Sure, Clarence "Frogman" Henry "can sing like a girl and sing like a frog," as he does on his 1956 debut hit "Ain't Got No Home" (which The Band immortalized in 1973), but the man, still gigging today at 78, never really got his due as a New Orleans icon. His beloved Chess material from the '60s has never gone out of print. He was an opening act for the first stateside Beatles tour in 1964. Still, the rest of his recorded output has been woefully under-represented.
Until now.
Baby Ain't That Love: Texas & Tennessee Sessions 1964-1974, a limited-edition British import from Ace Records (only 1,500 copies), takes the sessions conducted by two giants — Huey P. Meaux in Houston and Buddy Killen in Memphis — and makes an epic soul manifesto out of it all.
Written off during his career as a poor man's Fats Domino, Henry does indeed share many of Domino's vocal tics and timbre as well as arrangements and Crescent City swagger. Yet there's a dark underbelly here that Fats didn't have. He sings chestnuts "You Made Me Love You" and "The Glory of Love" with a smirk. Whether it's "Cheatin' Traces," "You've Got a Lot To Learn," "Long Lost and Worried" or, especially, "We'll Take Our Last Walk Tonight," Henry imbues his grooves with a leer behind the smile. His covers of Frankie Ford's "Sea Cruise" and Guy Mitchell's "Heartaches by the Number" cut the originals.
With nine previously unissued songs, and a Gulf Coast approximation of French Quarter boisterousness (24 of 28 tracks by Meaux), this is one goldmine of consistency.
© 2024 Classicalite All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
