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Huey “Piano” Smith was an important part of the great New Orleans piano tradition, following in the footsteps of Professor Longhair and Fats Domino to take his place among the Crescent City’s R&B elite. He was also one of R&B’s great comedians, his best singles matching the Coasters for genial, good-time humor, although his taste often ran more towards nonsense lyrics. Smith’s sound was too earthy to match the pop crossover appeal of Domino or the Coasters, which limited his exposure, and he couldn’t match the latter’s amazing consistency, lacking their reliable supply of material. But at the peak of his game, Smith epitomized New Orleans R&B at its most infectious and rollicking, as showcased on his classic signature tune “Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu.”
Huey Smith was born in New Orleans on January 26, 1934, and began playing the piano at age 15. At the dawn of the ’50s, Smith backed New Orleans guitar legends Earl King and Guitar Slim, and quickly became a popular session pianist, playing on records by the cream of the New Orleans R&B scene: Smiley Lewis (the classic “I Hear You Knockin’”), Lloyd Price, and Little Richard. During the mid-’50s, Smith began leading his own band, the Clowns, which usually featured popular local blues singer and female impersonator Bobby Marchan on lead vocals. Smith & the Clowns signed with the Ace label and scored a breakout Top Five R&B hit in 1957 with “Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu,” which despite becoming a classic rock & roll standard didn’t even make the pop Top 40, thanks to reticent white radio programmers. The following year, Smith scored his biggest hit with the double-sided smash “Don’t You Just Know It”/”High Blood Pressure,” which reached the pop Top Ten and the R&B Top Five. In 1959, Smith cut the original tune “Sea Cruise,” and seeking pop radio airplay, Ace had white teenage R&B singer Frankie Ford overdub his own vocal onto Smith’s backing track; the result became a nationwide hit.
Smith cut a few novelty numbers in an attempt to duplicate the success of “Rockin’ Pneumonia,” some even using the same type of illness joke (“Tu-Ber-Cu-Lucas and the Sinus Blues,” for example). It didn’t work, and Marchan left the Clowns after scoring a solo hit with “There Is Something on Your Mind” in 1960; he was replaced by female singer Gerry Hall and male vocalist Curley Moore. Smith switched briefly to the Imperial label, then returned to Ace for one last chart single in 1962, “Pop Eye.” Smith spent part of the ’60s recording for Instant and touring not only with the Clowns, but alternate groups the Hueys and the Pitter Pats as well. Unable to return to the charts, he eventually converted to the Jehovah’s Witnesses and left the music industry permanently.
~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide
Duration : 0:2:43
[youtube tyGJ4Jh5M90]
20 comments ↓
Looking for Dr …
Looking for Dr John’s version of this song. Please upload if you can. Thank’s much.
yes!!! be for my …
yes!!! be for my time but i dig it
Yeah, this is great …
Yeah, this is great!!! Nuff said
Its best than any …
Its best than any rock band I know….
There are a lot of …
There are a lot of greats from New Orleans. The first that always comes to my mind is Fats Domino. Some others ===> Al Hirt, Allen Toussaint, The Dixicups…
Thank you, Huey! …
Thank you, Huey! and God Bless you. You are very much loved out here.
There needs to be a statue of Huey in New Orleans, maybe near Basin St., at least a plaque or a Star on the Walk of Fame. I should start that….. My first few would be Robert Johnson, Kid Ory, Floyd Council, etc, etc, sooo many greats…..
Gere
It was a bandstand …
It was a bandstand type show but not American Bandstand.
Great visuals and …
Great visuals and great sound for a great song. Are we watching American Bandstand? Used to watch it all the time. Learned some of my best moves from those Philly dudes. It is really possible that 50 years have gone by since we all had high school “high blood pressure”?
I downloaded it as …
I downloaded it as an mp3
Vinyl doesn’t stand …
Vinyl doesn’t stand up well to repeated playing. Have you run this through some filtering software or did you just get lucky and find some new 45s? Can’t hear the distinctive crackling one generally associates with LPs/45s. Great tune! Thanks for sharing this.
Awesome
Awesome
His sound was sooo …
His sound was sooo cooool . . . . . !! Thanks for share !
damn, I wish Huey …
damn, I wish Huey Smith was still around..I remember this from the 1950′s.
Man I hear you. One …
Man I hear you. One of the greatest.
OUTSTANDING! Huey …
OUTSTANDING! Huey PianoSmith is one of the New Orleans greats. One of my favorite songs. This should be Americana Public Domane. The Ruskys hate us for this and the rest of the World is sooo jealous for this music, you know.
Do you know of a Stereo version of this song?
“Don’t you Just Know It” is one of my desert Island songs. Thanks for the post, Gere
00:32
00:32
COOL!! Great song!! …
COOL!! Great song!!
What a Beautiful head of hair on the brunette at :32!! I always loved that style of long hair on the girls back then. Thanks for posting!!
Huey Smith’s New …
Huey Smith’s New Orleans Beat & “synergenic’ piano are his trademark…
One of the really …
One of the really great oldies!
Thanks for posting! …
Thanks for posting! Takes me back, it does. Huey was unique.