"Ain't Got No Home" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Clarence "Frogman" Henry | ||||
B-side | "Troubles, Troubles" | |||
Written | 1955 | |||
Released | December 15, 1956 | |||
Recorded | 1956 | |||
Genre | rhythm and blues | |||
Length | 2:23 | |||
Label | Argo | |||
Songwriter(s) | Clarence "Frogman" Henry | |||
Clarence "Frogman" Henry singles chronology | ||||
|
"Ain't Got No Home" is a song written and originally recorded by American rhythm-and-blues singer and pianist Clarence "Frogman" Henry. It was released as a single in the United States on December 15, 1956. [1]
The first verse of the song is sung in a man's voice, the second in a falsetto and the third in a frog's voice.
In the United States, the song reached no. 3 on one of the Billboard R&B charts [2] [3] and no. 20 on the Billboard pop chart, the Top 100. [1] [3] [4]
Clarence Henry used his trademark croak to improvise the song "Ain't Got No Home" one night in 1955. Chess Records' A&R man Paul Gayten heard the song, and had Henry record it in Cosimo Matassa's studio in September 1956. Initially promoted by local DJ Poppa Stoppa, the song eventually rose to number 3 on the national R&B chart and number 20 on the US pop chart. [5] The gimmick earned Henry his nickname of "Frogman" and jump-started a career that endured until his death. [6]
The song was the first big hit released on the Chess subsidiary Argo Records.
It was used in the 1987 film The Lost Boys and the 1995 Martin Scorsese movie Casino .
The song is ranked no. 98 on the NME magazine's list of 100 Best Songs of the 1950s. [7]
7" single (1956) – Argo Record Corp., cat. no. Arc Music 5259 (US) [8]
7" single (1966) – London Records HLU 10025 (UK), Parrot 45 PAR 10822 (US)
The song has been covered by many artists including The Band, Suzi Quatro, Buddy Holly, The Country Gentlemen, the New York Dolls, and Jackie Edwards. [10] In Rod Stewart's version of the song "Some Guys Have All the Luck", Stewart incorporates the vocal refrain from "Ain't Got No Home" as an homage. The song was a favorite of Madeline Kahn, who performed it on Saturday Night Live on December 16, 1995. Steve Miller incorporates some of the vocal lines from the song on the track "Just A Little Bit" on his 1988 Born 2B Blue album.
David Louis Bartholomew was an American musician, bandleader, composer, arranger, and record producer. He was prominent in the music of New Orleans throughout the second half of the 20th century. Originally a trumpeter, he was active in many musical genres, including rhythm and blues, big band, swing music, rock and roll, New Orleans jazz, and Dixieland. In his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he was cited as a key figure in the transition from jump blues and swing to R&B and as "one of the Crescent City's greatest musicians and a true pioneer in the rock and roll revolution".
Argo Records was a record label in Chicago that was established in 1955 as a division of Chess Records.
Clarence Henry II, known as Clarence "Frogman" Henry, was an American rhythm and blues singer and pianist, best known for his hits "Ain't Got No Home" (1956) and "(I Don't Know Why) But I Do" (1961).
"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" is a song written by Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson in 1966 for the Tamla label, a division of Motown. The composition was first successful as a 1967 hit single recorded by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, and became a hit again in 1970 when recorded by former Supremes frontwoman Diana Ross. The song became Ross's first solo number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
"You Always Hurt the One You Love" is a pop standard with lyrics by Allan Roberts and music by Doris Fisher. First recorded by the Mills Brothers, whose recording reached the top of the Billboard charts in 1944, it was also a hit for Sammy Kaye in 1945.
"Shop Around" is a song originally recorded by the Miracles on Motown Records' Tamla subsidiary label. It was written by Miracles lead singer Smokey Robinson and Motown Records founder Berry Gordy. It became a smash hit in 1960 when originally recorded by the Miracles, reaching number one on the Billboard R&B chart, number one on the Cashbox Top 100 Pop Chart, and number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was the Miracles' first million-selling hit record, and the first-million-selling hit for the Motown Record Corporation.
"It's All in the Game" is a pop song whose most successful version was recorded by Tommy Edwards in 1958. Carl Sigman composed the lyrics in 1951 to a wordless 1911 composition titled "Melody in A Major", written by Charles G. Dawes, who was later Vice President of the United States under Calvin Coolidge. It is the only No. 1 single in the U.S. to have been co-written by a U.S. Vice President or a Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
"(I Don't Know Why) But I Do" is an R&B song written by Paul Gayten and Bobby Charles, and performed by Clarence "Frogman" Henry.
"One Night" is a song written by Dave Bartholomew, Pearl King, and Anita Steiman. It originally was an R&B hit for Smiley Lewis in 1956, before being recorded with greater commercial success by Elvis Presley in 1958.
The discography of American music artist Patsy Cline consists of three studio albums, 24 singles, six extended plays, one compilation album, six other charted songs and one album appearance. Cline's discography contains material released during her lifetime. Her first recordings took place under the direction of Four Star Records. Cline's first single, "A Church, a Courtroom, Then Goodbye," was released in July 1955. Four Star issued 17 singles during Cline's four years recording with them. However, only "Walkin' After Midnight" (1957) became a major hit, reaching number 2 on the Billboard country songs chart and number 12 on the Billboard pop music chart.
Paul Leon Gayten was an American R&B pianist, songwriter, producer, and record company executive.
"(You've Got Me) Dangling on a String" is a 1970 soul music song by the Chairmen of the Board. The single reached No. 38 on the US Billboard Hot 100, No. 19 on the US Billboard R&B chart, and No. 5 on the UK Singles Chart. The song was written by Ronald Dunbar and Edythe Wayne.
The following is a discography of singles and albums recorded by American singer Frankie Laine.
"Some Guys Have All the Luck" is a song written by Jeff Fortgang. It has been a Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 twice, as the original by The Persuaders in 1973 reaching No. 39, then as the cover by Rod Stewart in 1984 where it hit No. 10 in the U.S. and No. 32 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
"Funkin' for Jamaica (N.Y.)" is a song by jazz trumpeter Tom Browne. The single—a memoir of the Jamaica neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens where Browne was born and raised—is from his second solo album, Love Approach. Browne got the idea for the song while he was at his parents' home. The vocals for the single were performed by Toni Smith, who also helped compose the song. The song hit number one on the US Billboard R&B chart for a month. "Funkin' for Jamaica" peaked at number nine on the dance chart and made the top 10 on the UK Singles Chart, but it never charted on the Billboard Hot 100.
"Daddy's Home" is a famous song by American doo-wop group Shep and the Limelites. The song was written by the three members of the band, James "Shep" Sheppard (1935–1970), Clarence Bassett (1936–2005) and Charles Baskerville. The group recorded the original version of "Daddy's Home" on February 1, 1961, and it was released on Hull Records in March 1961 with the B-side being "This I Know".
The singles discography of Elvis Presley began in 1954 with the release of his first commercial single, "That's All Right". Following his regional success with Sun Records, Presley was signed to RCA Victor on November 20, 1955. Presley's first single with RCA, "Heartbreak Hotel", was a worldwide hit, reaching the No. 1 position in four countries and the top 10 in many other countries. Other hit singles from the 1950s include "Don't Be Cruel", "Hound Dog", "Love Me Tender", "Too Much", "All Shook Up", "(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear", "Jailhouse Rock", "Don't", "Hard Headed Woman" and "A Big Hunk o' Love". On March 24, 1958, Presley entered the United States Army at Memphis, Tennessee, and was stationed in Germany. He left active duty on March 5, 1960.
Song Sung Blue is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on September 13, 1972, by Columbia Records and featured his renditions of mostly recent chart hits.
Daniel Dorsey "Danny" Overbea was an American rhythm and blues singer, guitarist and songwriter, best known for his songs "Train, Train, Train" and "Forty Cups of Coffee", which he wrote and recorded in the early 1950s.
The singles discography of American Jazz artist Sarah Vaughan contains 89 singles, two promotional singles and seven other charted songs. Vaughan recorded her first singles in 1946, with her first release being "If You Could See Me Now". Soon after, she saw her first major chart success on the Billboard pop list with "Tenderly" and "It's Magic." Moving to Columbia Records, she had further pop hits in the late 1940s with covers of "Black Coffee" and "Nature Boy." She had her second top ten hit in 1950 with "(I Love the Girl) I Love the Guy." Vaughan moved to Mercury Records during the 1950s and recorded more pop music. At Mercury, she had her biggest chart success, with the top ten hits "Make Yourself Comfortable" and "Whatever Lola Wants." In 1959, Vaughan's single "Broken Hearted Melody" reached number seven on the Billboard pop chart and became an international success, becoming the biggest single of her career.