Annie's Aunt Fanny --The Midnighters 1954

Hank Ballard (November 18, 1927 March 2, 2003), born John Henry Kendricks, was a rhythm and blues singer, the lead vocalist of Hank Ballard and The Midnighters and one of the first proto-rock 'n' roll artists to emerge in the early 1950s. He played an integral part in the development of rock music, releasing the hit singles "Work With Me, Annie" and answer songs "Annie Had a Baby" and "Annie's Aunt Fannie" with his Midnighters. He later wrote and recorded "The Twist" and invented the dance, which was notably covered by Chubby Checker. [edit] Biography Born John Henry Kendricks in Bessemer, Alabama, Ballard grew up in Detroit, Michigan with relatives, where he began singing in church and later aspired to a career in music. Although Hank did sing in a church choir, his major vocal inspiration during his formative years, he confessed in an interview, was none other than the "Singing Cowboy," Gene Autry, and one song in particular, his signature, "Back In The Saddle Again," captured his fancy. Back in the 40s, blues and R&B existed on race labels which were sold basically by word of mouth, but not yet broadcast via the radio; so it really wasn't that an unusual admission that he was influenced by C&W broadcasts.[1] In 1951, Ballard formed a doo-wop group. He was discovered by Johnny Otis, of the Little Esther Revue, and was signed to sing with a group called The Royals, along with Henry Booth, Charles Sutton, Sonny Woods and Alonzo Tucker. The Royals had already signed to Federal Records in Cincinnati when Ballard joined.[2] The group then changed its name to The Midnighters to avoid confusion with The "5" Royales. Sutton was replaced by Lawson Smith, while Woods was replaced by Norman Thrasher. Tucker was replaced first by Arthur Porter and then by Cal Green. The group soon released "Get It" (1953), an R&B song with sexually oriented lyrics, which many radio stations refused to play.[2] In 1954, Ballard wrote a song called "Work With Me Annie" that was drawn from "Get It".[2] It became The Midnighters' first major R&B hit, going to #1 on the R&B charts and also selling well in mainstream markets, along with the answer songs "Annie Had a Baby" and "Annie's Aunt Fannie": all were banned by the FCC from radio air play. [3] Their third major hit was "Sexy Ways," a song that cemented the band's reputation as one of the most risqué groups of the time. They are an illustration of why white radio stations tended to avoid playing songs by black R&B performers. For example, in the song "Open Up the Back Door", he sings a line "I want to make a little cream". They had four more R&B chart hits in 1954-55. The Midnighters continued releasing singles and albums, and also changed their name to "Hank Ballard and The Midnighters". Their label also changed from Federal to King. They had no hits in 1956-58. Then between 1959 and 1961 they had several more both on the R&B and Pop charts, including "Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go" and the Grammy-nominated "Finger Popping Time, which hit #6 and #7, respectively, on the Billboard Pop Top 10 . In 1959 Ballard's song "The Twist" was released as the B-side of "Teardrops on Your Letter". A year later Chubby Checker's cover version of the song went to #1 in 1960 on the pop charts. (It would return to the top of the charts again at #1 in 1962. The only song in the rock n roll era to do so, after a year off the charts.) Though this brought about renewed interest in Ballard and The Midnighters for a time, this lasted for only a few years, and the group dissolved in 1965. Ballard tried to launch a solo career, working with James Brown. Hank Ballard re-formed The Midnighters, and The Midnighters Band and on tour from the mid 1980's til 2002. They released a live album on Charly, other albums, on After Hours, Pool Party, Greatest Hits by Rhino, Ace, Collectables and now Bear Family 1952 to 1962. Hank always thanked, Chubby Checker and Dick Clark, for popularizing his song "The Twist". In 1990 Hank Ballard was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. On March 2, 2003, he died of throat cancer in his Los Angeles home, aged 75.,,,,,,,I DO LOVE DOOWOP AND RARE DOOWOP .50'S.60'S & Golden Oldies.& .Teen SOUND.!!