Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

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BALLARD, Hank

(b 18 Nov. '36, Detroit MI; d 2 March 2003, L.A.) Soul singer, songwriter. Raised in Alabama; worked on Ford assembly line in Detroit; influenced as a child by gospel and by Gene Autry: 'I heard him singing ''I'm Back In The Saddle Again'' when I was a little kid, and I said, ''Man, we got us a singing cowboy now!''' Picked at 16 to join the Royals, a doo-wop group that had included Levi Stubbs (later of the Four Tops) and Jackie Wilson. Ballard replaced Lawson Smith; others were Sonny Woods, Henry Booth, Charles Sutton; Alonzo Tucker played guitar. The first session yielded R&B top ten 'Get It' '53; their name was changed to the Midnighters to avoid confusion with the '5' Royales, labelmates on King; Tucker replaced by Arthur Porter, then Cal Green. Then they had three million-sellers: 'Work With Me Annie', 'Sexy Ways', 'Annie Had A Baby' '54. The original 'Annie' was helped by controversy over explicit lyrics, e.g. 'Annie please don't cheat/ Give me all my meat', banned from radio. Johnny Otis wrote answer lyrics 'Roll With Me Henry' for Etta James; watered-down-for-whites version 'Dance With Me Henry' was no. 1 pop '55 by Georgia Gibbs, one of the first big rock'n'roll-pop hits; Otis, James and Ballard split royalties. Following decreasingly successful rehashes of 'Annie', Ballard invented the dance craze 'The Twist' (derived from Clyde McPhatter '55 R&B hit 'What'cha Gonna Do'); released on B-side of first Hot 100 pop chart entry 'Teardrops On Your Letter' '59 (no. 4 R&B; the group was now called Hank Ballard and the Midnighters); 'Twist' became a hit; the group invited to appear on American Bandstand but Ballard failed to turn up and host Dick Clark had unknown Chubby Checker cover disc note-for-note. Checker had a no. 1 pop hit, but the original made no. 28 '60, hard on heels of no. 7 hit 'Finger-Poppin' Time'. Ballard now says, 'We did ''Twist'' first, but the best thing that ever happened to me was Chubby Checker doing it ... I didn't really cross over until ''The Twist'' and ''Finger-Poppin' Time''.' 'Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go' at no. 6 made pop top-40 hat trick, but fortunes waned after four lesser hits '61. Midnighters '60s lineup included Norman Thrasher, Frank Stanford, Wesley Hargrove. Ballard's career faltered despite the patronage of James Brown, whose style he had influenced and with whose band he sometimes recorded; stayed with King until '69 ('How You Gonna Get Respect' by Hank Ballard and the Dapps made no. 15 R&B chart '68), then label-hopped (e.g. novelty 'Let's Go Streaking'). What You Get When The Gettin' Gets Good '85 on Charly compiled work massively influential when R&B still stuck in the ghetto. Kept on touring: 'Don't sit down on me, I tell 'em. My biggest thrill is watching people dance to my music.' Anthologies on King and Rhino; Hank Ballard Live At The Palais on Charly UK was recorded at Hammersmith venue late '86; Naked In The Rain was on After Hours.