As a child, Clarence Henry learned to play both piano and trombone. His ability to sing in a deep, rumbling chest voice earned him the nickname “Frogman.” Henry’s musical influences included Fats Domino and Professor Longhair, and while still in high school he often snuck into New Orleans clubs to watch Professor Longhair perform.

 

In 1955, Henry began performing with Bobby Mitchell’s New Orleans rhythm-and-blues band. He later joined bandleader Paul Gayten, who accompanied him the following year on his Top-10 breakout hit “Ain’t Got No Home.” The record showcased Henry’s trademark “froggy” voice and a playful falsetto, creating the vocal persona that defined his early career. Henry wrote the song after a late-night gig at the Joy Lounge in 1956 and recorded it for Chess Records along with “Troubles, Troubles.” New Orleans DJ Poppa Stoppa kept flipping the single and playing the “Frogman” side, pushing it to No. 20 on the Billboard chart in 1957. The track later found renewed life in films such as Diner (1982) and The Lost Boys (1985).

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Henry’s success continued in 1961 with “But I Do,” written by fellow Louisianan Bobby Charles and produced by the legendary Allen Toussaint. The song reached a new generation of listeners when it appeared in Forrest Gump (1994), winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture, and again in a 2020 Expedia advertising campaign.

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Later in 1961, Henry scored another major hit with “You Always Hurt the One You Love,” also produced by Toussaint. Additional well-known recordings include “Lonely Street,” “On Bended Knee,” and “A Little Too Much.” At the height of his popularity, Henry opened eighteen concerts for the Beatles during their 1964 U.S. and Canadian tour—an extraordinary milestone in an already remarkable career.