Singer, instrumentalist and song writer John Hendry Kendricks (Hank Ballard) was born in Detroit, Michigan on 18 November 1927. After his father died he and his brother were brought up in Bessemer, Alabama. His cousin Florence Ballard was a member of The Supremes.
He began singing in Church while at school. In his teens he returned to Detroit and got a job on the Ford assembly line. In 1953 he joined a singing group called The Royals and wrote his first successful song, "Get It" which made no. 6 on the Billboard R&B chart. After the success, the group changed their name to The Midnighters (to avoid confusion with the group called The 5 Royales). The Midnighters had a string of hits but disbanded in 1965, and Ballard launched a solo career.
He wrote many songs, including "Roll with me Henry" (with Johnny Otis and Etta James, who recorded it) but the most successful of his compositions was "The Twist", which became an international success for Chubby Checker. The Midnighters were due to sing it on live national television but their flight was cancelled, so Chubby Checker stepped in to sing it instead, then Checker's record company were inundated with requests for the song, so they covered it.
Hank Ballard died in Los Angeles on 2 March 2003 from throat cancer.
Image: WGBO Rhythm Revue.
Comments
Post a Comment