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The last of the black Rock 'n' Roll pioneers?

I just learned Huey "Piano" Smith passed away in his sleep on February 13th.

Rock ’n’ Roll doesn’t seem to be that popular with participants on this sight, but many of the artists who are revere Huey and his contemporaries: the black songwriters, singers, musicians, and bandleaders who created the music that led to the Big Bang that is Rock ’n’ Roll. And by Rock ’n’ Roll I am speaking of the music that came out of Memphis, Muscle Shoals, New Orleans (Huey’s hometown), Kansas City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and a few other hotbeds of musical activity in the late-40’s and early-50’s.

Guys like Dylan, Springsteen, John Fogerty, John Lennon & his bandmates, the glimmer twins (I hate that term, but okay ;-), Dave Edmunds, Robert Plant, Leon Russell, even Elton John (shudder ;-) owe a LOT to the originators. One such guy was Huey Smith, who can be heard in the recordings of Little Richard (McCartney’s favorite singer), Lloyd Price, Fats Domino, Smiley Lewis (for a shot of intense Rock ’n’ Roll, listen to Dave Edmunds’ recording of Lewis’ "I hear You Knocking". Phew!), Dave Bartholomew (I named my son after him), a bunch of others.

Have you ever heard Huey’s "Rockin’ Pneumonia And The Boogie Woogie Flu"? (The Flamin’ Groovies do a great version of the song on Supersnazz, their 1969 debut album on Epic Records). How about "Don’t You Just Know It"? SO cool! Surely you’ve heard "Sea Cruise", but most likely the hit version by Frankie Ford. Guess who wrote the song and recorded it first? Ace Records decided a version by a white singer would sell better, so replaced the original vocal by the singer of Huey Piano Smith And The Clowns with that of Ford.

I can’t think of another Rock ’n’ Roll originator who is still living. I treasure the memory of backing Don & Dewey (Specialty Records label mates of Little Richard, Lloyd Price, Sam Cooke, John Lee Hooker, many more)---both now gone---when they played The Continental Club in Los Angeles in the late-90’s (the great Earl Palmer played drums on many of their recordings). I couldn’t believe it: on the bandstand with Rock ’n’ Roll Royalty!

Honor the man; play some of his music tonight.

128x128bdp24
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bdp24 OP
9,446 posts
 

Title of a Spacemen 3 album: Taking Drugs To Make Music To Take Take Drugs To. ;-)

I was into Psychedelic music only fairly briefly: from the Summer of ’67 (I saw The Grateful Dead and The Airplane live that Summer) until the Summer of ’69. In the Spring of ’68 my best friend and I dropped together, unknowingly haven gotten a hold of some bad acid (it must have been cut with speed, ’cause I was buzzing like a chainsaw!). That was the end of tripping for me. Weed too, as from that moment on getting high made me very paranoid. Been a (light) drinker ever since. I think of that as getting low. ;-)

When I moved to L.A. in October of ’78, my God coke was everywhere. You’d go to a party and instead of joints being past around (as was common in Northern California), a mirror with lines of coke was. A very fun drug, unless you have enough dough to overdo it. Nobody I knew did, except for a dame I briefly dated, who told me she sold her car to buy as much of the stuff as she could get her hands on. Coincidentally, she was an absolute animal in.....hmm, perhaps I should leave the rest to your imagination. ;-)

dabel
1,646 posts
 

All it ever took for anyone is generally one bad trip! A very dear friend of mine (ten years my senior) while growing up in Illinois tripped at the age of seven. Turns out (because how else could this have happened) some wise guy with his so-called brainiac powers decided to lace one or more of them lick-em & stick-em tattoos that would come in Cracker Jack boxes for kids, well guess what Mr Brainiac.

Two weeks pass after my friend / boss explains this "wild and vivid story" of his (man has the memory of an elephant), low and behold a customer walks in our store shortly before closing time with a personal (much later in life) first time experience story of his own, in fact his bad trip happened the night before! I ease dropped on most of their conversation but at the very end stepped in with, "so, who’s the wise guy that said it was okay to eat more than your fair share of caps & stems, and let me guess, trip by yourself first timer?" One could easily see in this mans eyes the fear, for he’d now realized what harm might have come to his beautiful wife and precious young children.

larsman's avatar
larsman
1,751 posts
 

@bdp24 - through the mid-70's through the next 10 years or so, pretty much any party I'd go to in the SF Bay Area would have at least as much blowzeen on hand as cannabis. I liked 'em both, plus some other goodies, so it was fine with me. Starting in the later 80's, Ecstasy was very popular as well.... 

bdp24's avatar
bdp24 OP
9,446 posts
 

@larsman: I played live at some Raves in the 1990’s, and the kids looked to be having a great time. I’ve never heard any bad stories about Ecstasy. Just peace, love, & understanding. And sex ;-) .

I have no doubt Alcohol has caused more misery in the world than any other drug. More of it gets consumed, of course, but it also can lead to very aggressive behavior (mean drunks, of which I’ve known a few). So can Speed. The worst show I ever played was for an entirely-male biker audience. When the Speed and Alcohol kicked in, it got real ugly. Not Altamont ugly, but ugly enough.

dabel
1,646 posts
 

Ugh ... what do we have hear, sounds of Happy Hour Confessions!

@tylermunns, I had lost my Virginity to LSD ... and lets just say a multiple of times.

;-)

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