Jimmy Clanton

To most rock & roll listeners who recognize it at all, the name Jimmy Clanton likely evokes one image -- the slightly stiff but honest performance that Clanton gave in Go Johnny Go, the 1959 Alan Freed-produced jukebox movie. It would be difficult, based on the evidence of that film, to tell that Clanton was one of the most serious and complex of the generation of teen idols in which he is usually grouped, standing head and shoulders above the likes of Fabian, Bobby Rydell and others, but Clanton was a dedicated R&B enthusiast and singer with a great voice and a genuine feel for New Orleans music. What's more, he also wrote many of the songs that he recorded -- a relative rarity among White singers of his day. Clanton was born in Baton Rouge, LA on September 2, 1940. He reached his teen years just as R&B was starting to find an audience among younger Whites. By the time he formed his first band, the Dixie Cats, in 1956, he was emulating the sounds of Fats Domino, Little Richard and Elvis Presley, and his other influences included Johnny Ace. His rivals in those days included a young John Fred, more than a decade away from his chart-topping "Judy in Disguise (With Glasses)" and Johnny Ramistella, later known as Johnny Rivers and still eight years from his big break. Clanton joined forces with a rival band leader, pianist Dick Holler (later the author of "Abraham, Martin and John"), in The Rockets, a combo that was hot enough to justify a 1957 trip to New Orleans and a visit to Cosimo Matassa, who owned the only recording studio in the city. Matassa was taken with Clanton's easygoing charm and his way with a song -- he sang R&B from the heart, and he had an outgoing, likable personality. Matassa signed both Clanton and Holler under his management, recorded each one...