Frederico Anthony Picariello was born in Revere, MA on
December 4, 1940.  His dad was a truck driver by day, a bandleading
trumpeter by night.  Frederico taught himself to play guitar at age 16
and formed The Hurricanes, a small combo that played high
school dances.  By 1956 he was a session musician, playing guitar
behind The G-Clefs on their hit, "Ka-Ding-Dong."

One afternoon Frederico’s mother handed him a poem she had
written called “Rock ‘n’ Roll Baby.”  He set it to music and cut a
demo that was heard by producer Bob Crewe and songwriter
Frank Slay.  Crewe and Slay revised the lyrics, retitled the
tune “Tallahassee Lassie” and had Frederico record an
all-new version.   When played for American Bandstand‘s Dick Clark,
the TV host suggested they add handclaps, a few shouts of “woo” and
extend the bridge which begins with “she dances to the bop.”  Rather than
fully re-record the track, the additions were simply dubbed in and the
bridge doubled by copying what existed and editing it in.

With the help of WMEX’s Arnie “Woo Woo” Ginsberg, “Tallahassee Lassie”
broke in Boston and soared to #6 nationally in June 1959.  Its mix of a
powerhouse vocal, pounding piano, raunchy guitar, infectious handclaps
and exhilarating “woo”s set the tone for the nearly two dozen hits to follow. 
All were credited to Freddy Cannon, a stage name invented by the
owner of Philadelphia’s Swan label, which released Freddy’s records
through 1963.  Dick Clark, who owned a piece of Swan, helped out by
featuring Cannon on American Bandstand 110 times -- more than any
other performer.  Every track recorded was a rocker, from
“Transistor Sister,” “Jump Over” and Chattanooga Shoeshine Boy”
to “Buzz-Buzz-A-Diddle-It,” “If You Were A Rock ‘n’ Roll Record”
and the million-selling “Palisades Park” (composed by future
Gong Show host Chuck Barris as “Amusement Park”).  Their collective
sound even inspired Freddy’s nickname: “Boom Boom.” 

Of special note: the solid gold revival of a black vaudeville song
from 1922, “Way Down Yonder In New Orleans.”  (For some reason, Freddy’s
first name was misspelled “Freddie” on most copies of that single.)  Then
in 1964, Cannon moved over to the Warner Brothers label.  The hits
rolled on with “Abigail Beecher,” “The Dedication Song” and the
classic party starter “Action” (the theme from Clark’s TV series
Where The Action Is). In recent years, Freddy Cannon has concentrated
on being a tireless live performer at Disneyland, Madison Square
Garden and elsewhere.

Visit Freddy Cannon’s website here