Work with Me, Annie
Encyclopedia
"Work With Me, Annie" is a 12-bar blues with words and music by Hank Ballard
. It was recorded by Hank Ballard & the Midnighters (formerly The Royals
) in Cincinnati on the Federal Records
label on January 14, 1954, and released the following month. The Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) 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.
This was the first of the "Annie" records and sold a million copies. So did the answer song
s "Annie Had A Baby" and "Annie's Aunt Fannie". They all were banned for radio play by the FCC. The success of these recordings spurred the practice of recording double entendre
records and answer song
s. Another answer, "The Wallflower", by Etta James
, popularly known as "Roll with Me Henry", was reworded by Georgia Gibbs
as "Dance With Me Henry" for Top 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..
had been a fan of "Sixty Minute Man
" recorded by The Dominoes, a song so explicitly dirty that only a rhythm and blues
label would take it. When he got the chance he wrote his own bawdy tune. With its strong melody
and distinctive rhythm
, the song's structure anticipated the style of rock and roll
and was flexible enough that later it could be used with entirely different words.
The "Annie" lyrics
were extremely sexually explicit for the period
And the punchline:
Hank Ballard's baritone
and excited squeals backed by the group's 'ah-oom' were accompanied by a boogie
piano, a driving electric guitar
and a booming electric bass
. "Work With Me, Annie" defined what was to become Rock'n'Roll..
Hank Ballard
Hank Ballard , born John Henry Kendricks, was a rhythm and blues singer and songwriter, the lead vocalist of Hank Ballard and The Midnighters and one of the first proto-rock 'n' roll artists to emerge in the early 1950s...
. It was recorded by Hank Ballard & the Midnighters (formerly The Royals
The Royals
The Royals can refer to:*The British Royal Family the British royal family.*The Royals a Jamaican reggae vocal group*Reading F.C., an association football club nicknamed the Royals, due to their location in the Royal County of Berkshire...
) in Cincinnati on the Federal Records
Federal Records
Federal Records was an American record label founded in 1950 as a subsidiary of Syd Nathan's King Records and based in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was run by famed record producer Ralph Bass and was mainly devoted to Rhythm & Blues releases. But also hillbilly and rockabilly recordings were released,...
label on January 14, 1954, and released the following month. The Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) 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.
This was the first of the "Annie" records and sold a million copies. So did the answer song
Answer song
An answer song is, as the name suggests, a song made in answer to a previous song, normally by another artist. It is also known as a response song. The concept became widespread in blues and R&B recorded music in the 1930s through 1950s...
s "Annie Had A Baby" and "Annie's Aunt Fannie". They all were banned for radio play by the FCC. The success of these recordings spurred the practice of recording double entendre
Double entendre
A double entendre or adianoeta is a figure of speech in which a spoken phrase is devised to be understood in either of two ways. Often the first meaning is straightforward, while the second meaning is less so: often risqué or ironic....
records and answer song
Answer song
An answer song is, as the name suggests, a song made in answer to a previous song, normally by another artist. It is also known as a response song. The concept became widespread in blues and R&B recorded music in the 1930s through 1950s...
s. Another answer, "The Wallflower", by Etta James
Etta James
Etta James is an American blues, soul, rhythm and blues , rock and roll, gospel and jazz singer. In the 1950s and 1960s, she had her biggest success as a blues and R&B singer...
, popularly known as "Roll with Me Henry", was reworded by Georgia Gibbs
Georgia Gibbs
Georgia Gibbs was an American popular singer and vocal entertainer rooted in jazz. Already singing publicly in her early teens, Gibbs first achieved acclaim in the mid-1950s interpreting songs originating with the black rhythm and blues community and later as a featured vocalist on a long list of...
as "Dance With Me Henry" for Top 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..
The song
Hank BallardHank Ballard
Hank Ballard , born John Henry Kendricks, was a rhythm and blues singer and songwriter, the lead vocalist of Hank Ballard and The Midnighters and one of the first proto-rock 'n' roll artists to emerge in the early 1950s...
had been a fan of "Sixty Minute Man
Sixty Minute Man
"Sixty Minute Man" is a rhythm and blues record released in 1951 by The Dominoes. It was written by Billy Ward and Rose Marks and was one of the first R&B hit records to cross over to become a pop hit on the pop charts...
" recorded by The Dominoes, a song so explicitly dirty that only a rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
label would take it. When he got the chance he wrote his own bawdy tune. With its strong melody
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
and distinctive rhythm
Rhythm
Rhythm may be generally defined as a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions." This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in time may be applied to a wide variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or...
, the song's structure anticipated the style of rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
and was flexible enough that later it could be used with entirely different words.
The "Annie" lyrics
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
were extremely sexually explicit for the period
-
- "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
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
and excited squeals backed by the group's 'ah-oom' were accompanied by a boogie
Boogie
Boogie is a repetitive, swung note or shuffle rhythm, "groove" or pattern used in blues which was originally played on the piano in boogie-woogie music. The characteristic rhythm and feel of the boogie was then adapted to guitar, double bass, and other instruments. The earliest recorded...
piano, a driving electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
and a booming electric bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
. "Work With Me, Annie" defined what was to become Rock'n'Roll..
See also
- List of number-one rhythm and blues hits (United States)