Clarence Henry, "I'm a Country Boy" c/w "Lonely Tramp" (Argo 5266, rel. 3/1957)

 

“Ain’t Got No Home,” a song Clarence Henry improvised in a New Orleans nightclub, was overheard by bandleader Paul Gayten, who had a hunch this unassuming singer-pianist had created a hit song. He got Henry into Cosimo Matassa’s recording studio and, yes indeed, the recording, issued on Chess’ Argo imprint, took the nation by surprise and delight. It got into the mainstream pop Top 20 but would prove the singer’s lone hit for several years. His follow-up record, to everyone’s surprise, flopped. It’s proven hard to find. Copies of “Ain’t Got No Home” are everywhere—usually in terrible condition because people loved the song and played their copies to death. I located an unplayed specimen of that record at a record fair last year.

The few copies of today’s record I’d spotted in the past were unplayable. When a clean specimen appeared in a seller’s wares I was delighted. Here are two raucous, whimsical sides by this singular musical talent—a leading light of the goofier side of New Orleans music.

“I’m a Country Boy” is the first-person narrative of a rural visitor to the big city. It’s an alien landscape to his wide-open eyes. “I don’t like this city an’ I got to put it down,” he sings—in-between his impressions of animal life, a celebration of country cooking and an impressive imitation of a muted trumpet (kazoo? Brilliant lip manipulation?).

With the spirit of a recording by The Memphis Jug Band 25 years before its time, “I’m a Country Boy” is a delightful stream-of-consciousness in the guise of a danceable popular song.

Hear it >>>>> HERE. <<<<<

“Lonely Tramp” finds Henry in more typical New Orleans style. At the piano, his singing and playing show his two major influences, pianist-vocalists Professor Longhair (whose guise he often emulated in live performances) and major hit-maker Fats Domino.

Henry’s rolling piano style, the swaying mid-tempo beat and the massive sound of the band—the same guys who played on Domino’s records and many others—give this account of a drifter’s lonesome life a powerful feeling. It’s not played for comedy; Henry sings his song with an understated gravity. This is just the way it is, his performance suggests. Ain’t no changin’ it I can see.

Chess seems to have pegged this as the A-side, and though it's a fine recording on its own merit, it was a disastrous choice. “Country Boy” was akin to the off-the-wall vibe of Henry’s hit and might have continued his success. He’d have to wait until 1961, when two of his Argo 45s, “But I Do” and “You Always Hurt the One You Love,” both went to #4 and 12 on the national charts and sired his first album, named after that second song.

Hear it >>>>> HERE. <<<<<

There are two other early Argo singles of Henry’s I’d like to find. I don’t imagine there’s a big demand for them, so perhaps I can scrounge them up soon. We shall see!

Tomorrow: another odd one-shot—a 1963 Columbia single by Al Lance, with a catchy pop item on one side and a slice of solid rockabilly on the B. Something you’ve likely never heard before.