Jimmy Clanton
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Jimmy Clanton (born 2 September 1940, Baton Rouge, Louisiana) known as the "swamp pop R&B teenage idol"[1], and his band recorded a hit song "Just A Dream" which Clanton had written in 1958 for the Ace Records label. It reached number four on the Billboard charts and sold over a million copies. Clanton performed on Dick Clark's American Bandstand. He toured with popular artists like Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis and The Platters.[2]
[edit] History
Clanton formed his first band in 1956 while attending Baton Rouge High School.
One of the few white singers to come out of the New Orleans R&B/rock & roll sound, he rode the crest of the popular teen music wave in the 1950s and '60s with such songs as "Just a Dream," "Go Jimmy Go" and "Venus in Blue Jeans." He even continued to release hits after he was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1961 and served for two years..
Clanton starred in a rock and roll movie produced by Alan Freed called Go Johnny Go, and later starred in Teenage Millionaire.[3]
Clanton became a disc jockey at WHEX in Columbia, Pennsylvania between 1972 & 1976 and performed in an oldies revue also in the 1970's, The Masters of Rock 'n' Roll, with Troy Shondell, Ray Peterson, and Ronnie Dove. He had a religious conversion in the 1980s. In the 1995 Jazz Fest in New Orleans, Clanton performed with Ray Charles, Chuck Berry, and Frankie "Sea Cruise" Ford.
Along with such well-known performers as Tex Ritter, B. J. Thomas, Janis Joplin, ZZTop and B.J. Thomas, Jimmy Clanton was inducted into The Museum of the Gulf Coast Hall of Fame.[citation needed] In April 2007, Jimmy Clanton was honored for his contributions to Louisiana music by induction into The Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame.[citation needed]
In December 2007, Jimmy was voted by fans worldwide as a member of the first class of inductees to the Hit Parade Hall of Fame joining an elite group that also included (alphabetically) Paul Anka, The Beatles, Tony Bennett, Pat Boone, Beach Boys, Teresa Brewer, Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Chubby Checker, Nat "King" Cole, Perry Como, Bing Crosby, Bobby Darin, Neil Diamond, Fats Domino, Four Seasons, Aretha Franklin, Connie Francis, Brenda Lee, Johnny Mathis, Ricky Nelson, Roy Orbison, Patti Page, Elvis Presley, Diana Ross & the Supremes, Neil Sedaka, and Frank Sinatra.[4]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Jimmy Clanton Songs. Retrieved on 2006-11-24.
- ^ Jimmy Clanton. Museum of the Gulf Coast. Retrieved on 2006-11-24.
- ^ Jimmy Clanton. IMBD. Retrieved on 2006-11-24.
- ^ Welcome To The Hit Parade Hall Of Fame. hitparadehalloffame.org. Retrieved on 2008-03-09.
