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Little RichardAmerican musician -
Ray CharlesAmerican musician -
Bill HaleyAmerican musician -
Randy NewmanAmerican musician
Huey Smith
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- Born:
- January 26, 1934 New Orleans Louisiana
- Died:
- February 13, 2023 (aged 89) Baton Rouge Louisiana
- Founder:
- Huey Smith and the Clowns
Huey Smith, in full Huey Pierce Smith, byname Piano, (born January 26, 1934, New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.—died February 13, 2023, Baton Rouge, Louisiana), American pianist, bandleader, songwriter, and vocalist, a principal figure in the 1950s rock and roll that became known as the New Orleans sound.
Smith contributed vocals and his aggressive boogie-based piano style to the rhythm-and-blues recordings of others before forming his own band. For a time Huey Smith and the Clowns, which featured singer-comedian Bobby Marchan and outstanding New Orleans instrumentalists, toured widely as a result of their 1957–58 novelty hits “Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu” and “Don’t You Just Know It.” The latter, with its “Koobo, kooba, kooba, kooba” chorus, was a favourite of American teenagers. The band’s final hit was the 1959 Smith song “Sea Cruise,” sung by a white youth, Frankie Ford. Smith’s performances grew increasingly infrequent, and in the early 1980s his focus turned to religion as he became a Jehovah’s Witness.
