RIP Hank Ballard

[Janice Brooks]

Singer-Songwriter Hank Ballard Dies

By CARRI KARUHN
.c The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Hank Ballard, the singer and songwriter whose hit
``The Twist'' ushered a nationwide dance craze in the 1960s, has died.

Ballard, who was suffering from throat cancer, died Sunday at his
home, friends said. Friend and caretaker Anna Ayala said Ballard's
birth records indicate he was born in 1927, but biographical
information lists his birthdate as 1936.

``He was just a very good man and loved by so many people,'' Ayala
said.

In 1958, Ballard wrote and recorded ``The Twist,'' but it was only
released on the ``B'' side of a record.

One year later, Chubby Checker debuted his own version of ``The
Twist'' on Dick Clark's Philadelphia television show.

It soon topped the charts and launched a dance craze that prompted
the creation of other Twist songs, including ``Twist and Shout'' by
the Isley Brothers and ``Twistin' the Night Away'' by Sam Cooke.

Ballard was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.

In a 1996 interview, he described music as his medicine.

``If you're looking for youth, you're looking for longevity, just
take a dose of rock 'n' roll,'' Ballard said. ``It keeps you going.
Just like the caffeine in your coffee. Rock 'n' roll is good for the
soul, for the well being, for the psyche, for your everything. I love
it. I can't even picture being without rock 'n' roll.''

Ballard was discovered in the early 1950s by writer-producer Johnny
Otis. He was lead singer for the Royals, which changed its name to
the Midnighters.

Ballard's songs were sometimes banned from 1950s radio for their
sexually suggestive lyrics.

By the early 1960s, he had charted 22 singles on the rhythm and blues
charts, including ``Work with Me Annie'' - the biggest R&B hit of
1954, selling more than 1 million copies. The song was part of a well-
known trilogy of risque R&B numbers that included ``Annie Had a
Baby'' and ``Annie's Aunt Fannie.''

Ballard and the Midnighters didn't suffer from Checker's version of
``The Twist.'' By the mid 1960s, the group had three simultaneous
hits in the pop top 40: ``Finger Poppin' Time,'' ``Let's Go, Let's
Go, Let's Go,'' and their original version of ``The Twist.''

``He was an all-around entertainer. He was dynamite on stage,'' said
friend and business associate Chuck Rubin.

Ballard said his first inspiration to be a singer was Gene Autry.

``He had a beautiful voice,'' Ballard said. ``I used to try to
emulate him, you know. I had my little toy guns. He was not my
favorite fighter, though. He was my favorite singer. He was too
handsome to be a fighter.''

Ballard, who was born John H. Kendricks in Detroit, grew up singing
in church in Bessemer, Ala. At 15, he moved back to Detroit and set
out to form a doo wop group while working on the Ford Motor Co.
assembly line.

03/03/03 06:26 EST


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Janice "Busgal" Brooks
ICQ 44729047

[Gene Jones]

[Dave Van Allen]

wow Gene- great clipping!!

[Frank Parish]

Finger Poppin' Time may have hace been the first 45 record I ever bought by a singer. White Silver Sands by the Bill Black Combo was the first 45 I ever bought. I still like that record.
Ray Pennington once told me that if Hank Ballard hadn't gotten drunk he'd been the guy to cut and release Thew Twist when Chubby Checker did. Ray was a big shot at King Records. He said that the session was scheduled and Ballard got drunk and couldn't sing and Chubby Checker was in the studio so they let him cut it. That's what I call luck.

[Michael Johnstone]

As the above post indicates,Hank cut and released(and I bought a copy of)"The Twist" a full year before Chubby Checker did his thing so I'm afraid Ray Pennington was misiformed.Back in my East Coast 1960s R&B guitar playin days,I backed up both Hank and Earnest(Chubby)and they were both real nice guys.Later on in recent years when I was with King Cotton I backed up Hank a few more times here in L.A. and he was going pretty strong till last year. Hank was the real deal and besides Little Richard,Dewey Terry from "Don & Dewey",J.J.Jackson and a couple others,was one of the last living black rock & rollers of his era. -MJ-

[Jason Odd]

Without checking (so I'm bound to be wrong), but I seem to recall that Ballard was once again using the track, dissatisfied with it's B-side status he cut a version for an A-side and was actually promoting it.
Then there was a TV show where Hank didn't make it, Chubby was there, got to sing along to the track already cut and the response was incrediable.
Chubby cut a cover, and the rest is history.

I could be wrong of course.