From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Tue Mar 19, 2002  1:16 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Clarence "Frogman" Henry
 
CLARENCE "FROGMAN" HENRY

Born 19 March 1937, Algiers, Louisiana

He could sing like a girl, and he could sing like a frog. That latter
trademark croak, utilized to the max on his 1956 debut smash
"Ain't Got No Home" (# 20 pop) earned good-natured Clarence
Henry his nickname and jump-started a rewarding career that endures
to this day around the Crescent City. He played piano and trombone
with Bobby Mitchell & the Toppers from 1952 to 1955 before Paul
Gayten signed him to Chess in 1956. Local deejay Poppa Stoppa laid
the "Frogman" handle on the youngster when he spun the 45 (issued on
the Chess subsidiary Argo), and it stuck. Despite some fine follow-ups
- "It Won't Be Long," "I'm in Love," the ineevitable sequel "I Found a
Home" - Frog sank back into the marsh sales-wise until 1961, when
the Bobby Charles / Paul Gayten composition " But I Do" went to # 4
in the US and # 3 in the UK. The follow-up, a Domino-tinged "You
Always Hurt the One You Love" was also a big smash on both sides of
the Atlantic, but the his soon dried up, in spite of some excellent New
Orleans-styled recordings. Henry opened 18 concerts for the Beatles
across the U.S. and Canada in 1964, but his main source of income came
from the Bourbon Street strip, where he played for 19 years. In 1983 he
spent some time in the UK, recording an album and an excellent single
("That Old Piano"), but in spite of heavy airplay, the Frogman did not
return to the charts.
You'll likely find him joyously reviving his classics at the New Orleans
Jazz & Heritage Festival every year come spring -- and his croak remains
as deep and melodious as ever.

CD recommendation : Ain't Got No Home : The Best of Clarence
"Frogman" Henry (MCA). 18 Chess tracks in excellent sound quality.