He was born Delecta Clark in Blytheville, Arkansas, and moved to Chicago in 1941. His mother, Essie Mae Clark, was a gospel singer and encouraged her son to pursue his love of music. Clark made his first recording in 1952 as a member of the Hambone Kids, who enjoyed some success with a recording of "Hambone" on the OKeh label. In 1953, he joined an R&B group called the Goldentones, who later became the Kool Gents and were discovered by Chicago radio DJ Herb Kent upon winning a talent competition. Kent had the Kool Gents signed to Vee-Jay label's subsidiary Falcon/Abner. The group recorded for Falcon/Abner in 1956, and also recorded a novelty record as "The Delegates".
Clark embarked on a solo career in 1957, initially following the styles of Clyde McPhatter and Little Richard. When Little Richard temporarily abandoned his music career to study the Bible, Clark fulfilled Richard's remaining live dates and also recorded with his backing band, the Upsetters. Over the next four years he landed several moderate hits, two of which ("Just Keep It Up" and "Hey Little Girl") reached the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100). His records for Abner and Vee-Jay were orchestrated by Riley Hampton. His biggest single, "Raindrops," a power ballad augmented by heavy rain and thunder sound effects and Clark's swooping falsetto, was released in the spring of 1961 and became his biggest hit, soaring to number two on the pop chart and number three on the R&B charts. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. "Raindrops" was also an international success, reaching number one in New Zealand and reaching the top ten in South Africa and Belgium, and selling well in Japan. "Raindrops" remains a staple on oldies and adult standards radio station playlists to this day, and has also been covered by several other artists in the years since, including David Cassidy, Tony Orlando and Dawn, and most notably Narvel Felts, who took the song to number 30 on the country chart in 1974. Clark himself recorded an updated version of "Raindrops" in 1973.
However, Clark's biggest hit was also his last. The follow-up to "Raindrops," "Don't Walk Away From Me," was a flop, and he made the pop charts in America only twice more, with "I'm Going Back to School" (1962) and "Crossfire Time" (1963). By the time "Crossfire Time" came out, Clark had moved from Vee-Jay to the Constellation label. Though he continued to record for Constellation through 1966, none of his records charted nationally. He had considerable local success in Chicago with such standout recordings as "Come Closer" (1964), the double-sided hit of "Warm Summer Breezes" and "Heartbreak" (1964), and "TCB" (1965). He later recorded for the Columbia, Wand, Liberty and Rocky labels, without success. Clark had a brief revival in 1975 when his song "Ride a Wild Horse" became a surprise Top 30 hit in the UK Singles Chart, becoming his first chart hit in the UK since "Just Keep It Up."
Afterwards, Clark performed mostly on the oldies circuit. By the late 1980s, he was in dire straits financially, living in a welfare hotel in Toccoa, Georgia. Despite suffering a stroke in 1987 that left him partially paralyzed and with a mild speech impediment, he continued to perform until his death on December 7, 1990, in Smyrna, Georgia, from a heart attack at the age of 52. His last concert was with the Jimmy Gilstrap Band at the Portman Lounge in Anderson, South Carolina.
At My Front Door
Dee Clark Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Knock, knock, knock, knock
Crazy little mama come knocking
Knocking at my front door
Crazy little mama come knocking
Knocking at my front door
Knock, knock, knocking
Just like she did before
If you got a little mama
And you want to keep her neat
Keep your mama off my street
Same thing will happen
Like it did before
She'll come knock, knock
Knocking at my door
Crazy little mama come
Knock, knocking
Just like she did before
If you got a little mama
And you want to keep her neat
Keep your mama off my street
Same thing will happen
Like it did before
She'll come knock, knock
Knocking at my door
Crazy little mama come knocking
Knocking at my front door
Oh, oh, she come knocking
That crazy little mama
She comes back knocking
Knocking at my front door
If you got a little mama
And you want to keep her neat
Keep your mama off my street
Same thing will happen
Like it did before
She'll come knock, knock
Knocking at my door
Crazy little mama come knocking
Knocking at my back door
If you got a little mama
And you want to keep her neat
Keep your mama off my street
Same thing will happen
Like it did before
She'll come knock, knock
Knocking at my door
Crazy little mama come knocking
Knocking at my front door
At My Front Door by Dee Clark is a classic rock and roll song from the 1960s that tells the story of a man whose home is being constantly visited by a “crazy little mama”. The repeated knocking at the front door signifies the persistence of the woman in seeking out the singer. The man warns other men to keep their own “little mamas” away from his street to avoid the same situation happening again.
The lyrics are full of 1950s and 60s rock and roll lingo and themes, and the song has a great beat and catchy melody. The lyrics suggest a sense of frustration with the woman’s behavior and warn other men about the dangers of letting their own partners go out of their sights, implying that if they do, they too may find themselves in a similar, troublesome situation.
The repetition of words “knock, knock, knock” creates a hook that sticks in the head and emphasises the annoyance and irritation of the continuous disturbances at the front door. Overall, the song is an amusing representation of a classic rock and roll genre, full of catchy melodies and colourful stories of the time.
Line by Line Meaning
Knock, knock, knock, knock
The sound of someone knocking at the front door.
Crazy little mama come knocking
A woman, who the singer calls crazy, visits his house uninvited.
Knocking at my front door
The woman is knocking at the front door of the singer's house.
If you got a little mama And you want to keep her neat Keep your mama off my street
The singer warns other men to keep their girlfriends or wives away from him, as he doesn't want the woman in the song to come back.
Same thing will happen Like it did before She’ll come knock, knock Knocking at my door
If another woman visits the singer, the same thing will happen as with the woman in the song - she will keep coming back uninvited.
Crazy little mama come Knock, knock, knocking Just like she did before
The woman is knocking at the front door again, just like she did before.
Oh, oh, she come knocking That crazy little mama She comes back knocking Knocking at my front door
The singer expresses his frustration as the woman continues to visit him uninvited and knocking on his front door.
Crazy little mama come Knocking at my back door
The woman is now knocking at the back door of the singer's house.
Contributed by Jonathan N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
sauquoit13456
On this day in 1960 {March 29th} Dee Clark performed his covered version of "At My Front Door" on the Dick Clark ABC-TV weekday-afternoon program, 'American Bandstand'...
At the time the song was at #56 on Billboard's Top 100 chart, that was also it's peak position on the chart, and it spent seven weeks on the Top 100...
"At My Front Door" was originally recorded by the El Dorados, their version peaked at #21 {for 1 week} on October 6th, 1955, and a week later Pat Boone's covered version of the song peaked at #17 {for 1 week}...
Between 1958 and 1963 Dee Clark had ten records on the Top 100 chart; one made the Top 10, "Raindrops", it peaked at #2* {for 1 week} on June 26th, 1961...
After spending one week at #2, "Raindrops" dropped down to #4 and stayed there for three weeks...
Mr. Clark, born Delectus Clark, passed away at the young age of 52 on December 7th, 1990 {heart attack}...
May he R.I.P.
* The week that "Raindrops" was at #2, the #1 record for that week was "Quarter to Three" by Gary {U.S.} Bonds...
David Boozer
This is the 'shorten' version. His full length one is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXLBmse8AxI