- Work with Me, Annie
"Work With Me, Annie" is a
12-bar blues with words and music byHank Ballard . It was recorded byHank Ballard & the Midnighters (formerlyThe Royals ) inCincinnati on theFederal Records label on January 14, 1954, and released the following month. TheFCC immediately opposed it due to its overtly sexual lyrics, lyrics that had crossed over and were now being listened to by a white teenage audience. Because the record was in such demand and received so much publicity, attempts to restrict it failed and the record shot to number one on the R&B charts and remained there for seven weeks.cite book
first=& Steve Propes
last= Jim Dawson
authorlink=
coauthors=
year= 1992
title= What Was the First Rock'n'Roll Record
edition=
publisher= Faber & Faber
location= Boston & London
pages= p. 131-137
id=ISBN 0-571-12939-0 ]This was the first of the "Annie" records and sold a million copies. So did the
answer song s "Annie Had A Baby" and "Annies's Aunt Fanny". They all were banned for radio play by theFCC . The success of these recordings spurred the practice of recordingdouble entendre records andanswer song s. [cite web
url=http://www.johnnyspencer.info/imagetexts08/workwithmeannieR.htm
title=Work With Me, Annie
publisher=
accessdate=2006-11-07 ] Another answer, "The Wallflower", byEtta James , popularly known as "Roll with Me Henry", was reworded byGeorgia Gibbs as "Dance With Me Henry" forTop 40 consumption. It had the same melody as "Work With Me Annie". The melody was recycled again by the Midnighters for the song "Henry's Got Flat Feet (Can't Dance No More)".The song " Work With Me, Annie" is part of the
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll list. [Rock and Roll Hall of Fame "500 songs that shaped rock and roll" [http://www.rockhall.com/exhibitions/permanent.asp?id=658] ] .The song
Hank Ballard had been a fan of "Sixty Minute Man " recorded byThe Dominoes , a song so explicitly dirty that only anrhythm and blues label would take it. When he got the chance he wrote his own bawdy tune. With its strongmelody and distinctiverhythm , the song's structure anticipated the style ofrock and roll and was flexible enough that later it could be used with entirely different words.cite book
first=Charlie
last=Gillett
year= 1996
title= The Sound of the City: The Rise of Rock and Roll
edition= (2nd Ed.)
publisher= Da Capo Press
location=New York, N.Y.
pages= p. 129
id= ISBN 0-306-80683-5]The "Annie"
lyrics were extremely sexually explicit for the period [cite web
url=http://www.bluesworld.com/Ballard.html
title=Hank Ballard
publisher=
accessdate=2006-11-08 ] ::"Annie, please don't cheat. Give me all my meat."And the punchline:
::"Let's get it while the getting is good."
Hank Ballard's
baritone and excited squeals backed by the group's 'ah-oom' were accompanied by aboogie piano, a drivingelectric guitar and a booming electric bass. "Work With Me, Annie" defined what was to becomeRock'n'Roll ..Notes
All of these same elements- driving rhythm guitar, booming bass,boogie piano- plus prominent saxophone and fervent drums- were present inIke Turner's 1951 classic, "Rocket 88", which preceded "Work with Me Annie" by almost 3 years.
External links
* [http://www.johnnyspencer.info/imagetexts08/workwithmeannieR.htm Photo official King reissue from 1975]
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