballard was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Stevie Ray would be posthumously inducted in 2015.
Don’t ask me to pick one or the other as my favorite – I can’t. To me, that is what makes a great song. Here is the same song, recorded two and a half decades apart. Each version having a similar, yet different feel to it. Yet, they both stand alone as fantastic tracks.
So, did I cheat and actually make this about TWO songs instead of one? No. I draft one great song – but feature two different versions! I hope you enjoy this one as much as I do!
Over the years I have been influenced musically by many people, but I would have to say that it is my father who has had the biggest influence. This blog is sort of a continuation of the “series” I have been doing based on “songs from my iPod”.
My dad introduced me to almost every genre of music. My love for oldies music comes from some of my earliest memories of songs he played. I was also introduced to classic country and country music in general by him. He played in a wedding band for years – the first being Now & Then, and the second was Foxfire. I recall him sitting in front of the stereo playing along with 45 records of songs that they were learning for gigs. I remember long nights when my brother and I had to go to “band practice” as well.
Rock and Roll music was a staple in our house, probably because it was the stuff he grew up listening to. The first song that comes to mind is Dream Baby by Roy Orbison. As a kid, I would ask, “Daddy please play ‘boom boom boom….bum bum boom'”. This was a reference to the bass notes that open the song. I loved that song. While so many other folks always connect Roy to Pretty Woman (a classic, no doubt), I remember Candy Man, In Dreams, and Crying. Roy was awesome – and dad introduced me to him.
He also introduced me to Elvis. Man, Elvis was cool! Sure, every one knows Hound Dog, All Shook Up, and the biggies….but dad played me songs like Steamroller Blues, Moody Blue, and Way Down! He had the Moody Blue album (which was on Blue Vinyl) and Elvis In Concert and I remember playing them on the stereo many times. I remember the look on my dad’s face when the news came on the radio that Elvis had died. We were at the drive in movie getting ready to watch Smokey and the Bandit, when Honey Radio announced it. Dad was shocked. We listened to Elvis music until dark and the movie started.
I have to include another person in this section about music – my Godfather, my Uncle Tom. He and my dad grew up together and their exploits can be an entirely separate blog. For now, let me talk about R&B and “local” music. When I first started working at WKSG (Kiss-FM) in Detroit, my dad asked if I could find him some songs. I told him I would look and if they were at the station, I’d throw them on tape for him. These were songs that he and my Uncle Tom grew up listening to.
As I looked over the list, I remember thinking, “What the hell are these songs? Were these even hits? Who are these people?’ The result was me getting a taste of some really amazing music. I cannot listen to any of these songs without thinking of them. This is music that was stripped down, funky, and amazing.
Mind Over Matter by Nolan Strong jumps out at first. This song is classic! Backing Nolan on this is the group the Diablos. Simple instrumentation and a powerful vocal makes this one of my favorites. This was not a song that would play on the radio much in the late 80’s, and I recall watching my uncle and my dad listening to the tape I made and loving every damn second of it. I watched them become transported back to when they were teens and jamming to these songs for the first time – it was magical!
Village of Love by Nathaniel Mayer is another one that is worth a listen just for the bass singer – it is R&B gold!. Two songs that were on his list (and now on my iPod) that were local hits that I absolutely love were by the band The Dynamics. I’m The Man and Misery are two very different songs, but they capture the sound of Motown prior to the Motown sound emerging.
A couple oldies that were on the list which we actually played in a regular rotation at WHND Honey Radio were Don’t Let Go by Roy Hamilton, You Can Have Her by Roy Hamiliton, So Fine by the Fiestas, Let’s Go Let’s Go Let’s Go by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, What In the World’s Come Over You by Jack Scott, and Agent Double O Soul by Edwin Star. I loved when these songs would come up on the play list.
Another one that would come up was the song You’re So Fine by the Falcons. Wanna talk about stripped down? This one was as simple as they come. It was recorded in a garage with probably one or two microphones. You can totally tell that they it recorded all at once on one track and it was one take. You can even hear a little guitar feedback at the end. GREAT song! I love it!
My dad was instrumental in introducing me to blues music too. One of those songs that he and my uncle asked for was Baby, What You Want Me To Do by Jimmy Reed. Wow. It is one of those songs that DEFINES the blues in my opinion. Other songs he had me listen to were Fannie Mae by Buster Brown, which we played at WHND, Baby, Scratch My Back by Slim Harpo, Shake Your Money Maker by Elmore James, and The Thrill is Gone by BB King. The blues and R&B music helped shape Rock and Roll and these songs are a must for my iPod.
I grew up in the Urban Cowboy era when country music got a lot of attention and a lot of radio airplay. I don’t know that I would say country music is my dad’s favorite genre, but he sure introduced me to some great artists and songs. He, of course was responsible for me hearing Willie Nelson & Johnny Paycheck (who are mentioned in other blogs), but he also introduced me to Hank Williams Sr. and Jr. I recall him playing the two of them singing a duet on Tear in My Beer. This was high tech at the time, they took Hank Sr’s vocal and isolated it and then Hank Jr. sang with him, It was a great song with just Hank Sr., but adding Hank Jr. was excellent.
Another song he played for me was Okie from Muskogee. The opening line is “We don’t smoke marijuana in Muskogee”…not exactly the best song for a 10 year old to hear, but I had no idea what it meant and I liked Merle Haggard’s voice. I also recall him playing Amanda by Waylon Jennings. It is probably one of my favorite Waylon songs. Such a simple ballad, but I could listen to it over and over. I also loved when he bought the soundtrack to Smokey and the Bandit II because it was the only place you could find a great song by Don Williams called To Be Your Man. Among other acts he played were the great Ronnie Milsap, George Jones, Juice Newton, and Charlie Pride.
Two country albums I remember him calling me in to hear were from Dwight Yoakam and The Kentucky Headhunters. The Headhunters album had a great cover of Oh Lonesome Me on there, but the song he played for me was Dumas Walker. It sounded fresh and almost a little rockish. I remember immediately getting this on cassette for the car. The other album was If There Was a Way from Dwight. In my opinion, this is one of his best. My favorite cut from the album was never released as a single – The Distance Between You and Me. The instrumentation is perfect and the lyric is classic – almost Brad Paisley-ish. I crank it up ALWAYS.
On the “pop” side of things, a few songs stand out, most of which because they were songs he learned and played for his wedding band gigs. The first one I think of is the Breakup Song by Greg Kihn. I remember him putting the 45 on the stereo, and playing that intro over and over. The first time I heard him play it note for note, I was blown away! I loved watching him work out licks and chords and stuff by simply listening to it on the stereo! America by Neil Diamond was another. By the time this one came out, he was in Foxfire and playing bass guitar, not lead guitar. These guys were good. Not that the other band wasn’t, I just know that they sounded amazing. Dennis, the lead singer, (and at one time my boss at my first job) NAILED his vocals. I could swear he was Neil Diamond! Every song he sang was dead on. Man, I miss that group of guys!
Probably the craziest musical incident involving my dad was when he introduced me to the music of Red Prysock. My grandmother always wanted to go to garage sales. I think my dad hated it. There was a familiar look of disgust on his face one day when she asked to go. While at one garage sale, he was going through old 45’s. His face lit up with boyish excitement as he stopped at one 45 with a black label on it. I heard him so, “I can’t believe it…” He bought the 45 and couldn’t wait to play it for me … and to be able to hear it for the first time in years. Hand Clappin’ was the song. It was a jazzy sax number that caused to you tap your toes. It was GREAT. It was like nothing I had ever heard. My dad said that DJ’s used to use it for their “theme song” back in the day. Still remains a favorite for me. Who says garage sales are bad?!
Over the years, my dad has called me over to the turntable, the cassette deck, the CD player, the mini-disc player, and his computer with the words, “Hey son, listen to this …” Very rarely was I ever disappointed. Today, I listen to almost every type of music and have always kept an open mind to genres because of dad. I am so lucky that he was such an instrumental (pun intended) part of my musical influence. Thanks, Pop!
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 