Frederick Anthony Picariello, Jr. (born December 4, 1936), better known by his stage name Freddy Cannon, is an American

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and 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 African ...

singer Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

. His biggest international hits included "

Tallahassee Lassie "Tallahassee Lassie" is a song written by Bob Crewe, Frank Slay, and Frederick Picariello and performed by Freddy Cannon (Picariello's stage name). The song was featured on his 1960 album '' The Explosive! Freddy Cannon''. The song was produced ...

", "

Way Down Yonder in New Orleans "Way Down Yonder in New Orleans" is a popular song with music by Turner Layton and lyrics by Henry Creamer. First published in 1922, it was advertised by Creamer and Layton as "A Southern Song, without A Mammy, A Mule, Or A Moon", a dig at some of ...

", and " Palisades Park".

Early life and education

Picariello was born in

Revere, Massachusetts Revere (, ) is a city in Suffolk County, Massachusetts. Located approximately northeast of Downtown Boston, Revere is the terminus of the Blue Line (MBTA), MBTA Blue Line, with three stations located within the city: Wonderland station, Wonderla ...

on December 4, 1936, and moved to neighboring

Lynn, Massachusetts Lynn is the eighth-largest List of municipalities in Massachusetts, municipality in Massachusetts, United States, and the largest city in Essex County, Massachusetts, Essex County. Situated on the Atlantic Ocean, north of the Boston city line ...

as a child. His father worked as a truck driver and also played

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

and sang in local bands. Freddy grew up listening to the

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...

music of

Big Joe Turner Joseph Vernon "Big Joe" Turner Jr. (May 18, 1911 – November 24, 1985) was an American blues shouter from Kansas City, Missouri. According to songwriter Doc Pomus, "Rock and roll would have never happened without him". Turner's greatest fa ...

Buddy Johnson Woodrow Wilson "Buddy" Johnson (January 10, 1915 – February 9, 1977) was an American jump blues pianist and bandleader active from the 1930s through the 1960s. His songs were often performed by his sister Ella Johnson, most notably "Since I ...

and others on the radio, and he learned to play

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

. He attended Lynn Vocation High School.

Career

Cannon made his recording debut as a singer in 1958, singing and playing

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a guitar technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse (music), pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., d ...

on a single, "Cha-Cha-Do" by the Spindrifts, which became a local hit. He had also played

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

on a session for an R&B vocal group, the G-Clefs, whose record "Ka-Ding Dong" made No. 24 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1956. At a young age he joined the

National Guard National guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. ...

, took a job driving a truck, married, and became a father. Inspired musically by

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and de ...

Bo Diddley Ellas Otha Bates (December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist and singer who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, including Buddy ...

and

Little Richard Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American singer, pianist, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the "Ar ...

, he formed his own group, Freddy Karmon & the Hurricanes, which became increasingly popular in the

Greater Boston Greater Boston is the metropolitan region of New England encompassing the municipality of Boston, the capital of the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the most populous city in New England, and its surrounding areas, home to 4,941,632. The most s ...

area, and began to develop a trademark strained singing style. He also became a regular on a local TV dance show, ''Boston Ballroom'', and, in 1958, signed up to a management contract with Boston

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 nightclubs or music fes ...

Jack McDermott. With lyrics written by his mother, he prepared a new song which he called "Rock and Roll Baby", and he produced a demo which McDermott took to the writing and production team of

Bob Crewe Robert Stanley Crewe (November 12, 1930 – September 11, 2014) was an American songwriter, dancer, singer, manager, and record producer. Crewe co-wrote and produced a string of Top 10 singles with Bob Gaudio for the Four Seasons. As a songw ...

and

Frank Slay Frank Conley Slay Jr. (July 8, 1930 – September 30, 2017) was an American songwriter, A&R director, record producer, and record label owner. He wrote with Bob Crewe in the late 1950s and early 1960s, the partnership's most successful songs, incl ...

. They rearranged the song, rewrote the lyrics, and offered to produce a recording in return for two-thirds of the composing credits. The first recording of the song, now titled "Tallahassee Lassie", with a guitar solo by session musician Kenny Paulson, was rejected by several record companies, but was then heard by TV presenter

Dick Clark Richard Wagstaff Clark (November 30, 1929April 18, 2012) was an American television and radio personality and television producer who hosted ''American Bandstand'' from 1956 to 1989. He also hosted five incarnations of the Pyramid (game show), ...

who part-owned

Swan Records Swan Records was a mid-20th century United States–based record label, founded in 1957 and based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It had a subsidiary label called Lawn Records. History Swan Records had enjoyed chart success with several U.S. ar ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. Clark suggested that the song be re-edited and

overdub Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more a ...

bed to add excitement, by highlighting the pounding

bass drum The bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The instrument is typically cylindrical, with the drum's diameter usually greater than its depth, with a struck head at both ends of the cylinder. The head ...

sound and adding hand claps and Freddy's cries of "whoo!", which later became one of his trademarks. The single was finally released by Swan Records, with the company president, Bernie Binnick, suggesting Freddy's new stage name of "Freddy Cannon". After being promoted and becoming successful in Boston and Philadelphia, the single gradually received national airplay. In 1959, it peaked at No. 6 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming the first of his 22 songs to appear on the Billboard chart, and also reached No. 13 on the

R&B singles chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 po ...

. In the UK, where his early records were issued on the

Top Rank Top Rank, Inc. is a boxing promotional company founded by Jabir Herbert Muhammad and Bob Arum, which was incorporated in 1973, and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Since its founding, Top Rank has promoted many world class fighters, including M ...

label, it reached No. 17. "Tallahassee Lassie" sold over one million copies and was awarded a

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

. He stayed on the Swan label with producer Frank Slay for the next five years and became known as Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon for the thumping power of his recordings. Dick Clark brought him national exposure through his numerous appearances on his

television program A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via Terrestrial television, over-the-air, Satellite television, satellite, and cable te ...

, ''

American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'' (AB) is an American Music television, music performance and dance television series that aired in various iterations from 1952 to 1989. It was hosted by Dick Clark who also served as the program's Television producer, pr ...

'', a record of 110 appearances in total. In the words of writer

Cub Koda Michael John "Cub" Koda (né Uszniewicz; October 1, 1948 – July 1, 2000) was an Americans, American rock and roll musician, songwriter, and critic. ''Rolling Stone'' magazine considered him best known for writing the song "Smokin' in the Boys ...

"Freddy Cannon was a true believer, a rocker to the bone. Freddy Cannon made rock & roll records; great noisy rock & roll records, and all of them were infused with a gigantic drum beat that was an automatic invitation to shake it on down anyplace there was a spot to dance."

His second single "Okefenokee" (credited to Freddie Cannon, as were several of his other records) only made No. 43 on the charts, but the next record, "

Way Down Yonder In New Orleans "Way Down Yonder in New Orleans" is a popular song with music by Turner Layton and lyrics by Henry Creamer. First published in 1922, it was advertised by Creamer and Layton as "A Southern Song, without A Mammy, A Mule, Or A Moon", a dig at some of ...

", a rocked-up version of a 1922 song, became a

gold record Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

and reached No. 3 in the pop charts in both the US and the UK, where it was the biggest of his hits. It also sold over one million copies. Cannon toured in Britain and, in March 1960, his

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

'' The Explosive Freddy Cannon'' became the first album by a

singer to top the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

.
/ref> For the next two years, until early 1962, he continued to have lesser chart hits in the U.S., in some cases with versions of old standards including "

Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy "Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy" (also known as "Chattanooga Shoe Shine Boy") is a popular song written by Harry Stone and Jack Stapp and published in 1950. It is the signature song of Red Foley who recorded it in late 1949. The song has been cover ...

" and

Edward "Kid" Ory Edward "Kid" Ory (December 25, 1886 – January 23, 1973) was an American jazz composer, trombonist and bandleader. One of the early users of the glissando technique, he helped establish it as a central element of New Orleans jazz. He was ...

's "

Muskrat Ramble "Muskrat Ramble" is a jazz composition written by Kid Ory in 1926. It was first recorded on February 26, 1926, by Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five, and became the group's most frequently recorded piece. It was paired on the flip side with another ...

". His hits also included "Twistin' All Night Long", recorded with

Danny & the Juniors Danny & the Juniors were an American doo-wop and rock and roll vocal group formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Originally consisting of Danny Rapp, Dave White, Frank Maffei and Joe Terranova, the group was formed in 1955. They are best know ...

and also featuring

Frankie Valli Francesco Stephen Castelluccio (born May 3, 1934), better known by his stage name Frankie Valli, is an American singer and occasional actor, best known as the frontman (lead singer) of The Four Seasons (band), the Four Seasons. He is known for ...

and the Four Seasons on backing vocals. However, one of his biggest hits came in May 1962 with " Palisades Park", written by future TV ''

Gong Show ''The Gong Show'' is an American amateur talent contest franchised by Sony Pictures Television to many countries. It was broadcast on NBC's daytime schedule from June 14, 1976, through July 21, 1978, and in first-run syndication from 1976 to 19 ...

'' host

Chuck Barris Charles Hirsch Barris (June 3, 1929 – March 21, 2017) was an American game show creator, producer, and host, author, and songwriter. A key crew member of several hugely successful game shows, he was the creator of ''The Dating Game'' (1965– ...

. Produced by Slay with overdubbed

rollercoaster A roller coaster is a type of amusement ride employing a form of elevated railroad track that carries passengers on a train through tight turns, steep slopes, and other elements, usually designed to produce a thrilling experience, though some r ...

sound effects, it reached No. 3 on the Hot 100, No. 15 on the R&B chart, and No. 20 in the UK. This release also sold over one million copies, gaining gold disc status. Cannon also appeared with

Bobby Vee Robert Thomas Velline (April 30, 1943 – October 24, 2016), known professionally as Bobby Vee, was an American singer who was a teen idol in the early 1960s and also appeared in films. According to '' Billboard'' magazine, he had thirty- ...

Johnny Tillotson Johnny Tillotson (April 20, 1938 – April 1, 2025) was an American singer-songwriter. He enjoyed his greatest success in the early 1960s, when he scored nine top-ten hits on the pop, country, and adult contemporary ''Billboard'' charts, incl ...

and others, in the movie ''Just for Fun'', made in the UK in 1962. Although his popularity in the US faded, he remained a popular touring act in Britain and elsewhere in the world for some years. In 1963, he signed for

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

where he recorded his last two US top twenty hits, "Abigail Beecher" (No. 16) in 1964 and the following year "Action" (No. 13), from Dick Clark's TV show '' Where the Action Is'', which he recorded with top

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

session musicians including

Leon Russell Leon Russell (born Claude Russell Bridges; April 2, 1942 – November 13, 2016) was an American musician and songwriter who was involved with numerous bestselling records during his 60-year career that spanned multiple genres, including rock a ...

James Burton James Edward Burton (born August 21, 1939, in Dubberly, Louisiana, United States) is an American guitarist. A member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 2001 (his induction speech was given by longtime fan Keith Richards), Burton has also ...

Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American country musician and actor. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting ''The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour'' on CBS television from ...

, and

David Gates David Ashworth Gates (born December 11, 1940) is a retired American singer-songwriter, guitarist, musician and producer, frontman and co-lead singer (with Jimmy Griffin) of the group Bread (band), Bread, which reached the top of the musical ch ...

. "Action" got a fourth gold disc for Cannon. Also in 1965, Slay acquired Cannon's Swan recordings and sold them to Warner Bros. He appeared, along with

the Beau Brummels The Beau Brummels were an American rock band. Formed in San Francisco in 1964, the band's original lineup included Sal Valentino (lead vocals), Ron Elliott (lead guitar), Ron Meagher (bass guitar), Declan Mulligan (rhythm guitar, bass, harm ...

, in ''

Village of the Giants ''Village of the Giants'' is a 1965 American teensploitation comedy science fiction film produced, directed and written by Bert I. Gordon. Based loosely on H. G. Wells's 1904 book ''The Food of the Gods and How It Came to Earth'', it contains ...

'', a teen movie with early film appearances by

Beau Bridges Lloyd Vernet "Beau" Bridges III (born December 9, 1941) is an American actor. He is a three-time Emmy Award, Emmy, two-time Golden Globe Award, Golden Globe and one-time Grammy Award winner, as well as a two-time Screen Actors Guild Award nomine ...

and

Ron Howard Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American filmmaker and actor. Howard started his career as a child actor before transitioning to directing films. Over his six-decade career, Howard has received List of awards and nominations r ...

, and played himself, performing one of his

song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

s, in the final episode of the teen

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

, ''

Never Too Young ''Never Too Young'' is an American daytime serial that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from September 27, 1965 to June 24, 1966 and was the first soap opera geared towards a teen audience. The show premiered on ABC on the same day as ' ...

'', on June 24, 1966. After leaving Warner Bros. Records in 1967, Cannon released singles on several labels, including

Sire Sire is an archaic respectful form of address to reigning kings in Europe. In French and other languages it is less archaic and relatively more current. In Belgium, the king is addressed as "Sire..." in both Dutch and French. The words "sire" an ...

, Royal American, Metromedia, MCA, Andee,

Claridge Claridge is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bruce Claridge, Canadian football player * Dennis Claridge (1941–2018), American football player * George Claridge (1794–1856), English cricketer * George Frederick Claridge ( ...

, Horn, and Amherst. In the 1970s he recorded and became a promotional man for

Buddah Records Buddah Records (later known as Buddha Records) was an American record label founded in 1967 in New York City. The label was born out of Kama Sutra Records, an MGM Records-distributed label, which remained a key imprint following Buddah's foundin ...

, but returned to the lower reaches of the charts in 1981 with "Let's Put the Fun Back in Rock'n'Roll," recorded with

the Belmonts The Belmonts were an American doo-wop group from the Bronx, New York, that originated in the mid-1950s. The original group consisted of Angelo D'Aleo (born February 3, 1940), Carlo Mastrangelo (October 5, 1937 – April 4, 2016), and Fred M ...

for MiaSound Records and in 1982 appeared in the independent

movie A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

, ''

The Junkman ''The Junkman'' Is a 1982 independent action comedy film, which spent two years in production. To make the film, H. B. Halicki used his own personal collection of over 200 cars, toys, and guns—including Eleanor, the star of his 1974 cult clas ...

''. After that, he continued to work with Dick Clark at his ''

'' reunion concerts and toured all over the world. In 2002, he released an album of seasonal songs, ''Have A Boom Boom Christmas!!'' One notable fan of Cannon's was the late Box Tops and

Big Star Big Star was an American rock band formed in Memphis, Tennessee in 1971 by Alex Chilton (vocals, guitar), Chris Bell (vocals, guitar), Jody Stephens (drums), and Andy Hummel (bass). They have been described as the "quintessential American ...

singer

Alex Chilton William Alexander Chilton (December 28, 1950March 17, 2010) was an American musician, best known as the lead singer of the rock bands the Box Tops and Big Star. Chilton's early commercial success in the 1960s as a teen vocalist for the Box Tops ...

; Chilton reportedly had a portrait of Cannon hanging on the wall of his home in New Orleans and had once offered the following comment about Cannon to a friend: "Freddy Cannon’s shows always worked, because he moved through life with ease."

Personal life

Cannon resides in

Tarzana, California Tarzana () is a suburban neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Tarzana is on the site of a former ranch owned by author Edgar Rice Burroughs. It is named after Burroughs' fictional jungle hero, Tarzan. His ...

Discography

Singles

Albums

*'' The Explosive Freddy Cannon'' (1960, Swan LP 502 (Mono)/S 502 (Stereo)) - UK #1 *''Freddy Cannon Sings Happy Shades of Blue'' (1960, Swan LP 504) *''Freddy Cannon's Solid Gold Hits'' (1961, Swan LP 505) *''Palisades Park'' (1962, Swan LP 507) *''Steps Out'' (1962, Swan LPS 511) *''Bang On'' (1963,

Stateside Records Stateside Records, styled as $tateside Records, is a British record label, owned by Warner Music Group and operates through its Parlophone and Warner Records imprints. Upon creation, it initially released licensed American recordings and is n ...

SL 10013) - European release of ''Palisades Park'' *::The above five albums were issued in mono only *''Freddie Cannon'' (1964, Warner Bros. W 1544 (Mono)/WS 1544 (Stereo)) *''Action'' (1965, Warner Bros. W 1612/WS 1612) *''Freddy Cannon's Greatest Hits'' (1966, Warner Bros. W 1628/WS 1628) - Greatest hits from both Swan and Warner Bros. labels *''14 Booming Hits'' (1982, Rhino RNDF 210) *''His Latest & Greatest'' (1991, Critique) *''The Best of Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon'' (1995, Rhino) *''Where The Action Is The Very Best 1964-1981'' (2002, Varese Sarabande) *''Have A Boom Boom Christmas!!'' (2002, Gotham) *''The Best of Freddy Cannon'' (Collectibles, 2003) *''Boom Boom Rock 'n' Roll: The Best Of Freddy Cannon'' (Shout! Factory, 2009)

References

External links

Official website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cannon, Freddy 1936 births Living people American male singers American rock guitarists American male guitarists American rock singers People from Revere, Massachusetts Musicians from Lynn, Massachusetts Stateside Records artists Swan Records artists Warner Records artists 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians

Early life and education

Career

Personal life

Discography

Singles

Albums

See also

References

External links