Hank Ballard

Hank Ballard , actually John H. Kendricks (born November 18, 1927 in Detroit , Michigan ; † March 2, 2003 in Los Angeles , California ) was a black rhythm and blues and doo wop singer, who was mainly active in the 1950s was successful.

Life

After the death of his father, Ballard moved to Bessemer , Alabama as a young child , where he began to sing in a church choir. At the age of 15 he returned to Detroit to form his own doo wop band. In 1953 he replaced Lawson Smith in the vocal group The Royals, who now began to play mainly Ballard's compositions. That same year they released Get It , which made it into the top 10 of the R&B charts. After the band was renamed The Midnighters , Work with Me, Annie had a complete breakthrough in 1954. The song made it to the top of the R&B charts. Because of the sexual innuendos in the lyrics, he didn't make it into the pop charts. The answer song The Wallflower (Roll with Me, Henry) by Etta James with the same melody and new lyrics was only successful in the R&B charts. It also came in first and also brought Etta James the breakthrough. It was Georgia Gibbs , after all , who took the song to number 1 on the pop charts in 1955 with defused lyrics Dance with Me Henry (Wallflower) . Work with Me, Annie was inducted into the list of "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll" by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame .

Sexy Ways and Annie Had a Baby followed two more bestsellers for Ballard within a year. Annie Had a Baby was intended as a continuation of the content of Work with Me, Annie and it was followed by Annie's Aunt Fannie and Henry's Got Flat Feet (Can't Dance No More) , but with moderate success. In the next three and a half years, the Midnighters failed to hit any more hits, and eventually there were major line-up changes.

In 1959 Ballard and the Midnighters made a comeback with the ballad Teardrops on Your Letter . The B-side of the single featured Ballard's composition The Twist , which became a huge hit a year later in the version of Chubby Checker and triggered a twist dance boom. Also, The Twist was taken up-and-roll songs Rock in the list of 500 influential. The Midnighters benefited indirectly from Checker's success: With Finger Poppin 'Time and Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go , songs by them reached the top 10 of the pop charts for the first time in 1960. Until 1961 they were able to place themselves regularly, then the success decreased noticeably and the Midnighters finally separated.

Ballard then embarked on a solo career that brought him together in the late 1960s with James Brown , who had always been a fan of Ballard. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Brown then produced a number of Ballard singles until Ballard initially withdrew from the music scene. In the mid-1980s he organized a reunion of the Midnighters, with whom he went on tour again. In 1990 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame . On March 2, 2003, Hank Ballard died of throat cancer in Los Angeles .

Discography

year	Title artist	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, artist , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
		US	R&B
1953	Get It The Royals	-	R&B6 (9 weeks) R&B	Authors: Alonzo Tucker , Hank Ballard
1954	Work with Me, Annie The Midnighters	-	R&B1 (26 weeks) R&B	Author: Hank Ballard Million Seller ; Rock and Roll Hall of Fame versions with new lyrics: The Wallflower (Roll with Me Henry) by Etta James (number 1 R&B hit), Dance with Me Henry by Georgia Gibbs (number 1 pop hit ), both 1955
	Sexy Ways The Midnighters	-	R&B2 (17 weeks) R&B	Author: Hank Ballard Million Seller
	Annie Had a Baby The Midnighters	-	R&B1 (14 weeks) R&B	Authors: Henry Glover , Syd Nathan Million Sellers
	Annie's Aunt Fannie The Midnighters	-	R&B10 (1 week) R&B	Authors: Syd Nathan, Hank Ballard, Ralph Bass , Sonny Woods
1955	Henry's Got Flat Feet (Can't Dance No More) The Midnighters	-	R&B14 (1 week) R&B	Authors: Henry Glover, Syd Nathan
	It's Love Baby (24 Hours a Day) The Midnighters	-	R&B10 (1 week) R&B	Author: Ted Jarrett
1959	Teardrops on Your Letter Hank Ballard and the Midnighters	US87 (3 weeks) US	R&B4 (8 weeks) R&B	Author: Henry Glover
	The Twist Hank Ballard and the Midnighters	-	R&B16 (10 weeks) R&B	as B-side of Teardrops on Your Letter Author: Hank Ballard
	Kansas City Hank Ballard and the Midnighters	US72 (7 weeks) US	R&B16 (6 weeks) R&B	Authors: Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller Original: Little Willie Littlefield (1952); 1959 was a number 1 hit for Wilbert Harrison
1960	The Coffee Grind Hank Ballard and the Midnighters	-	R&B21 (7 weeks) R&B	Author: Hank Ballard
	Finger Poppin 'Time Hank Ballard and the Midnighters	US7 (26 weeks) US	R&B2 (21 weeks) R&B	Million seller
	The Twist [re-release] Hank Ballard and the Midnighters	US28 (16 weeks) US	R&B6 (13 weeks) R&B	Reissued as A-side after Chubby Checker had a number 1 pop hit with it. Checker's largely identical version was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
	Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go Hank Ballard and the Midnighters	US6 (16 weeks) US	R&B1 (15 weeks) R&B	Author: Hank Ballard
1961	The Hoochi Coochi Coo Hank Ballard and the Midnighters	US23 (11 weeks) US	R&B3 (7 weeks) R&B	Authors: Billy Myles, Hank Ballard
	Let's Go Again (Where We Went Last Night) Hank Ballard and the Midnighters	US39 (6 weeks) US	R&B17 (5 weeks) R&B	Author: Hank Ballard
	The Continental Walk Hank Ballard and the Midnighters	US33 (8 weeks) US	R&B12 (4 weeks) R&B	Authors: Don Covay , John Berry
	The Switch-a-Roo Hank Ballard and the Midnighters	US26 (7 weeks) US	R&B3 (8 weeks) R&B	Authors: Al Kasha , Alonzo Tucker, Gordon Evans
	The Float Hank Ballard and the Midnighters	US92 (1 week) US	R&B10 (10 weeks) R&B	Authors: Michael Cowan, Hank Ballard B-side of The Switch-a-Roo
	Nothing but Good Hank Ballard and the Midnighters	US49 (3 weeks) US	R&B9 (8 weeks) R&B	Author: Hank Ballard
1962	Do You Know How to Twist Hank Ballard and the Midnighters	US87 (4 weeks) US	-	Melody of Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go with new text Authors: Hank Ballard, Gene Redd , Nathaniel Nathan
1968	How You Gonna Get Respect (When You Haven't Cut Your Process Yet) Hank Ballard along with "The Dapps"	-	R&B15 (9 weeks) R&B	Authors: Bud Hobgood, Hank Ballard, James Brown
1972	From the Love Side Hank Ballard and the Midnight Lighters	-	R&B43 (3 weeks) R&B	Author: James Brown

literature

• Stambler, Irwin: The Encyclopedia of Pop, Rock and Soul . 3rd revised edition, New York City, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989, pp. 29f - ISBN 0-312-02573-4
• Warner, Jay: The Billboard Book of American Singing Groups. A History 1940-1990 . New York City / New York: Billboard Books, 1992, pp. 73-76

Web links

• Hank Ballard at Allmusic (English)
• Hank Ballard at Discogs (English)
• The Midnighters on Music VF

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll : List of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at Infoplease, accessed on March 6, 2020
2. ↑ Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Hank Ballard in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
3. ↑ Top Pop Singles 1955-2006 by Joel Whitburn , Record Research 2007, ISBN 978-0-89820-172-7
4. ^ Hot R&B Singles 1942-2010 by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2010, ISBN 978-0-89820-186-4
5. ^ ^{A b c d} before the gold record was introduced in 1958, there were only estimated, unofficial sales figures from the music labels