Hank Ballard on "To Tell the Truth" (November 13, 1961)

[williamg2552]

Hank and The Midnighters certainly had a much more legitimate claim to the Twist than Chubby Checker. That's why they're in the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame ...and Chubby isn't .

[MrDukemeister]

I'm not sure if I'm more amazed that the janitor from Newhart is on the show or that the contestants won a carton of cigarettes.

[VLW69cancer]

Ooooh! Look at my dad. I was just 5 yrs. old then.. (Missing you!)

[marvy42]

Part 4: Vee-Jay probably would have released it, but Syd Nathan informed the Brackens that he had picked up the Midnighters' option and they were still recording for him. Therefore, the original (and very different) recording of "The Twist" was kept hidden away until it appeared on a 1993 Vee-Jay CD. The dance itself was done by the Red Caps on the Ed Sullivan Show in an appearance in early 1952. [END]

[marvy42]

Part 3: However, the Nightingales kept trying to have their song recorded. Finally, in Miami, they found the perfect vehicle: the Midnighters. According to guitarist Cal Green, Hank Ballard liked it and the group made a demo which they sent off to, coincidentally, Vee-Jay (along with a tune called "I'll Pray For You"). Hank was sure that their King/Federal contract was about to expire and decided to give the Chicago company a try. See part 4

[marvy42]

Part 2: The Spaniels took the song to Vee-Jay to see if there was any interest. Vee-Jay actually had the Spaniels record it, but decided that it wasn't their style, so it was never released. [It was probably more in the realm of a demo, since Vee-Jay never recorded it in their master book.] See part 3.

[marvy42]

He lied. Hank Ballard neither wrote the song nor created the dance. This is abridged from my Spaniels' article:

On March 14, [1958] the Spaniels were at the Howard Theater. They were approached by a couple of members of the Sensational Nightingales gospel group, who'd written a song called "The Twist," but because of its suggestive lyrics, the Nightingales certainly couldn't record it. They'd already offered it to Little Joe Cook and the Thrillers, but had been turned down. See part 2.

[pbrgma1]

The Twist became a dance craze in October 1961.I'm glad that actor Ralph Bellamy wasn't on this panel. He would of called them " color boys" like he did on other To Tell the Truth programs.

[ThreadCityDeanF]

I'll give Kitty Carlyle (sp?) credit for getting it right, especially since she barely got to ask any questions.

[crunch992]

Awesome, thanks for posting.

[TheBluescollector]

You want to be told "The Truth"?

When Hank Ballard wrote "The Twist" he wasn't singing about no dance craze.

He was singing about the same thing all his songs were about...

"Fucking"

Ballard was too much for white America and is Rock and Roll's uncrowned true kings. Just type in "The True Kings of Rock and Roll" into youtube to hear his story.

[quieterrps]

Stunning to see this. Hank looks so mellow and cool, I find it hard to believe they couldn't figure it out that he was the musician ~ the other dudes look like a chemist and an athlete.

[byrd56]

Somehow, this round of "To Tell the Truth" had its own "twist", as you'll notice at 0:15 and at 6:23.