In the early days of rock n' roll, the core audience was kids. The artists they listened to and followed tended to be older. Little Richard, Chuck Berry and Fats Domino were all in their 20's. Bill Haley had passed the 30 year mark.
Enter Frankie Lymon. Lymon was a street-wise kid at the ripe old age of thirteen. In his thirteen years, Lymon had lived a hard life in Harlem. Histories of the young artist state that he hustled money for booze and drugs by working as a bagger at a grocery store. He also was purported to be a young pimp for prostitutes. You will probably remember the song that made him famous. It is one of the most famous doo-wop songs ever recorded and it is the first hit song that was recorded by a "kid" for the kid audience. The recording was made by Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers. You will recognize it the minute you hear it. I will guess that you probably did not know that the lead singer was a thirteen year old boy and that he was backed by his classmates, some of whom were older. This will take you back to 1956. This story behind the music does not have a happy ending. Lymon and the group had a few other recordings but nothing that was even close in popularity to Why Do Fools Fall in Love. The audience lost their interest in his singing and songs and he became more interested in the wild side of life. When his voice changed to that of a man, it did not help matters either. Lymon's career was over by age twenty and he died of a drug overdose in Harlem at age twenty-five. Although he had claimed to have written this hit song, years later it was determined in court that it was actually written by other members of his group. For more "Stories Behind the Music" click on the guitar Steven L. Smith Bellingham WA Home Inspections
Check out "This Day In History" -- music and vintage television from the 1950's through the 1980's. I enjoy writing these articles because they take me back to my days in radio broadcasting. Click on Elvis' gold record, below, to revisit those golden hits of yesteryear.
I didn't know about this story until I saw the movie "Why do fools fall in love" a few years ago. Interesting story.
Steve,
That was an interesting piece of history.
Sean Allen
It is a sad story but the song lives on.
This was a great song. Its too bad his short lived fame ended in tragedy. There were quite a few one hit wonders in those days. It must have been hard to be on top one day and almost forgotten the next. Thanks.
we forget that times can be hard and choices people make sometimes are not good- thanks for the story behind the recording. cw
I love these music lessons. They are short, illustrated, and have sound!! You're doing a great job with these blogs. I'm sorry that this talented kid chose the wild side of life.
Steve, I love this video. Such a shame that his life was cut so short. And to think, this unfortunate thing with drugs still plagues our pop culture. So sad.
Interesting post Steve. I did not know that. Too bad that booze and/or drugs ended his life so soon...
Another great story, I remember Frankie' s song well, din't know about his story
Steven, now he's one artist I did know about. Well at least Iknew about the song and his age and the group. I didn't know about his tragic demise. Thanks as always for sharing.
Terry,
I do not have all these music history posts linked, too much putzing with it once they are in html. However, if you are at my blog page, you can find them all under the tag Stories behind the music.
I have a ton of interesting stories and I am amazed at the video available to me to tell the stories. Thanks, as always, for your enthusiasm.