Jimmy Clanton (born September 2, 1938) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

who became known as the "

swamp pop Swamp pop is a music genre indigenous to the Acadiana region of south Louisiana and an adjoining section of southeast Texas. Created in the 1950s by young Cajuns and Creoles, it combines New Orleans–style rhythm and blues, country and western ...

R&B teenage idol". 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 A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...

and sold a million copies. Clanton performed on

Dick Clark Richard Wagstaff Clark (November 30, 1929April 18, 2012) was an American radio and television personality, television producer and film actor, as well as a cultural icon who remains best known for hosting ''American Bandstand'' from 1956 to 198 ...

's ''

American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'', abbreviated ''AB'', is an American music-performance and dance television program that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989, and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as the pro ...

'' and toured with popular artists like

Fats Domino Antoine Dominique Domino Jr. (February 26, 1928 – October 24, 2017), known as Fats Domino, was an American pianist, singer and songwriter. One of the pioneers of rock and roll music, Domino sold more than 65 million records. Born in New O ...

Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as "rock & roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis made ...

and

the Platters The Platters was an American vocal group formed in 1952. They are one of the most successful vocal groups of the early rock and roll era. Their distinctive sound bridges the pre-rock Tin Pan Alley tradition and the new burgeoning genre. The ac ...

History

Clanton formed his first band called the Rockets in 1956 while attending

Baton Rouge High School Baton Rouge Magnet High School (BRMHS or Baton Rouge High) is a public magnet school in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States, founded in 1880. It is part of the East Baton Rouge Parish School System with a student body of approximately 1500 stude ...

. One of the few

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

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 1960s. His records charted in the U.S. Top 40 seven times (all released on

Ace An ace is a playing card, Dice, die or domino with a single Pip (counting), pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit (cards), suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large a ...

); his Top 10 records were: the song "Just a Dream," (Pop #4, R&B #1 in August 1958, credited to 'Jimmy Clanton and His Rockets'), "

Go, Jimmy, Go "Go, Jimmy, Go" is a song written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman and performed by Jimmy Clanton. It reached #5 on the U.S. pop chart on July 12, 1959, and #19 on the U.S. R&B chart. It was featured on Clanton's 1961 album ''My Best to You''. T ...

" (peaked at number five in early 1960) and "

Venus in Blue Jeans "Venus in Blue Jeans" is a 1962 song written by Howard Greenfield and Jack Keller. It was recorded in 1962 by Jimmy Clanton and reached on the Billboard charts, and on the CHUM Chart in Canada. The song was also recorded that year by Mark Wyn ...

" (peaked at number seven on October 6, 1962, written by

Howard Greenfield Howard Greenfield (March 15, 1936 – March 4, 1986) was an American lyricist and songwriter, who for several years in the 1960s worked out of the famous Brill Building. He is best known for his successful songwriting collaborations, including o ...

and Jack Keller). In early 1961, Clanton was drafted and spent the next two years in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

, continuing to have chart successes with "Don't Look at Me", "Because I Do", and the aforementioned "Venus in Blue Jeans". His only hit in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

was "Another Sleepless Night", a Greenfield/

Neil Sedaka Neil Sedaka (; born March 13, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records worldwide and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collabo ...

composition that spent one week at number 50 in July 1960. Clanton starred in a

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

movie produced by

Alan Freed Albert James "Alan" Freed (December 15, 1921 – January 20, 1965) was an American disc jockey. He also produced and promoted large traveling concerts with various acts, helping to spread the importance of rock and roll music throughout Nor ...

called ''

Go, Johnny, Go! ''Go, Johnny, Go!'' is a 1959 rock and roll film starring Alan Freed as a talent scout searching for a future rock and roll star. Co-starring in the film are Jimmy Clanton, Sandy Stewart, and Chuck Berry. The film has also been released as ''Joh ...

'' and later starred in ''

Teenage Millionaire ''Teenage Millionaire'' is a 1961 American comedy film directed by Lawrence Doheny and written by Lawrence Doheny and Harry Spalding. The film stars Jimmy Clanton, Rocky Graziano, ZaSu Pitts, Diane Jergens, Valerie Ziegler, Cheyenne Boyer, Gabri ...

,'' with music arranged and produced by

Dr. John Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. (November 20, 1941 – June 6, 2019), better known by his stage name Dr. John, was an American singer and songwriter. His music encompassed New Orleans blues, jazz, funk, and R&B. Active as a session musician from t ...

and arranger/trumpeter Charlie Miller. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, Clanton was managed by

Cosimo Matassa Cosimo Vincent Matassa (April 13, 1926 – September 11, 2014) was an American recording engineer and studio owner, responsible for many R&B and early rock and roll recordings. Life and career Matassa was born in New Orleans in 1926.Komorowsk ...

, the

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enoug ...

owner and engineer. In May 1960, Ace Records announced in ''

'' that Philadelphia had proclaimed the week of May 16 to be "Jimmy Clanton Week." In 1963, American Bandstand signed Clanton to

's Caravan of Stars national U.S. tour which was scheduled to perform its 15th show on the night of November 22, 1963, at the Memorial Auditorium in Dallas, Texas, until suddenly the Friday-evening event had to be canceled moments after U.S. President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

was assassinated that afternoon while touring Dallas in an open-car caravan. Clanton became a

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...

at WHEX in

Columbia, Pennsylvania Columbia, formerly Wright's Ferry, is a borough (town) in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 10,222. It is southeast of Harrisburg, on the east (left) bank of the Susquehanna River, acr ...

, between 1972 and 1976 and performed in an

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as we ...

revue also in the 1970s, ''The Masters of Rock 'n' Roll,'' with

Troy Shondell Gary Wayne Schelton (May 14, 1939 – January 7, 2016), also known as Troy Shondell, was an American vocalist, who achieved fame in the early 1960s. He became a transatlantic one-hit wonder, by releasing a single that made the record charts ...

Ray Peterson Ray Peterson (April 23, 1935 – January 25, 2005) was an American pop singer who is best remembered for singing "Tell Laura I Love Her". He also scored numerous other hits, including "Corrine, Corrina" which was composed especially for Co ...

, and

Ronnie Dove Ronnie may refer to: *Ronnie (name), a unisex pet name and given name * "Ronnie" (Four Seasons song), a song by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe *"Ronnie," a song from the Metallica album ''Load'' *Ronnie Brunswijkstadion, an association football stadium ...

. He had a religious conversion in August 1980. In the 1995

Jazz Fest The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (commonly called Jazz Fest or Jazzfest) is an annual celebration of local music and culture held at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana. Jazz Fest attracts thousands of vi ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, Clanton performed with

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...

, and

Frankie Ford Frankie Ford (August 4, 1939 – September 28, 2015) was an American rock and roll and rhythm and blues singer, best known for his 1959 hit "Sea Cruise". Biography He was born in Gretna, Louisiana, as Vincent Francis Guzzo, across the Mississippi ...

. Clanton was inducted into the

Museum of the Gulf Coast The Museum of the Gulf Coast, located in Port Arthur, Texas, specializes in Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast history. A 39,000 sq. ft. facility with its most notable exhibits are a gallery of Robert Rauschenberg Milton Ernest "Robert" Rauschenberg ...

Hall of Fame, which also has inducted such performers as

Tex Ritter Woodward Maurice Ritter (January 12, 1905 – January 2, 1974) was a pioneer of American country music, a popular singer and actor from the mid-1930s into the 1960s, and the patriarch of the Ritter acting family (son John, grandsons Jason and ...

Janis Joplin Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer and musician. One of the most successful and widely known Rock music, rock stars of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals and "electric" stage ...

ZZ Top ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in 1969 in Houston, Texas. For 51 years, they comprised vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard and vocalist-bassist Dusty Hill, until Hill's death in 2021. ZZ Top developed a signature sound ...

and

B. J. Thomas Billy Joe Thomas (August 7, 1942 – May 29, 2021) was an American singer widely known for his pop, country and Christian hits of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Popular songs by Thomas include "Hooked on a Feeling" (1968), "Raindrops Keep Fallin' ...

. On April 14, 2007, at a "Legends of Louisiana Celebration & Inductions" concert in Mandeville, Louisiana, Jimmy Clanton was inducted into the

Louisiana Music Hall of Fame The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame (LMHOF) is a non-profit hall of fame based in Baton Rouge, the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana, that seeks to honor and preserve the state's music culture and heritage and to promote education about the state ...

. Clanton married Roxanne Faye Edtmiller on December 8, 1962, and they have three children.

Awards

Clanton's songs "Just a Dream," "A Letter to an Angel," "Ship on a Stormy Sea," and "Venus in Blue Jeans," each sold over one million copies, and were awarded gold discs.

Singles

* ^AAlso peaked at #50 in UK Singles Chart * ^BAlso peaked at #90 in Canadian RPM Top Tracks

References

External links

Official website

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clanton, Jimmy Musicians from Baton Rouge, Louisiana 1938 births Songwriters from Louisiana American rhythm and blues musicians American male singers Living people Swamp pop music Ace Records (United States) artists Baton Rouge Magnet High School alumni Singers from Louisiana People from Raceland, Louisiana American male songwriters