From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Wed Dec 4, 2002  6:16 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Freddy Cannon

FREDDY CANNON (By Tony Wilkinson)

Born Frederick Anthony Picariello, 4th December 1940 (some sources have 1939) at
Lynn, Massachusetts, and thankfully still with us.


Cannon was born in the Boston suburb of Lynn and early influences were Buddy
Johnson and Big Joe Turner. He got into the music business as a rhythm guitar
player and was on 'Ka-Ding Dong' by the G-Clefs. Circa 1956/57, he was in a
group by the name of the Spindrifts who recorded 'Cha Cha Doo' for the small Hot
Records. The disc was picked up by ABC Paramount but went nowhere and the group
broke up.


Next up came Freddy Karmon (aka Cannon) and The Hurricanes. Upon watching
American Bandstand, he and his mother wrote a song titled 'Rock & Roll Baby'
which he laid down as a demo. This got into the hands of Frank Slay and Bob
Crewe via a DJ named Jack McDermott. They revised the song and so Cannon and The
Hurricanes went back into the studio and re-recorded it and came out with the
original form of 'Tallahassee Lassie'. Kenny Paulsen was at the studio and added
the guitar licks. Later background vocals, when Freddy had another attempt at
the lead vocals in New York were added. Subsequently, the bass drum part was
added by Crewe who played the instrument with a mallet. In it's final form, the
disc really took off when released on Swan Records, which was owned by Bernie
Binnick (and Dick Clark as a shareholder). It was a monster hit record and made
the charts in the UK although a cover version by Tommy Steele took the lion
share of chart placing.


The similar sounding follow up, 'Okefenokee', went no higher than # 43 but then
at the suggestion of Binnick, he revived the oldie 'Way Down Yonder In New
Orleans'. The backing track was recorded in New York and Cannon laid down his
vocals on top. It was a worldwide smash. It was around this time he toured the
UK and I remember seeing him at the Strand Cinema backed up by Tony Crombie and
His Rockets.


The revival of oldies and rocking them up was a formula adopted for several
records such as 'Chattanooga Shoe Shine Boy' and 'Muskrat Ramble'. There was
also a further British promotional tour and an appearance in the movie 'Just For
Fun' for which Cannon laid down his cover of the Marty Wilde song 'It's Been
Nice'. This was released on a single in the UK but was only an album track in
the USA.


But in all this, originals were being cut such as the Lloyd Price inspired 'Jump
Over' and 'Humdinger'. A real big disc was 'Buzz Buzz A-Diddle It' (later
revived by Matchbox) which came complete with a Bo Diddley beat. Another great
Cannon track is 'Two Thousand 88' which has a real biting guitar lead but which
sadly has yet to see reissue on CD. The hit machine kept on going with
'Transistor Sister', 'Teen Queen Of The Week' and his real monster smash
'Palisades Park'. This disc reinstated Freddy as a hit maker throughout the
world. 'If You Were A Rock And Roll Record' was a novelty hit. Up to now, all
his discs had been produced by Slay and Crewe but now in 1963, he recorded
'Patty Baby' under the supervision of Feldman, Goldstein and Gotterher (aka The
Strangeloves).


Although up to now, all his records had been on Swan, Cannon was in reality
under contract to Slay and Crewe and when the Swan contract ran out late 1963,
they transferred him to Warner Brothers Records, albeit that Swan masters could
appear on the label. He had a big smash at the height of Beatlemania with
'Abigail Beecher' and then the disc 'Action'. In 1966, he appeared in the movie
'Disk-O-Tek Holiday', in which he sang 'Beechwood City'. If memory serves me
right, he also appeared in the movie 'Gone In 60 Seconds - 2' in the seventies
along with Danny & The Juniors.


The last Cannon hit record was 'The Dedication Song' (1966), but he had a long
chart run and did continue to make the occasional record. Today he is still
treading the boards and returned to the UK last year as part of a package tour
with the unmentionable Bobby Vee but the great Brian Hyland and Johnny Preston.
During this, he demonstrated that he still has stage presence and I feel that he
is an under-rated rocker.


Suggested CD Listening:

(US) Critique 5402-2-CR 'His Latest & Greatest' (1990)

(US) Rhino R2 72210 'The Best Of Freddy 'Boom-Boom' Cannon' (1995)

(UK) See For Miles SEECD 690 'The E.P. Collection' (1999)

(UK) See For Miles SEECD 728 ' The Explosive Freddy Cannon/Sings Happy Shades Of


Blue.Plus' (2001)

(UK) See For Miles SEECD 729 'Freddy Cannon/Action!.Plus' (2001)

(UK) See For Miles SEECD 734 'Bang On/Steps Out.Plus' (2002)

Official website: http://www.freddycannon.com