This week marks the 85th birthday of Huey "Piano" Smith, a music pioneer from the golden age of New Orleans rhythm and blues and rock 'n' roll. Smith and his band, the Clowns, had several national and local hits in the 1950s, including "Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu," "Don't You Just Know It" and "High Blood Pressure." Smith also wrote "Sea Cruise," which was made famous by Frankie Ford.
This week we celebrate one of the most colorful and fondly remembered Crescent City characters: Ruthie the Duck Girl, who was born 85 years ag…
Smith was born in New Orleans on Jan. 26, 1934 and began playing the piano as a child. When he was 15, he began working in clubs and recording with Eddie Jones, better known as Guitar Slim. Smith's piano talents later would be heard on seminal recordings by other artists, including Little Richard, Lloyd Price and Smiley Lewis.
In 1957, Smith formed the Clowns, which featured the unmistakable falsetto voice of its frontman, frequent female impersonator Bobby Marchan.
In John Wirt's 2014 biography, "Huey 'Piano' Smith and the Rocking Pneumonia Blues," Smith explains the origins of the band's so-called ailment songs: "Little Willie John had 'Fever' all over the United States. That was one before mine, so it opened the door for whatever I want to come with. So I'm going to do some more of these, what people like. So I got to be sick!"
As Wirt explains in the book, Smith not only played the blues but lived them, with creative disputes, financial troubles and legal wrangling over the profits from his work. In later years, he tried several comebacks but never duplicated his earlier success. He now lives in Baton Rouge.