PROFESSOR LONGHAIR
Henry Roeland "Roy" Byrd (December 19, 1918 – January 30, 1980), better known as Professor Longhair or Fess for short, was an American singer and pianist who performed New Orleans blues. He was active in two distinct periods, first in the heyday of early rhythm and blues and later in the resurgence of interest in traditional jazz after the founding of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 1970. His piano style has been described as "instantly recognizable, combining rumba, mambo, and calypso.
Professor Longhair began his career in New Orleans in 1948. Mike Tessitore, owner of the Caldonia Club, gave Longhair his stage name. Longhair first recorded in a band called the Shuffling Hungarians in 1949, creating four songs (including the first version of his signature song, Mardi Gras in New Orleans) for the Star Talent record label. Union problems curtailed their release, but Longhair's next effort for Mercury Records the same year was a winner. Throughout the 1950s, he recorded for Atlantic Records, Federal Records and other local record labels.
Professor Longhair had only one national commercial hit, Bald Head, in 1950, under the name Roy Byrd and His Blues Jumpers. He also recorded his favorites, Tipitina and Go to the Mardi Gras. He lacked crossover appeal among white and wide audiences. Yet, he is regarded (and was acknowledged) as being a musician who was highly influential for other prominent musicians, such as Fats Domino, Allen Toussaint and Dr. John.
After suffering a stroke, Professor Longhair recorded No Buts – No Maybes in 1957. He re-recorded Go to the Mardi Gras in 1959. He first recorded Big Chief with its composer, Earl King, in 1964. In the 1960s, Professor Longhair's career faltered. He became a janitor to support himself and fell into a gambling habit.
After a few years during which he disappeared from the music scene, Professor Longhair's musical career finally received a well deserved renaissance and wide recognition. He was invited to perform at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 1971 and at the Newport Jazz Festival and the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1973. His album The London Concert showcases work he did on a visit to the United Kingdom. That significant career resurrection saw the recording of the album Professor Longhair – Live on the Queen Mary, which was recorded on March 24, 1975, during a private party hosted by Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney on board the retired RMS Queen Mary.
By the 1980s his albums, such as Crawfish Fiesta on Alligator Records and New Orleans Piano on Atlantic Records, had become readily available across America.
In 1974 he appeared on the PBS series Soundstage (with Dr. John, Earl King, and The Meters). In 1980 he co-starred (with Tuts Washington and Allen Toussaint) in the film documentary Piano Players Rarely Ever Play Together which was produced and directed by filmmaker Stevenson Palfi. That documentary (which aired on public television in 1982 and was rarely seen since), plus a long interview with Fess (which was recorded two days before his sudden death), were included in the 2018 released project Fess Up.
In 1979, Longhair signed with the Chicago-based Alligator Records to record his first full album, Crawfish Fiesta. (His sessions to date had resulted in only a few songs at a time, sporadically released as singles.)
Sadly, Longhair died on January 30, 1980, just one day before the album was released. His posthumous accolades include a Grammy award in 1987 for a reissue album, and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. Professor Longhair remains one of New Orleans’s most important cultural icons.
Dr. John stated in his autobiography, Under A Hoodoo Moon, Professor Longhair was the guardian angel of the roots of New Orleans music. He was a one-of-a-kind musician and man, and he defined a certain style of rhumba-boogie funk that was New Orleans R&B from the late 1940s all the way through to his death in 1980. All New Orleans pianists today owe Fess. He was the guru, godfather, and spiritual root doctor of all that came after him.
Here's a clip from a digital restoration of Piano Players Rarely Ever Play Together; one of the last things Fess did before he passed.
DISCOGRAPHY
Albums
Rock 'n' Roll Gumbo (1974)
Live on the Queen Mary (1978)
Crawfish Fiesta (1980)
The London Concert, with Alfred "Uganda" Roberts (1981) (also known as The Complete London Concert)
The Last Mardi Gras (1982)
Mardi Gras in New Orleans: Live 1975 Recording (1982)
House Party New Orleans Style: The Lost Sessions, 1971–1972 (1987)
Ball the Wall! Live at Tipitina's 1978 (2004)
Live in Germany (1978)
Live in Chicago (1976)
Compilations
New Orleans Piano (1972) (also known as New Orleans Piano: Blues Originals, Vol. 2)
Mardi Gras In New Orleans 1949–1957 (1981)
Mardi Gras in Baton Rouge (1991)
Fess: The Professor Longhair Anthology (1993)
Fess' Gumbo (1996)
Collector's Choice (1996), half an album of hits
Way Down Yonder in New Orleans (1997)
All His 78's (1999)
The Chronological Professor Longhair 1949 (2001)
Tipitina: The Complete 1949–1957 New Orleans Recordings (2008)
The Primo Collection (2009)
Rockin’ with Fess (2013)
To this very day, Fess was a one-of-a-kind musician and man, who defined a certain style of rhumba-boogie funk that was New Orleans R&B from the late 1940s all the way through to his death in 1980.
May the angels always be with Fess…
Amen!
DR. JOHN AKA MAC REBBENACK
At an early age, Mac Rebbenack developed a desire to become a musician. “When segregation was at its height, Mac Rebbenack was one of the few white musicians to play a role in the city’s golden age of rhythm and blues, supporting legends like Huey Piano Smith, Allen Toussaint, and Earl King at venues including the famous nightclub The Dew Drop Inn. His own recording life began in 1959, and from then on he enjoyed a prolific career. Beginning in the late 1960s, his recording and stage persona of “Dr. John the Night Tripper” incorporated elements from New Orleans’s Voudou and carnival traditions into a mystical, shaman-like figure.” (64 Parishes article)
By the time Mac Rebbenack was 16 years old he had managed to find a way to be a member of various studio combo's and he managed to play on sessions by Professor Longhair.
In 1963, after having been busted for drug use, Mac headed to Los Angeles, joining other New Orleans musical expatriates such as Alvin Robinson, Shirley Goodman, and Jesse Hill. Producer/arranger Harold Battiste helped him find work backing a variety of big-name artists, including soul acts like Sam Cooke and Aretha Franklin, pop stars Sonny and Cher, and blues rockers Canned Heat. As Mac became well known in the studios and ended up playing on the Rolling Stones’ definitive Exile on Main Street album and John Lennon’s Rock ’n’ Roll album.
“Mac's solo career began in earnest in 1968, when he signed with Atco Records and released his first album, Gris-Gris. The record introduced the character of Dr. John the Night Tripper, a psychedelic take on New Orleans’s Voudou religious practices. The name Dr. John is a reference to a nineteenth-century Voudou practitioner who claimed to be descended from West African royalty. Rebennack developed a cult following for his wild performances, with their freak show overtones. Mystical, occult themes marked his subsequent releases for Atco, including Babylon (1969) and Remedies (1970). His 1971 album The Sun, Moon & Herbs featured guest appearances by Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton.”
In short order, Rebbenack made a big leap in 1972 with an album called Gumbo which was based on featured New Orleans standards. The Gumbo album was quickly followed by In The Right Place (1973) album which was produced by Allen Toussaint and backed up with music support by The Meters. In The Right Place was an album that covered several New Orleans R&B standards with only one original, is considered a cornerstone of New Orleans music. The next album, Destitvely Bonnaroo (1974), found Dr. pushing a wild variety of sounds as he stretched out musically.
From the late 1970s to 1991, Dr. John co-wrote over 115 songs with legendary Brill Building songwriter Doc Pomus. Some of the songs created with Pomus were recorded by Marianne Faithfull, B.B. King, Irma Thomas, Johnny Adams, and others. On March 17, 1991, Dr. John performed My Buddy at the funeral for Pomus.
In the mid-1970s Dr. John began an almost 20-year collaboration with the R&R Hall of Fame/Songwriters Hall of Fame writer Doc Pomus, to create songs for Dr. John's releases City Lights and Tango Palace, and for B.B. King's Stuart Levine-produced There Must Be a Better World Somewhere, which won a Grammy for Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording in 1982. Dr. John also recorded I'm On a Roll – the last song written with Pomus prior to his death in 1991 – for the now out-of-print Rhino/Forward Records 1995 tribute to Pomus titled Til the Night Is Gone: A Tribute to Doc Pomus. The tribute included covers of Pomus-penned songs by Bob Dylan, John Hiatt, Shawn Colvin, Brian Wilson, The Band, Los Lobos, Dion, Rosanne Cash, Solomon Burke, and Lou Reed.
On Thanksgiving Day 1976 Dr. John performed Such a Night at the farewell concert for The Band, which was filmed by Martin Scorsese and released as The Last Waltz. In 1979, he collaborated with the legendary Professor Longhair on Fess's (another nickname for Henry Byrd) last recording, Crawfish Fiesta, as a guitarist. The album was awarded the first W.C. Handy Blues Album of the Year in 1980 and was released shortly after Longhair's death in January 1980.
By the mid-1970s, Rebennack was focusing on a blend of music that touched on blues, New Orleans R&B, Tin Pan Alley standards, and much more. In 1975, his manager, Richard Flanzer, hired producer Bob Ezrin, and Hollywood Be Thy Name was recorded live at Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles, California. The studio was transformed into a New Orleans nightclub for the sessions.
In 1981 and 1983, Dr. John recorded two solo piano albums, Dr. John Plays Mac Rebennack and The Brightest Smile in Town, for the Baltimore-based Clean Cuts label. In these two recordings he played many of his own boogie-woogie compositions.
In September 2005, Dr. John performed Bobby Charles' Walkin' to New Orleans, to close the Shelter from the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast telethon. This was for the relief of Hurricane Katrina victims, following the devastation of his hometown of New Orleans.
DISCOGRAPHY
Gris-Gris (1968) (Atco 33-234 [monaural]; SD 33-234 [stereo])
Babylon (1969) (Atco, SD 33-270)
Remedies (1970) (Atco, SD 33-316)
The Sun, Moon & Herbs (1971) (Atco, SD 33-362)
Dr. John's Gumbo (1972) (Atco, SD 7006)
In the Right Place (1973) (Atco, SD 7018)
Desitively Bonnaroo (1974) (Atco, SD 7043)
Anytime, Anyplace (1974) (Barometer, BRM 67001)
Cut Me While I'm Hot (The Sixties Sessions) (1975) (DJM, 2019)
The Night Tripper (1977) (Crazy Cajun, CCLP-1037)
Malcolm Rebenneck (1977) (Crazy Cajun, CCLP-1040)
One Night Late (1977) (Karate, KSD-5404) same tracks as Anytime, Anyplace
City Lights (1978) (Horizon/A&M, SP-732)
Tango Palace (1979) (Horizon/A&M, SP-740)
Love Potion [AKA Loser for You Baby] (1981) (Accord, 7118)
Dr. John Plays Mac Rebennack, Vol. 1 (1982) (Clean Cuts, 705; CD: Clean Cuts 720)
The Brightest Smile in Town (Dr. John Plays Mac Rebennack, Vol. 2) (1983) (Clean Cuts, 707; CD: Clean Cuts 722)
In a Sentimental Mood (1989) (Warner Bros., 25889)
Goin' Back to New Orleans (1992) (Warner Bros., 26940)
Brer Rabbit and Boss Lion (1992) (Kid Rhino, 70496) children's album
Television (1994) (GRP/MCA, 4024)
Afterglow (1995) (Blue Thumb/GRP/MCA, 7000)
Anutha Zone (1998) (Point Blank/Virgin/EMI, 46218)
Duke Elegant (2000) (Blue Note/Parlophone/EMI, 23220) (a tribute to Duke Ellington)
Creole Moon (2001) (Blue Note/Parlophone/EMI, 34591)
N'Awlinz: Dis Dat or d'Udda (2004) (Blue Note/Parlophone/EMI, 78602)
Sippiana Hericane (2005) (Blue Note/Parlophone/EMI, 45687)
Mercernary (2006) (Blue Note/Parlophone/EMI, 54541) (a tribute to Johnny Mercer)
City That Care Forgot (2008) (429/Savoy, 17703) (with The Lower 911)
Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas - Music from the Motion Picture (2009) (429/Savoy, 17748)[62]
Tribal (2010) (429/Savoy, 17803) (with The Lower 911)
Locked Down (2012) (Nonesuch/WEA, 530395)
Ske-Dat-De-Dat: The Spirit of Satch (2014) (Concord/UMe, 35187) (a tribute to Louis Armstrong)
Things Happen That Way (2022) (Rounder, 1166101698)
Sadly, Dr. John passed away on June 6, 2019.
His music will live on forever.
I imagine that Dr. John is making some music somewhere
with Professor Longhair…
Yeah you rite!
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ALLEN TOUSSAINT
Allen Toussaint was born on January 14, 1938 and grew up in a shotgun house in the Gert Town neighborhood of New Orleans where he learned the formal rudiments of classical music from his sister, Joyce. As time went on Toussaint was a big fan of boogie-woogie and blues pianists such as Albert Ammons, Ray Charles, Lloyd Glenn, and especially Henry Roeland Byrd, better known as Professor Longhair.
Toussaint's home became an informal meeting and practice space for aspiring musicians and singers in the neighborhood, in part because Naomi Toussaint, a well-known hostess and cook, encouraged young musicians. Allen Toussaint has said that these early sessions were important preparation for his later work as a pianist and arranger.
It should be noted that a young Toussaint began sneaking into the legendary New Orleans nightclub the Dew Drop Inn, where many of the city’s finest musicians, known informally as the Dew Drop Set, could be found. He entered the club’s weekly talent shows, where other musicians began to notice his playing. His first big break came in 1955 when Huey Piano Smith, who was touring with guitarist Earl King, was unable to make a show in Alabama and Toussaint filled in for him.
At a young age, Toussaint decided that he would prefer to concentrate on studio work. As many musicians began to be aware of Toussaint's talents, Fats Domino’s bandleader Dave Bartholomew, Fats Domino’s bandleader, hired Toussaint to play piano on a session while Fats was on tour.
Around this time Allen Toussaint managed to get the job of arranging saxophonist Lee Allen’s 1957 instrumental hit Walkin’ with Mr. Lee.
In 1958, Toussaint recorded his first album, The Wild Sound of New Orleans, credited to Al Tousan and released on RCA Records. The instrumental LP contained the song Java, which was a hit a few years later for trumpeter Al Hirt. Though the album did not sell well at the time, it is now a valuable collector’s item.
As time went on Toussaint beggan to work for Joe Banashak’s Minit Records label, where he began to produce, arrange, and play on an amazing run of chart-topping singles. Minit’s first big hit was Jessie Hill’s Ooh Poo Pah Doo, which reached the R&B Top Five in 1960. Minit Records biggest hit was Ernie K-Doe’s Mother-in-Law, which topped the charts and hit number one in 1961. Other Minit hits from this era include Lipstick Traces (On a Cigarette) and Fortune Teller by Benny Spellman, It Will Stand by The Showmen, Over You by Aaron Neville, and It’s Raining by Irma Thomas. Toussaint also worked recording sessions for other record labels, such as Ya Ya by Lee Dorsey for the Fury label and But I Do by Clarence Frogman Henry for Argo. Many of the songs that turned out to be hit singles were credited to Naomi Neville, which was taken from his mother’s maiden name.
Around this time, Joe Banashak also started the Instant label which brought forth more Toussaint-arranged hit singles such as Chris Kenner’s I Like It Like That and Art Neville’s All These Things. Several of the Minit hits were highly influential for early British Invasion bands which included the Yardbirds cover version of A Certain Girl, along with the Rolling Stones covering Fortune Teller.
In 1973, desiring a state-of-the-art studio that could compete with facilities in Nashville, Tennessee, and Muscle Shoals, Alabama, Marshall Sehorn and Toussaint built Sea-Saint Studios in the Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans. Toussaint’s productions changed to a harder-edged, more contemporary funk sound on albums by The Meters and The Wild Tchoupitoulas, a New Orleans Mardi Gras Indian tribe. Toussaint's production of Dr. John’s 1973 LP In The Right Place, with backing by The Meters, featured the number nine single, Right Place Wrong Time.
As time went on, Allen Toussaint began working with a wide variety of rock, country, and blues artists beyond New Orleans, including The Band, Paul McCartney and Wings, Robert Palmer, Joe Cocker, Etta James, and Albert King. His production of Patti Labelle’s Nightbirds album led to the 1975 number one disco hit Lady Marmalade. Glen Campbell had a number one hit with Southern Nights in 1977, while Boz Scaggs, Little Feat, Bonnie Raitt, and The Pointer Sisters covered other Toussaint compositions. Even new-wave rockers Devo recorded a version of Working in a Coal Mine! During the 1970s, the prolific Toussaint also pursued a solo career, recording four solo albums during the 1970s, first for Scepter Records and later for Reprise.
It shoud be noted that Allen Toussaint had a magical touch when creating a musical vibe for various songs and artists.
DISCOGRAPHY OF ALLEN TOUSSAINT PT 1
A Tousan – Java (RCA)
A Tousan – Whirlaway (RCA)
Diamond Joe – Fair Play (Minit)
Chick Carbo – In the Night (Instant)
Chris Kenner –Johnny Little (RCA)
Willie Harper – A New Kind of Love (Alon)
Willie Harper – But I Couldn’t (Alon)
Benny Spellman – Fortune Teller (Minit)
Benny Spellman – Lipstick Traces (Minit)
Ernie K Doe – A Certain Girl (MInit)
Ernie K Doe –Mother In Law (Minit)
Stokes – Young Man Old Man (Alon)
Stokes – Whipped Cream (Alon)
Willie West – Hello Mama (Deesu)
KC Russell – Younka Chunka (Uptown)
Warren Lee – Star Revue (Deesu)
Warren Lee – Ever Since (I’ve Been Loving You) (Deesu)
Lee Dorsey – Ride Your Pony (Amy)
Lee Dorsey – Operation Heartache (Amy)
Lou Johnson – Little Girl (Big Top)
Lou Johnson – Walk On By (Big Top)
Benny Spellman – I Feel Good (Atlantic)
Frankie Ford – I Can’t Face Tomorrow (Doubloon)
Aaron Neville – Where Is My Baby (Bell)
Irma Thomas – What Are You Trying To Do (Imperial)
______________________
DISCOGRAPHY OF ALLEN TOUSSAINT PT 2
Eldridge Holmes – Emperor Jones (Alon)
Eldridge Holmes – A Time For Everything (Alon)
Eldridge Holmes – Humpback (Jetset)
Eldridge Holmes – Gone Gone Gone (Jetset)
Eldridge Holmes – Worried Over You (Sansu)
Eldridge Holmes – Until the End (Sansu)
Eldridge Holmes – Wait For Me Baby (Sansu)
Eldridge Holmes – A Love Problem (Decca)
Eldridge Holmes – If I Were a Carpenter (Deesu)
Betty Harris – I Don’t Want to Hear It (Sansu)
Betty Harris – Sometime (Sansu)
Betty Harris – Nearer To You (Sansu)
Betty Harris – Mean Man (Sansu)
Benny Spellman – Sinner Girl (Sansu)
Diamond Joe – Gossip Gossip (Sansu)
Prime Mates – Hot Tamales (Sansu)
Curly Moore – We Remember (Sansu)
Art Neville – Bo Diddley Pt1 (Sansu)
John Williams and the Tick Tocks – A Little Tighter (Sansu)
John Williams and the Tick Tocks – Do Me Like You Do Me (Sansu)
Rubaiyats – Omar Khayyam (Sansu)
Willie Harper – You You (Sansu)
Wallace Johnson – If You Leave Me (Sansu)
Wallace Johnson – Baby Go Ahead (Sansu)
________________________
DISCOGRAPHY OF ALLEN TOUSSAINT PT 3
Allen Toussaint – Get Out of My Life Woman (Bell)
Allen Toussaint – Hands Christian Anderson (Bell)
Allen Toussaint – We the People (Bell)
Allen Toussaint – Sweet Touch of Love (Scepter)
Allen Toussaint – Country John (Reprise)
Betty Harris –There’s a Break In the Road (SSS Intl)
Diamond Joe – The ABC Song (Deesu)
Earl King – Tic Tac Toe (Wand) 1970
Earl King – Street Parade (Kansu) 1970
Lou Johnson – Frisco Here I Come (Volt)
Rhine Oaks – Tampin’ (Atco)
Lee Dorsey – Four Corners Pt1 (Amy)
Lee Dorsey – Everything I Do Gohn Be Funky (From Now On) (Amy)
Lee Dorsey – Give It Up (Amy)
Lee Dorsey – A Lover Was Born (Amy)
Lee Dorsey – Who’s Gonna Help Brother Get Further (Polydor)
The Meters – Cardova (Josie)
The Meters – Good Old Funky Music (Josie)
Ernie K Doe – Here Come the Girls (Janus)
Willie West – Fairchild (Josie) 1970
Eldridge Holmes – Pop Popcorn Children (Atco)
Eldridge Holmes – The Book (Deesu)
Aaron Neville – Hercules (Mercury)
Labelle- Lady Marmalade (WB)
_______________________
DISCOGRAPHY OF ALLEN TOUSSAINT PT 4
Kent Allan – What Have I Done (ALON)
Willie Harper – Cloudy Weather (ALON)
Willie Harper – I’ll Never Leave You (ALON)
Stokes – Crystal Ball (ALON)
Stokes – One Mint Julep (ALON)
Art Neville – Too Much (Instant)
Raymond Lewis – Nice Cents Worth of Chances (Instant)
Buddy Skipper – Restless Breed (Smash)
Eldridge Holmes – CC Rider (ALON)
Eldridge Holmes – Poor Me (Alon)
Ernie K Doe – Hey Hey Hey (MInit)
John Williams and the Tick Tocks – Blues Tears and Sorrows (Sansu)
Rubaiyats – Tomorrow (Sansu)
Betty Harris – Can’t Last Much Longer (Sansu)
Diamond Joe – Look Way Back (Sansu)
Eldridge Holmes – Selfish Woman (Brown Sugar)
Eldridge Holmes – Love Affair (Brown Sugar)
KC Russell – How Tired I Am (Uptown)
Lee Dorsey – There Should Be a Book (Amy)
Lee Calvin – You Got Me (Sansu)
Willie and Allen – Baby Do Little (Sansu)
Allen Toussaint – I Got That Feelin’ Now (Bell)
William D Smith – Take Your Pick (Do Your Trick) (WB)
William D Smith – I Feel Good With You Baby (WB)
The Meters – Here Comes the Meter Man (Josie)
Wallace Johnson – On My Way Back Home (RCA)
Wallace Johnson – I Miss You Girl (RCA)
______________________
DISCOGRAPHY OF ALLEN TOUSSAINT PT 5
Betty Harris – Hook Line and Sinker (Sansu)
Betty Harris – Show It (Sansu)
Betty Harris – I’m Gonna Git Ya (Sansu)
Eldridge Holmes – Beverly (Sansu)
Eldridge Holmes – Where Is Love (Decca)
Allen & Allen – Tiddle Winks (Minit)
Allen & Allen – Heavenly Baby (Minit)
Art Neville – Come Back Love (Instant)
Lee Calvin – Easy Easy (Sansu)
Ernie K Doe – Fly Away With Me (Janus)
Lee Dorsey – Sneaking Sally Through The Alley (Polydor)
Meters – Chug Chug a Lug (Reprise)
O’Jays – Lipstick Traces (Imperial)
Mel Taylor – Young Man Old Man (WB)
Willie Harper – A Certain Girl (Tou Sea)
Mohawks – Ride Your Pony (Pama)
Paul Butterfield Blues Band – Get Out Of My Life Woman (Elektra)
Esther Phillips – From a Whisper To a Scream (Kudu)
Pointer Sisters – Yes We Can Can (Blue Thumb)
Eldridge Holmes – Cheating Woman (Atco)
William D Smith – We All Wanna Boogie (WB)
Rhine Oaks – Oleancler (Atco)
Robert Palmer – Sneaking Sally Through the Alley (Island)
JAMES BOOKER
As a child James Booker was considered a genuine prodigy and he went on to cut a wide swath on the New Orleans music scene. He is best remembered for his lively performances where he would create a wild mix of Blues, Jazz, Boogie Woogie, Gospel and Classical sounds.
"At the age of ten, Booker was given morphine after being struck by a speeding ambulance and from then on suffered from mental health disorders and drug addictions.
Booker’s sister, Betty Jean, performed regularly as a gospel singer on the New Orleans radio station WMRY, and it was during his visits to the studio with her that the station manager took notice of the young man’s prowess at the piano and put Booker on the air as well. He played on the jazz and blues show, but he would occasionally break into complicated compositions by Bach and Sergei Rachmaninoff.
The broadcasts were heard by producer Dave Bartholomew, who invited Booker to the Imperial Records studio; there they recorded the single, Doing the Hambone. Booker was fourteen years old and the youngest musician to ever record on the label.
In 1960 Booker enrolled at Southern University in Baton Rouge, but his drug habit followed him; he left school and returned to the music business, in large part to supply his drug habit. He recorded the organ-driven single Gonzo, named for a character in the 1960 film The Pusher, which hit the charts for eleven weeks, peaking at number forty-three.
For most of his adult life, Booker made his living as a sideman behind a wide range of musicians: Joe Tex, Aretha Franklin, Fats Domino, Maria Muldaur, Ringo Starr, the Doobie Brothers, and “Mac” Rebennack—better known as Dr. John—among many others. Dr. John once highlighted Booker’s singular talents by describing him as “the best black, gay, one-eyed junkie piano genius New Orleans has ever produced,” but even he had to fire Booker after the piano man’s drug addictions and erratic behavior became too much to handle.
In 1960 Booker enrolled at Southern University in Baton Rouge, but his drug habit followed him; he left school and returned to the music business, in large part to supply his drug habit.
Booker recorded the organ-driven single Gonzo, named for a character in the 1960 film The Pusher, which hit the charts for eleven weeks, peaking at number forty-three.
For most of his adult life, Booker made his living as a sideman behind a wide range of musicians: Joe Tex, Aretha Franklin, Fats Domino, Maria Muldaur, Ringo Starr, the Doobie Brothers, and “Mac” Rebennack—better known as Dr. John—among many others. Dr. John once highlighted Booker’s singular talents by describing him as “the best black, gay, one-eyed junkie piano genius New Orleans has ever produced,” but even he had to fire Booker after the piano man’s drug addictions and erratic behavior became too much to handle.
In 1970 Booker was arrested for possession of heroin outside of New Orleans’s famed Dew Drop Inn and was sentenced to serve two years at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. During his incarceration, he worked in the prison’s library and developed a musical program for inmates. His good behavior paid off: after six months behind bars, he was granted parole. Upon his release, he returned to New Orleans, where he found that the music scene had hit a slump. Seeking gigs, he violated his parole by leaving the state.
Eventually the charges for his parole violation were dropped, and Booker returned to Louisiana in 1975 after stints around the United States. He appeared at that year’s New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and once again caught the attention of studio scouts, perhaps as much for his outlandish cape, gold-starred eye patch, and wig as for his piano style. Booker went on to tour Europe at various music festivals and enjoyed the status of a celebrity among aficionados of New Orleans music.
Around 1978 Booker stopped going on the road and began two gigs that became legendary for their length, brilliance, and erratic nature.
Booker's Tuesday night shows at the Maple Leaf Bar in the Carrollton neighborhood of New Orleans yielded two posthumous albums on Rounder Records, which are full of ranting, hellacious singing, and torrential playing despite the creaky upright piano.
Booker also played regularly at the Toulouse Theater in the French Quarter as the intermission and after-show pianist for the One Mo’ Time show, the only locally produced New Orleans theater piece that went on tour to international acclaim. There are no official recordings of Booker from the Toulouse Theater, but dozens of hours of bootleg tapes have surfaced.
Booker’s main influences included Ray Charles (particularly his highly emotive and bluesy vocals), Fats Domino, and—for personal flamboyance—Liberace. Unlike most pianists who came after Professor Longhair, Booker’s playing showed no Caribbean inflection. Instead he developed new variations on the basic boogie-woogie left-hand patterns, inventing at least a half-dozen such modes.
James Booker & Harry Connick Jr.
"The most prominent of Booker’s acolytes is Harry Connick Jr., whom he tutored during Connick’s childhood. Connick—who describes Booker’s style of playing as spiders on the keys—can incorporate many of his mentor’s innovations to an astonishing degree and has paid tribute to Booker in songs and performances. Other disciples include Dr. John (who learned organ from Booker and adopted some of his teacher’s butterfly stride mannerisms), Joshua Paxton, George Winston (who helped to get Junco Partner reissued), and Davell Crawford.
Booker’s personal problems with heroin, cocaine, and alcohol abuse hindered his professional and personal life, and led to his early death on November 8, 1983, in the emergency waiting room of New Orleans’s Charity Hospital. In a city known for elaborate funerals for its musicians, Booker’s service was sparsely attended. He was buried at a family plot at Providence Memorial Park in Metairie. Booker’s legend has grown since his death, and his work—which still captivates listeners—encompasses the triumph of sublime musical virtuosity amid an often tragic existence." (Tom McDermott, James Booker, 64 Parishes)
"In the documentary, Bayou Maharajah...Booker emerges as a complex figure, dogged by demons and an on-off addiction to heroin. 'When I moved to New Orleans in 2006, I heard his name a lot,' says its director, Lily Keber, who hails from Georgia. 'Local musicians would tell these mad stories about Booker throwing up on his piano, or playing with syringes stuck between the keys. He was a mythical figure by then, not least because his records were so hard to find. Then I finally heard his songs playing on the jukebox in a local dive and that was that. I was hooked.'
For those who only know of the New Orleans rhythm and blues piano tradition through the likes of Fats Domino and Professor Longhair, Booker's playing may come as a revelation. Melding blues, jazz and classical, it pays scant regard to the traditional rules of song or composition. Live, Booker often talked through the intro of a song and extended the ending for ages, adding one musical flourish after another.
His genius, though, often took second place to his waywardness. Various musicians attest to Booker's madness and self-sabotage, as well as the drug busts and no-shows that harmed his career. He toured East Germany wearing an afro wig stuffed full of marijuana and once appeared on stage at Tipitina's in New Orleans wearing a nappy fastened by a huge gold pin.
Musician David Torkanowsky recalls the moment: 'From behind the nappy, he pulls out a .357 Magnum, puts it to his own head and announces to the audience, 'If somebody doesn't give me some cocaine right now, I'm going to fucking pull the trigger.'
At the Maple Leaf, Booker was often ignored by audiences, who would talk through his songs. Occasionally, the faithful were rewarded with a set that reminded everyone how gifted he was.
Although Booker backed a vast array of musicians – from Little Richard to Aretha Franklin, from Ringo Starr to the Doobie Brothers – he always found free rein for his musical genius as a solo pianist. 'There's nobody that could even remotely come close to his playing ability,' his close friend, the pianist Harry Connick Jr, tells Keber in the Bayou Maharajah documentary. 'I've played Chopin Etudes, I've done the whole thing, but there is nothing harder than James.'" (The Guardian)
Discography
Singles
1954, "Doin' the Hambone"/"Thinkin' 'Bout My Baby", Imperial Records
1958, "Open the Door/Teenage Rock", Ace Records: 547 (as Little Booker)
1960, "Gonzo", Peacock Records: 5-1697, FR1061
Studio albums
Lost Paramount Tapes (DJM, 1974)
Junco Partner (Hannibal, 1976)
Classified (Demon, 1982)
Live albums
The Piano Prince Of New Orleans (Black Sun Music, 1976)
Blues And Ragtime From New Orleans (Aves, 1976)
James Booker Live! (Gold, 1978)
New Orleans Piano Wizard: Live! (Rounder, 1987)
Resurrection of the Bayou Maharajah (Rounder, 1993)
Spiders on the Keys (Rounder, 1993)
Live at Montreux (Montreux Sounds, 1997)
United Our Thing Will Stand (Night Train International, 2000)
A Taste Of Honey (Night Train International, 2006)
Manchester '77 (Document, 2007)
Live From Belle Vue (Suncoast Music, 2015)
At Onkel Pö's Carnegie Hall Hamburg 1976 Vol. 1 (Jazz Line, 2019)
True - Live at Tipitina's - 04/25/78 (Tipitina's Records, 2021)
Compilations
King Of New Orleans Keyboard Vol. 1-2 (JSP, 1984–85)
Mr. Mystery (Sundown, 1984)
Let's Make A Better World (Amiga, 1991)
The Lost Paramount Tapes (DJM, 1995)
More Than All The 45s (Night Train International, 1996)
New Orleans Keyboard King (Orbis, 1996)
"James Carroll Booker was a complex character, a true musical genius, tormented and defeated by his own worst tendencies. Yet James Booker played with a speed, imagination, and touch that has left such masters as Arthur Rubinstein, George Winston and Harry Connick Jr. in silent awe.
As to how James Booker lost his eye, nobody knows - a cheap journalistic trick, of course, but one of which Booker would approve. Booker was a showman, and a showman loves and needs mystery.
Booker told Johnny Vidacovich that record producers beat it out of him after Booker worked some flimflam. He told Dr. John that John F. Kennedy did it. To Charles Neville and many others, Ringo did it, thus the star on the black patch he wore. He told Kent Taylor he lost it in Angola, but would not say how. The truth was likely too painful for Booker to share.
James Booker had the marvelous gift to be able to set aside the tragedy of his own life - the addiction, the paranoia, the loss of family - and communicate joy through the keyboard. His own compositions are imbued with irony and humor, not only in the lyrics, but in his voice, and again, not just his voice but the piano itself." (Shoofly Magazine)
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