Hank Ballard & The Midnighters Hank Ballard - Rocks (CD)

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catalog number: BCD17580
weight in Kg 0.115
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1-CD (Digipak) with 36-page booklet, 30 tracks. Total playing time approx. 79 min. It... more

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Hank Ballard & The Midnighters: Hank Ballard - Rocks (CD)

1-CD (Digipak) with 36-page booklet, 30 tracks. Total playing time approx. 79 min.

It was Hank Ballard who, with his band, created The Twist in the late '50s, the greatest dance theme yet invented.
Bear Family Records® now dedicates a CD album to Hank Ballard & The Midnighters in the long-lasting 'ROCKS' series.
Ballard had taken the U.S. charts by the mid-'50s with numbers like Work With Me Annie and Annie Had A Baby.
Producer Nico Feuerbach and author Bill Dahl have compiled the most successful and best rocking R&B numbers as well as the stunning twist hits from the King/Federal catalog into an utterly danceable project.
Extensive, lavishly illustrated booklet with expert liner notes by Bill Dahl and carefully remastered recordings from the Gusto Records archives.

Early in their long stint at Cincinnati’s King/Federal Records, Hank Ballard and his high-stepping Midnighters specialized in risqué double-entendre grinders - Work With Me Annie, its inevitable sequel Annie Had A Baby, Sexy Ways - that daringly pushed the bounds of propriety as they sailed up the mid-1950s R&B charts like rockets. As the tumultuous decade neared its conclusion, Hank and his bawdy Detroit-based crew invented the greatest dance theme of ‘em all, The Twist, embarking on a slew of additional workouts after that.

Both phases of the group’s vast recording legacy are represented in abundance on ‘Hank Ballard and The Midnighters Rock,’ its highlights also encompassing Finger Poppin’ Time, Let’s Go, Let’s Go, Let’s Go, and The Hoochi Coochi Coo. Get out your dancing shoes for this one - Chubby Checker may have ultimately won the Twisting wars, but Hank Ballard and The Midnighters were rocking houses coast to coast long before Chubby ever even saw the inside of a recording studio, and that mindset permeates this disc. When it came to rock and roll dance fare, Hank and his rowdy group were the living end!

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Interpret: Hank Ballard & The Midnighters
Album titlle: Hank Ballard - Rocks (CD)
Genre Rock'n'Roll
Label Bear Family Records
Preiscode AR
Edition 2 Deluxe Edition
Artikelart CD
EAN: 4000127175809
weight in Kg 0.115

Ballard, Hank - Hank Ballard - Rocks (CD) CD 1
01	Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go	Hank Ballard
02	Work With Me Annie	Hank Ballard
03	That Woman	Hank Ballard
04	Stingy Little Thing	Hank Ballard
05	Broadway	Hank Ballard
06	Ring-A-Ling-A-Ling	Hank Ballard
07	Are You Forgetting	Hank Ballard
08	Sweet Witchie Titchie	Hank Ballard
09	Shaky Mae	Hank Ballard
10	Sugaree	Hank Ballard
11	Sexy Ways	Hank Ballard
12	I Feel That-A-Way	Hank Ballard
13	Annie Had A Baby	Hank Ballard
14	Tore Up Over You	Hank Ballard
15	Don't Ever Change Your Pretty Ways	Hank Ballard
16	Finger Poppin' Time	Hank Ballard
17	Don't Let Temptation (Turn You Round)	Hank Ballard
18	Henry's Got A Flat Feet (Can't Dance No More)	Hank Ballard
19	That House On The Hill	Hank Ballard
20	Annie's Aunt Fannie	Hank Ballard
21	I'm Crying Mercy, Mercy	Hank Ballard
22	The Hoochi Coochi Coo	Hank Ballard
23	The Switch-A-Roo	Hank Ballard
24	I'm Young	Hank Ballard
25	The Twist	Hank Ballard
26	Rock, Granny, Roll	Hank Ballard
27	The Float	Hank Ballard
28	We'll Never Meet Again	Hank Ballard
29	Looka Here	Hank Ballard
30	Big Red Sunset	Hank Ballard

Hank Ballard & the Midnighters Originelles eigenes Material, oftmals mit ziemlich... more

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"Hank Ballard & The Midnighters"

Hank Ballard & the Midnighters

Originelles eigenes Material, oftmals mit ziemlich schlüpfrigen Texten, immer passend gesetzte Backing-Gesangsharmonien, verrückte Choreographie – Hank Ballards Midnighters waren vor dem Aufstieg von Motown der ganze Stolz der R&B-Vokalgruppenszene von Detroit. Hank wusste, wie wertvoll ein herausragender Leadgitarrist für eine Gruppe ist. Im Verlauf der 50er-Jahre spielten bei den Midnighters Arthur Porter (der 1954 auf ihrem Smash-Hit Work With Me, Annie das Solo besorgte), dann der Texaner Cal Green (siehe CD 6) und dann Billy Davis. Wie die anderen Gruppenmitglieder wohnte Davis in Detroit und kam 1959 zu den Midnighters, als Green wegen Marijuanabesitz eingelocht wurde.

Der in Mississippi geborene Davis bewies seinen immensen Wert mit zwei messerscharfen Solochorussen in Look At Little Sister, eine Aufnahme vom 6. August 1959 im King-Studio in Cincinnati mit John Faire an der zweiten Gitarre, Pianist Jimmy Johnson, Tenorsaxofonist Hank Moore, dem fantastischen E-Bassisten Navarro Hastings sowie entweder George DeHart oder Philip Paul am Schlagzeug. Neben dem Lead-Tenorsänger Ballard bestanden die Midnighters aus der Tenorstimme von Henry Booth, Bariton Lawson Smith und dem Basssänger Norman Thrasher, der sich für das Begleitbuch der Ballard-5-CD-Box von Bear Family ('Nothing But Good – The Federal/King Recordings 1952-1962') an die Ursprünge von Look At Little Sister erinnerte

"Wir waren in Kansas City, als Hank sich den Song ausdachte", sagt Thrasher, der Mitglied der Serenaders und der Royal Jokers war, bevor er sich den Midnighters anschloss.

Der klein gewachsene Ballard stammte aus Detroit, wo er am 18. November 1927 als John Henry Kendricks geboren wurde. Er stieß 1952 zu der Gruppe, die zu dieser Zeit noch The Royals hieß und bereits eine erste Session für das King-Unterlabel Federal eingespielt hatte. Ballard erwies sich für die Gruppe als die beste Quelle für Songmaterial. Er schrieb ihren 1954er-Tophit Work With Me, Annie, der ihnen zum Durchbruch verhalf, die anzügliche nächste Single Sexy Ways und den erfolgreichsten Tanzsong seiner Zeit, The Twist, den die Gruppe 1958 für King aufnahm und bei dem Hanks Name erstmals vor den Midnighters genannt wurde. Gleich danach kam weitere unwiderstehliche Tanzware: Finger Poppin' Time, Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go und The Hoochi Coochi Coo, sämtlich 1960/61 erfolgreich und von Ballard geschieben

Der King-Chef Syd Nathan hielt lange an Hank fest, selbst nachdem er jahrelang keine Hits mehr lieferte und die Midnighters sich 1963 aufgelöst hatten. Die immensen Einnahmen aus den Verlagsrechten von The Twist mögen der Grund gewesen sein. Ballard konnte 1968 mit Hilfe des Produktionstalents von James Brown seine Karriere mit seiner Black-Power-Hymne How You Gonna Get Respect (When You Haven't Cut Your Process Yet) wieder kurzzeitig in Fahrt bringen. Als er in den 80er-Jahren mit einer neuen Ausgabe der Midnighters auf Tour ging, holte sich Ballard wiederum Davis als Gitarristen. Ballard verstarb am 2. März 2003 in Los Angeles, nachdem er die ganze Welt twisten gesehen hatte (auch wenn letztendlich Chubby Checker die Tanzschritte demonstrierte).

Bill Dahl
Chicago, Illinois

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Customer evaluation for "Hank Ballard - Rocks (CD)"

From: Mike On: 2 Nov 2022

The king of the risqué double-entendre R’n’B rockers!

His songs have stood the test of time and still sound dangerous today. Lock up your daughters when Hank comes to town!

From: Jan On: 1 Aug 2022

Hank Ballard, the man behind The Twist ROCKS!!!!!

Hank Ballard, the man behind the twist fly with the song "The Twist" which Chubby Checker did a cover of and had a hit with first in 1960 and also in 1962. Ballard's original version went to #6 on the R&B chart and #28 on the pop chart. The album "Rocks" lives up to its name with a collection of excellent tracks. But he had hits before that, his first coming in 1953 with "Get It" and the following year a triple with probably his most famous tracks "Work With Me Annie", "Sexy Ways" and "Annie Had A Baby" all three of which challenged the section of the public who saw themselves as "decent", the chart positions however show that the sales figures were high. All of these were released on King's sub-label Federal. In 1959, he was transferred to King and began with the aforementioned "The Twist". The following year it again hit number one on both the R&B and pop charts with the album's opening track "Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go", which I think is his best song. In addition to these, the album has more hits like "Finger Poppin' Time (#2 on r&b and #7 on pop in 1960), "The Hoochi Coochie Coo" (#7 r&b #23 pop in 1961), "It's Love Baby (24 Hours A Day)" (#10 in 1955). The year 1961 was good for Hank with four top 10 placements. The booklet is rich in great color images and should appeal to the most discerning.

From: Dusty Grooves On: 22 Jul 2022

Hank Ballard was one of the greatest singers in the pre-soul generation!

Hank Ballard was one of the greatest singers in the pre-soul generation – the kind of vocalist who provided inspiration for so many others to come in the 60s – a raw lead singer who really drove his group to great heights – as you'll hear here in this hard-rocking collection of tracks from the best years of the group! Most of these numbers were cut by Hank and The Midnighters for King Records – the kind of raw gems that made the label one of the best of the 50s when it came to all things hard and heavy – and the collection of cuts definitely features the kind of tracks that live up to the title – the work that made The Midnighters one of the first great crossover acts, even before rock and roll was a thing for the kids in the suburbs! Every track's a winner, and the superb Bear Family presentation knocks the set out of the park – with titles that include "Henry's Got A Flat Feet", "That House On The Hill", "Annie's Aunt Fannie", "I Feel That A Way", "Sexy Ways", "Sugaree", "Shaky Mama", "Are You Forgetting", "Stingy Little Thing", "Rock Granny Roll", "The Float", "Big Red Sunset", "I'm Young", "Don't Let Temptation Turn You Round", "Tore Up Over You", and "Don't Ever Change Your Pretty Ways".