Tom Simon
2009-06-01 05:01:22 UTC
Jimmy Clanton had a number of top forty pop hits in the late 50's and
early 60's. He originally came from Baton Rouge and worked with many
of the better Louisiana musicians of the era.
Clanton was born in Baton Rouge in 1940. In the mid-50's he was
attending Baton Rouge High School and playing with various bands,
including one called the Dixie Cats. He met pianist Dick Holler and
joined Holler's group, the Night Trainers, which included Grady
Caldwell on bass, Bobby Loveless on tenor sax, and Junior Bergeron on
drums. (A decade later Holler would write the hit song Abraham, Martin
And John). They made their way to Cosimo Matassa's recording studio in
New Orleans, and one day while recording a demo there Matassa brought
in recording executive Johnny Vincent. Vincent had recently founded
Ace Records in Jackson, Mississippi, was looking for fresh talent, and
liked what he saw in Jimmy Clanton. Clanton was signed to Ace Records
as a solo act with Matassa as his manager.
Clanton had written a song titled Just A Dream. He recorded it on the
Ace label as Jimmy Clanton and His Rockets, with such notables as Mac
Rebennack and Allen Toussaint in the session group. The song became a
huge hit, selling over a million copies and soaring into the top five
nationally in the summer of 1958. Clanton worked with another notable
group at Ace, Huey (Piano) Smith and the Clowns, who had a hit of
their own earlier that year with Don't You Just Know It as well as
with other prominent session musicians such as guitarist Earl King and
tenor sax player Lee Allen. The swamp pop singer had a double-sided
top forty hit later in 1958 with A Letter To An Angel/A Part Of Me.
The following year he recorded My Own True Love, with music taken from
Tara's Theme from Gone With The Wind. Clanton appeared on Dick Clark's
American Bandstand and performed with Clark's Caravan Of Stars for a
time.
Still in his teens, Clanton had hit his stride while recording for Ace
Records. Hollywood came calling, and Clanton secured a starring role
playing teen idol "Johnny Melody" in the film Go, Johnny, Go!, which
also featured Chuck Berry and Alan Freed along with appearances by a
number of other prominent recording stars of the day. By January, 1960
Clanton had his second top ten record with the title song from the
film, changed slightly to Go, Jimmy, Go. That was followed by Another
Sleepless Night, written by Neil Sedaka, the only song recorded by
Clanton to meet with mild success in Great Britain.
Jimmy Clanton was signed to appear as the star of his second (and
last) movie, once again portraying a teen idol, "Bobby Chalmers." This
time his character had a substantial inheritance, and thus the film's
title Teen-age Millionaire. Again a number of other current pop stars
appeared in the film, but this one was not as good as the first and
did not fare as well. He continued recording until he was drafted into
the United States Army in 1961, where he served for two years. During
that time Ace continued to release his records. One of these was
another one written by Sedaka that was to become Clanton's final top
forty hit, and final top ten hit. It was Venus In Blue Jeans in the
fall of 1962.
Jimmy married his wife Roxanne in 1962. He finished his Army hitch in
1963, and before he could crank up his music career again, the British
Invasion swamped the pop music industry. Stars with the appeal of a
Jimmy Clinton were no longer de rigueur. He continued working as a
singer and toured, and audiences were genuinely glad to see him on his
return from the service.
With a growing family, Clanton moved to Pennsylvania. He worked as a
disk jockey at WHEX in Lancaster in the 70's. The family moved to
Houston and Jimmy made some recording of spiritual songs in the 80's.
He has toured with oldies shows and has continued performing into the
twenty-first century.
Jimmy Clanton was one of the big recording stars of the day as pop
music was transitioning in the late 50's and early 60's. He maintains
a web site at www.jimmyclanton.com. Today his best remembered songs
are Just A Dream, Go, Jimmy, Go and Venus In Blue Jeans.
early 60's. He originally came from Baton Rouge and worked with many
of the better Louisiana musicians of the era.
Clanton was born in Baton Rouge in 1940. In the mid-50's he was
attending Baton Rouge High School and playing with various bands,
including one called the Dixie Cats. He met pianist Dick Holler and
joined Holler's group, the Night Trainers, which included Grady
Caldwell on bass, Bobby Loveless on tenor sax, and Junior Bergeron on
drums. (A decade later Holler would write the hit song Abraham, Martin
And John). They made their way to Cosimo Matassa's recording studio in
New Orleans, and one day while recording a demo there Matassa brought
in recording executive Johnny Vincent. Vincent had recently founded
Ace Records in Jackson, Mississippi, was looking for fresh talent, and
liked what he saw in Jimmy Clanton. Clanton was signed to Ace Records
as a solo act with Matassa as his manager.
Clanton had written a song titled Just A Dream. He recorded it on the
Ace label as Jimmy Clanton and His Rockets, with such notables as Mac
Rebennack and Allen Toussaint in the session group. The song became a
huge hit, selling over a million copies and soaring into the top five
nationally in the summer of 1958. Clanton worked with another notable
group at Ace, Huey (Piano) Smith and the Clowns, who had a hit of
their own earlier that year with Don't You Just Know It as well as
with other prominent session musicians such as guitarist Earl King and
tenor sax player Lee Allen. The swamp pop singer had a double-sided
top forty hit later in 1958 with A Letter To An Angel/A Part Of Me.
The following year he recorded My Own True Love, with music taken from
Tara's Theme from Gone With The Wind. Clanton appeared on Dick Clark's
American Bandstand and performed with Clark's Caravan Of Stars for a
time.
Still in his teens, Clanton had hit his stride while recording for Ace
Records. Hollywood came calling, and Clanton secured a starring role
playing teen idol "Johnny Melody" in the film Go, Johnny, Go!, which
also featured Chuck Berry and Alan Freed along with appearances by a
number of other prominent recording stars of the day. By January, 1960
Clanton had his second top ten record with the title song from the
film, changed slightly to Go, Jimmy, Go. That was followed by Another
Sleepless Night, written by Neil Sedaka, the only song recorded by
Clanton to meet with mild success in Great Britain.
Jimmy Clanton was signed to appear as the star of his second (and
last) movie, once again portraying a teen idol, "Bobby Chalmers." This
time his character had a substantial inheritance, and thus the film's
title Teen-age Millionaire. Again a number of other current pop stars
appeared in the film, but this one was not as good as the first and
did not fare as well. He continued recording until he was drafted into
the United States Army in 1961, where he served for two years. During
that time Ace continued to release his records. One of these was
another one written by Sedaka that was to become Clanton's final top
forty hit, and final top ten hit. It was Venus In Blue Jeans in the
fall of 1962.
Jimmy married his wife Roxanne in 1962. He finished his Army hitch in
1963, and before he could crank up his music career again, the British
Invasion swamped the pop music industry. Stars with the appeal of a
Jimmy Clinton were no longer de rigueur. He continued working as a
singer and toured, and audiences were genuinely glad to see him on his
return from the service.
With a growing family, Clanton moved to Pennsylvania. He worked as a
disk jockey at WHEX in Lancaster in the 70's. The family moved to
Houston and Jimmy made some recording of spiritual songs in the 80's.
He has toured with oldies shows and has continued performing into the
twenty-first century.
Jimmy Clanton was one of the big recording stars of the day as pop
music was transitioning in the late 50's and early 60's. He maintains
a web site at www.jimmyclanton.com. Today his best remembered songs
are Just A Dream, Go, Jimmy, Go and Venus In Blue Jeans.