Huey "Piano" Smith and His Clowns - Sea Cruise

[johnniejukebox]

the original and the best.

[9thWardJukebox]

@johnniejukebox I think Huey would agree with you.

[9thWardJukebox]

@weightfeather1 Well, this is the "re-recorded" version (at least one of them using the same music track). The mix is also a bit flawed but I think the novelty in itself is funny.

[TheIntruders]

This is the best version!

[1957Hepcat]

Thanks for posting! I've been curious about the original non-Frankie Ford vocal version. I like it but I do like Frankie's version better. His voice is sharper, more exciting and the hint of a yodel when he sings "Ooh Wee" is very effective. Great song! I can play it on piano. I used the Ford version as my theme song on WUNH - Durham, N.H. 1988-92 and still play it on my WEGL - Auburn, Ala. radio show sometimes. Either way, it's still Huey "Piano" Smith on piano and it sounds great!

[9thWardJukebox]

@1957Hepcat I agree. it really captures an era of Rock and Roll when it was exciting and still in an exploratory environment. I really believe it was something special to witness and to archive. 

[MegaVoodooChile]

Black, white- humbug. What appealed to Johnny was  GREEN. He was a business man in a ruthless business. He regularly stripped the original vocals from recordings and replaced them with versions he considered more "marketable". "Alimony". "Sea Cruise" and "Loberta" are just a drop in the bucket. I also had people in the biz (da Cosimo clique) tell me Johnny definitely had a personal beef with Marchan, but their stories are apocryphal and everyone remembers it differently - like "Rashomon"

[9thWardJukebox]

@MegaVoodooChile Jihnny got into the game a wee bit too late. Most of all the great blues-man were in Memphis, Chicago amd even Nashville, many by way of Goldband Records out of Crowley, La. Dave made his deal with Imperial in the late 40s so much of New Orleans stuff headed west. It is good Johnny came along. I think that really solidified Cosimo's studio since after Ace, we saw Ric, Ron, Minit amd about 50 different labels by Eddie Bo. Oh yeah...and "Scram" for Scramuzzua.

[MegaVoodooChile]

@9thWardJukebox Thnx Nint' You give me objective clarification on info. When it comes to music, sometimes I can't see da forest in da middle of all these trees. And man, do I remember buttermilk drops!! I didn't mind da cokkaroches cause I was eating them with scotch at 10 in da morning (Butterscotch Drops?) Yum! Make you throw rocks at Little Debbie. ;-)) But- Aint Dere No More :-{ Later, Big Chief JOKER

[frankiehiyo]

I like Huey Smith and the clowns, but I can understand why they substituted Frankie Ford. Frankie made it sound more enthusistic.

[9thWardJukebox]

@frankiehiyo Perhaps but it was the 50s & Johnny Vincent knew Ford's voice was a good fit for the song plus Ford was white. Since "white" teens were just discovering rock 'n' roll, he believed it would sell better with a white singer. Huey was very unhappy with Vincent's move. Back in the 50s, WBOK and WYLD in New Orleans played only records recorded by black singers. Brenda Lee's "Sweet Nothings" aired for about a month on both stations before they found out she was white and quit playing it.

[frankiehiyo]

@9thWardJukebox Don't get me wrong, I wasn't alluding to the racial side of things. I was meaning the actual vocal side of the record benefitted form Ford's input. Maybe the people at Ace records did aim for the White market. I feel Huey's vocal interpretation didn't do it justice this time. I bet Huey was mighty upset, but if he got the "royalties he deserved" then he would soon have a smile all the way to the bank. As it was, he got a lot of publicity from the story of the switched vocal.

[9thWardJukebox]

@frankiehiyo On the contrary, I agree with you. Ford's version is by far the best. Back in those days, "royalties deserved" were pretty much that. Both black and white singers were victims of unscrupulous managers and label owners. Others became "slaves" or "projects" of people like Dick Clark who not only had a daily TV dance show, but also had a top10 that never matched Billboard's or Cash Box's national charts but somehow always seemed to lean a bit heavily toward his "caravan of stars".

[EbonyBunny1]

@9thWardJukebox I don't think it had to do with the fact Frankie Ford is white. Frankie Ford's version was released in 1959, by then white teens openly bought music recorded by black singers. Also, although this version was recorded first, it was not released until 1971, 12 years after Frankie Fords version. I think it had to do with the fact Frankie Fords version was sounded better.

[GOLDBAND45]

What Johnny did was remove Huey's voice and dub the recording with Frankie Ford's!

[9thWardJukebox]

@GOLDBAND45 Yep, on this among many others.

[arkaburger]

@GOLDBAND45 I thought Bobby Marchan did the original vocal track for this record. I may be wrong, but this track sounds like a backing vocal waiting for a lead over dub.

[GOLDBAND45]

@arkaburger

Interesting thoughts but my understanding is that it was Huey's vocal replaced by Ford's.The recording was cut at J&M studios where there was a two track recording facility,rhythm section on one track and vocals on the other.Ford was rushed down to New Orleans and Huey went through the song with Ford .Personally I believe Huey was hoodwinked by ACE's owner. Interesting,the flip side of Ford's record is 'Roberta' I have it by Marchan called 'Loberta' Identical backing!

[arkaburger]

@GOLDBAND45 The story I got was that Johnny Vincent didn't care for Marchan on a personal level. That, combined that with his burning desire to crossover into the teen idol market led him to recut the leads. It's a shame we can't call Johnny up, but even if we could we wouldn't get the straight story.

[GOLDBAND45]

@arkaburger You are so right,if we could contact Johnny today we would probably get yet another answer!

From what I gather Johmny V.- signed Marchan to Ace thinking he was a girl! A bit strange considering he signed him after seeing Marchan's drag show!

[chezfun]

VERY GOOD!!!

[9thWardJukebox]

Glad you liked!.