Song of the Day 4/9: Clarence “Frogman” Henry, “Ain’t Got No Home”
You don’t have to check, puck. Singer and pianist Clarence “Frogman” Henry died Sunday in his native New Orleans, age 87. His ability to sing in a frog’s croak, a skill he said he developed to scare the girls at school, gave him both his nickname and his most enduring hit.
Henry was just 18 and playing in saxophonist Eddie Smith’s band when he improvised what became “Ain’t Got a Home” in a New Orleans club in the wee hours, making up the words as he went along. The crowd loved it when he started croaking, and a novelty hit was born, though it wasn’t recorded and released until late 1956. It became a No. 3 R&B hit and reached No. 20 on the Hot 100, giving Henry a place among New Orleans’ contingent of early rock ‘n’ rollers. The style remained popular through the mid-’60s, enough so that Henry was an opening act on the Beatles’ 1964 American tour.
“Ain’t Got No Home” wasn’t Henry’s biggest hit. He reached No. 4 in 1961 with his cover of “I Don’t Know Why (But I Do).”
Henry’s recording career ended as the New Orleans sound fell out of favor, but he remained active in clubs in and around the city until his death. He was scheduled to play the New Orleans Jazz Festival next month.
Rhino Records put out a three disc “History Of New Orleans Rhythm & Blues” that’s pretty much an essential for anybody’s collection.
You need nothing else for a good old fashioned dance party:
https://www.discogs.com/release/3170936-Various-A-History-Of-New-Orleans-Rhythm-Blues-Volume-1-1950-1958
Another reason to love Madeline Kahn:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kd4LZ5d9j5U
I was lucky enough to see Frogman play at the Rock ‘n’ Bowl in NOLA in the early 2000s.
I remember seeing him and a bunch of N’Awlins luminaries at a National Conference Of State Legislators convention in the Big Easy. Had to be something like late ’80’s.
Irma Thomas, who is still around, was one of the standouts.
But Fats Domino was the headliner, and he didn’t phone it in. Put on a great set.