The Wallflower (Dance with Me, Henry)

"The Wallflower" (also known as "Roll with Me Henry" and "Dance with Me Henry") is a popular song. It was one of several answer songs to "Work With Me Annie" and has the same 12-bar blues melody.

It was written by Johnny Otis, Hank Ballard, and Etta James. Etta James recorded it, with uncredited vocal responses from Richard Berry, under the title "The Wallflower" and it became a rhythm and blues hit, topping the U.S. R&B chart for 4 weeks. It was popularly known as "Roll with Me Henry".

The song was covered for the pop market, with the title, "Dance With Me Henry", by Georgia Gibbs. That version charted in 1955, hitting the top 5 of several different pop charts. It reached number one on the Most Played In Juke Boxes chart on May 14, 1955, and spent three weeks on top of that chart.^[1]

In 2008, Etta James received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award for her 1955 recording.^[2]

The song is a dialogue between "Henry" and the singer:

Hey baby, whatta I have to do to make you love me too?

You've got to roll with me Henry.

The context is the dance floor. The Midnighters also recorded an "answer to the answer": "Henry's Got Flat Feet (Can't Dance No More)".

The song inspired the title of the 1956 Abbott and Costello film Dance with Me Henry, although the film's plot was unrelated to the song.^[3]. It was also included in the films Sister Act and also Back to the Future. Etta James no longer performs the song.^{[citation needed]}

Footnotes

1. ^ Joel Whitburn, Top Pop Singles 1955-1999 (Menomonee Falls, WI: Record Research, 2000), 255, 921.
2. ^ 2008 Grammy newsletter
3. ^ Jim Mulholland (1977). The Abbott and Costello Book. Popular Library. p. 216–219.