Huey Pierce "Piano" Smith (January 26, 1934 – February 13, 2023) was an American R&B pianist and session musician whose sound was influential in the development of rock and roll.
[1] Steve Huey of AllMusic noted that "At the peak of his game, Smith epitomized New Orleans R&B at its most infectious and rollicking, as showcased on his classic signature tune, "Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu".
[6] When Smith was 15, he began working in clubs and recording with his flamboyant partner, Eddie Jones, who rose to fame as Guitar Slim.
[6] The Rhythm Aces consisted of vocalists Dave Dixon, Roland Cook, and Issacher "Izzycoo" Gordon.
[3] Smith and the Clowns recorded "Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu" with singers Sidney Rayfield (Huey's barber) and eighteen-year-old "Scarface" John Williams joining him on vocals.
"[6] The record was issued as "Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu Part 1" on the A-side and "Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu Part 2" (an instrumental) on the flip side by Ace Records' John Vincent.
[1] Huey "Piano" Smith and His Clowns hit the Billboard charts with several follow-up singles in succession.
[3] It was "Scarface" John Williams who contributed the trademark "Mardi Gras" sound to Huey Smith's records.
Art Neville added, "My three brothers and I were all singers and musicians, but we didn't officially come together as a group until 1976, when we sang back-up harmony on 'The Wild Tchoupitoulas'--my Uncle Jolly's album.
"In the case of "Brother John,", Cyril Neville noted, "I wrote the lyrics in the early '70s with my Uncle Jolly [George Landry].
(This song is sometimes confused with the similarly titled 1956 single "Chickie Wah Wah", by Bobby Marchan, which has entirely different lyrics, tempo, chord structure and melody; the Vincent-Smith composition is built around the melody of the old black children's play song "Little Sally Walker.")
Meanwhile, Ace Records released several more singles by Huey "Piano" Smith and His Clowns, including "We Like Birdland", "Well I'll Be John Brown", and "Don't You Know Yockomo" (a cover version of which, recorded by the New Zealand artist Dinah Lee, reached number 1 in both New Zealand and Australia in 1964).
Ace's decision to release the song with the Ford vocal and to not release Smith's original version meant that Smith was unable to fully benefit from his own work, and the move by Ace is considered by music historians to be an example of racial injustice in the 1950s pop-music industry.
[6] In 1979, Smith along with the re-formed version of the Clowns made his debut at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.
It was Huey Smith and the Clowns, men like Curley Moore, Bobby Marchan, Roosevelt Wright, and John Williams."
"I had the group the Pitter Pats and also the Hueys, but, now, very important is the members of the Clowns"- Bobby Marchan, Curley Moore, 'Scarface' John Williams", and Gerri Hall.