AAAH-HAHAHA HEYYY-AAAYY-OH GOOBA GOOBA GOOBA GOOOBA AAAH-HAHAHA

August 3, 2013 7:01 AM

Let's just kick back and have a hella lotta fun with some good old fashioned New Orleans R&B and proto-rock from Huey 'Piano' Smith, what'cha say? His Don't You Just Know It can't help but put a smile on your face, and he'll give you that Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu so strong you'll hardly notice your High Blood Pressure, or that your baby is Psycho!
posted by flapjax at midnite (8 comments total)

I got the rockin' strep :/
posted by Teakettle at 7:38 AM on August 3, 2013

don't you know, yockamo?
posted by pyramid termite at 8:56 AM on August 3, 2013 [1 favorite]

You're always havin' a good time with Huey "Piano " Smith.
posted by ogooglebar at 9:51 AM on August 3, 2013

They don't make em any better than Huey Piano Smith. We owe Dr. John directly to his lineage.
posted by joedanger at 10:08 AM on August 3, 2013

I love Huey "Piano" Smith. The singer of Huey's band The Clowns was Bobby Marchan, who was part of a tradition of so-called tent show queens - black drag performers such as Esquerita and Jackie Shane who also sang rock music. I was lucky enough to see Bobby perform at the 1997 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival (not in drag - he wore a sports jersey.)

Of course, not to thread-hijack from Huey - though with such a flamboyant front-person (and also occasionally Huey himself was substituted for on tour by the over-the-top New Orleans pianist James Booker) getting upstaged was probably a common occurrence for Huey. His vocals were even erased from Sea Cruise and replaced with those of white singer Frankie Ford.

Unfortunately Huey retired from the music biz - being a Jehovah's Witness is said to be the reason.
posted by larrybob at 1:07 PM on August 3, 2013 [2 favorites]

You can hear the direct influence he had on the Stones, Bob Seger, Van Morrison, Sly, John Lennon, Springsteen, the aforementioned Dr. John, and many more. Sometimes its the forgotten soul survivors that paved the way for so many others. It's a damn shame that the current sorry state of RnB has steadily disavowed, or at least ignore its master innovators. Smith is just one of many examples. So much of the magic is gone. The traditions continue to deteriorate.
posted by Seekerofsplendor at 10:55 PM on August 3, 2013

I love his christmas album. Even though every second song is the same tune with different lyrics.
posted by gnuhavenpier at 12:09 PM on August 4, 2013 [1 favorite]

I first heard about him in Stephen King's The Stand; "Don't You Just Know It" and (appropriately enough) "Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie-Woogie Flu" get namechecked at the beginning of the chapter where Larry Underwood is briefly by himself, after Rita Blakemoor and before Nadine and Joe.
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:09 PM on August 4, 2013