@001 Bo, Eddie\Bo, Eddie (1937-) Born Edwin Bocage on September 20, 1937, 'Bo' c ame from a family

of musicians. His father's side came from across the Mississi ppi river in Algiers. His mother was a professional Blues player, frequently pl aying at the Saturday night fish fries, which were private money-raising parties in the African-American neighborhoods during the 1930s (cf. Dave "Fat Man" Will iams biography). Bo remembered that the predominant style at those fish fries w as barrelhouse piano, and a more or less collective musical saga of drugs, prost itution and prison called "The Junker(s)."...Pianists would take turns singing a nd playing the thing to death." Mac Rebennack recalled that it was sung at the state prison farm at Angola to a rhythm which became known as "the jailbird beat ." From 1958 to 1964, Bo worked with an R & B band with the Lastie brothers Walt er and David, and guitarist Irving Bannister, touring as the show band for Amos Milburn, Charles Brown, Little Willie John and Ruth Brown. This solidified Bo's talent as a stage performer and also exposed him to other influences from jazz p iano, such as George Shearing, Oscar Peterson and Art Tatum. He tried to combin e this with what he had learned from Professor Longhair, whose style he had abso rbed from listening to him from outside the Caledonia club as he was too young t o be let in. Bo recorded for most of the local New Orleans labels during the 50 s and 60s, but he was most loyal to Joe Ruffino at Ric Records. In 1959 Etta Ja mes recorded his tune "Dearest Darling," and it stayed high on the R & B charts for 17 weeks. During this time his style was often associated with that of Hue y "Piano" Smith (cf.). Both Smith and Bo put out songs about the cartoon charac ter Popeye in 1962, which blossomed into a dance fad which swept the country. Du ring the early 70's, Bo retired from performing to concentrate on working on hou se renovations. He established a construction company and saved the money he ea rned there to make more recordings. With his singer/wife Toni he opened a club, the El Grande, in 1979 and began to record, making his first LP entitled "Anothe r Side of Eddie Bo" later that year. It combines blues, jazz, disco, and pop in solid arrangements. The following year he closed the club and put out a second and better LP "Watch for the Coming" on his own Eboville label, with Toni on v ocals and Guitar Slim Jr. on guitar. Bo's style is an eclectic one, combining b ebop licks and Thelonius Monk quotations with Professor Longhair-style rumba rhy thms and rich chords and syncopation's. He continues to be an active player ar ound New Orleans. @002 Booker, James \ Booker, James (1939-1983) James Carroll Booker, III was bor n at Charity Hospital in New Orleans on December 17, 1939. His father, J. C. Boo ker Jr. was a Baptist preacher and pianist (and purportedly the composer of the Booker standard "Pop's Dilemma.". As a young child, Booker was sent to be raise d by his aunt in the nearby Bay St. Louis area. It was here that he showed an i nterest in music at age 6, when he began to take piano lessons. He learned quic kly, and played well enough to be considered a child prodigy, studying classical music with his teacher. Much to the chagrin of his classical teachers, he was always more attracted to the blues than any other musical form.. Tragedy struck Booker at age ten when he was hit by a speeding ambulance, fracturing his leg. This event had an effect on his walk for the rest of his life, while introducing him to morphine as a pain-killer, eventually leading to a debilitating drug hab it. When Booker's father died in 1953, he moved back to New Orleans to live with his mother, who enrolled him in Xavier Preparatory School. There he excelled i n Math, Spanish, and, of course, Music. Through his older sister Betty Jean, he landed his first professional job playing Blues and Gospel music on a regular Sunday program over radio station WMRY. He formed his first group, Booker Boy a nd the Rhythmaires, which included Art Neville, a man who also frequently joined him on the radio. Also around that time, Bo became influenced by pianist Tuts Washington, whom he heard during the older pianist's visits to Bo's mother's hou se, as well as in clubs, where, being underage, he had to sneak-in. Pianist Edw ard Frank introduced him to Dave Bartholomew, who recorded two of Booker's tunes : "Thinking about My Baby" and "Doing the Hambone" on Imperial. They didn't sel l all that well, but they got Booker into the recording business at the ripe old age of 14. According to studio owner Cosimo Matassa, Bartholomew would someti

mes use Booker to fill-in piano tracks for Fats Domino when Fats was out of town . Fats would then fill-in the vocals when he came back to town. In 1957, Booke r graduated from Xavier Prep and joined Joe Tex's band, traveling around the sou thern club circuit and appearing in Texas, Arkansas and Georgia. When Ace Recor ds signed Tex, Booker came on board as well and began recording on the Hammond o rgan. He soon achieved local prominence as an Organist, playing as many as thre e regular gigs on organ per week. In 1958, Booker cut an instrumental on Ace Re cords which included "Teenage Rock" and "Open the Door." But when label owner J ohnny Vincent dubbed Joe Tex's voice-over "Open the Door", Booker was upset and managed to get out of his 3-year contract with Ace by claiming his mother had si gned for him when he was underage. It was at this time that Booker began to bec ome involved with hard drugs, which he later talked about openly, admitting that he played music primarily to earn money for dope. The drugs began to affect his behavior as a musician, and some began to lose patience with him. In 1959, Book er enrolled at Southern University in Baton Rouge, hoping that his college studi es would help him overcome his drug habit. He dropped out of school two months short of graduation in order to play organ in an R & B band led by Dee Clark and Phil Upchurch. The band broke up soon afterwards in Houston and the organ was sold to New Orleans club owner Don Robey, who also owned Peacock records. Booke r worked a few gigs at Robey's club, the Golden Peacock, and recorded two instru mental sides for him, "Gonzo" and "Cool Turkey"; both are references to the drug culture ("Gonzo" was the name of the main character in the movie The Pusher ). The record made number 10 on Billboard's R & B chart and 43 on the pop chart i n December 1960, but even though Booker recorded five more sides for Robey, they were not able to duplicate their earlier success. Booker left Peacock in 1962, and his drug problem worsened. He wandered around among New Orleans, Los Angel es, Las Vegas and New York. He managed to play on Lloyd Price's hit "Misty" in 1962, with Aretha Franklin on "So Swell When You're Well," and on Fats Domino's Fats Is Back album on Reprise, once again sounding like Fats. In 1970 he was a rrested outside the Dew Drop Inn in New Orleans for heroin possession and senten ced to two years at the state penitentiary in Angola. Booker served six months before being paroled. After finding it slow in New Orleans, Booker broke parole and headed for New York, where he recorded with Maria Muldaur, Ringo Starr (on Beaucoup of Blues ), Jerry Garcia, and the Doobie Brothers. Later in Los Angele s, he recorded with Charles Brown and with T-Bone Walker (his last album, Very R are on Warner Brothers). Booker returned to New Orleans in 1975, his legal prob lems having been straightened out, although now wearing a patch over his left ey e. He told various stories about how he lost his eye, but admitted to friends t hat it was through the use of a dirty syringe. It was that same year that he ma de his first flamboyant appearance at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival , which turned out to be auspicious. German promoter/musicologist Norbert Hess heard him and brought him to the 1975 Berlin Rhythm and Blues Festival, which le d to other European appearances. Upon returning to the U.S., he recorded his Jun co Partner album; one of three, along with Classified and Piano Prince of New Orleans, representing Booker's entire recorded legacy as a mature performer. Ju nco Partner was released on the British label Island, and it led to more Europe an touring in England and Germany in 1976. Back in Europe the following year, Bo oker recorded Piano Prince of New Orleans as a live album in Zurich, which won the Grand Prix du Disque de Jazz award. In 1978 he performed at the Montreux Jaz z Festival in Switzerland, which turned out to be his last trip to Europe. Retur ning to New Orleans, Booker turned inward emotionally, went through a series of managers, and exhibited very erratic behavior; leaving the stage in mid-set, vom iting on the piano, and frequently checking into the Charity Hospital psychiatri c ward. He recorded one more albums, one in 1982 for Rounder, which almost didn 't happen. Booker's health was terrible and the session was rescheduled several times. The first two days of studio time were wasted with Booker's childish an tics, but on the third day Booker made good, recording more than enough material for the album, although he stopped in the middle of a powerful rendition of "Bi g Chief" with the tape rolling to run to bank to cash his check. Then he disapp eared, only to turn up at the New Orleans House of Detention. His manager John

Parsons bailed him out, and he played at Parson's ntly as ever. Things went better for awhile, but e following summer: he took up cocaine again that atic again and he died of an overdose on November rt of his 44th birthday.

club The Maple Leaf as brillia Booker returned to drinking th fall. His behavior became err 8, 1983, less than a month sho

@003 Domino, Fats \ Domino, Fats (1928-) Born Antoine Domino, Jr. February 26, 1 928, the most popular of the 50s rock and roll stars was one of nine children. His first language was French. His father had come from Vacherie, a small town upriver from New Orleans, worked at the racetrack and played the violin at home. Fats heard the blues in his lower Ninth Ward neighborhood growing up (where he still lives today), played on pianos and horns, rather than on guitars, as was more common elsewhere in the Mississippi delta. He taught himself to pick out t une on the piano, and dropped out of school after the fourth grade. His most im portant musical influence was guitarist Harrison Verrett, 21 years his senior, w ho had played with Papa Celestin and Kid Ory and who married Fats's sister. Verr ett oversaw Fats early musical development, instilling high performance and beha vior standards in him and in other musicians of Fats' generation. Domino's early recorded musical influences were west coast R & B artists, notably Amos Milburn Roy Milton, Camille Howard, Charles Brown and above all Louis Jordan, the most popular black musician of the mid-1940s, who had made it onto the commercial cha rts. Domino also listened to Louis Armstrong. By his late teens, Domino was gi gging around the city, as well as working at the racetrack, on an ice truck, in a lumberyard and in a bedsprings factory, where he nearly lost two fingers. Ban d leader Dave Bartholomew took an interest in him and brought him to the attenti on of Lew Chudd of Imperial Records, who had come to New Orleans in 1949 from Ne w York looking for new talent. It was DJ Poppa Stoppa (Duke Thiele) who directed them to Fats, while he was playing in a Ninth Ward bar room. Since it was ille gal at that time for a cabdriver to take white patrons to a black establishment, Chudd had to lay on the floor of the cab during the ride. Domino cut his first record "The Fat Man" for Imperial that same year, recording in Cosimo Matassa's studio where so many early R & B recordings were made. The studio was attached to Matassa's J&M Record Shop as Matassa had been fascinated with electronics an d had opened the studio in 1945 when he was only 18 years old. The recording m achine was so primitive they had to have someone catch the plastic pieces the re cording needle was digging out of the blank master as it recorded. Domino's mai n attraction was his rich, warm singing voice with its country French patois acc ents. He was a shy person, almost overwhelmed by all the attention he was getti ng, and he'd often interrupt a take to ask how it was. The record reached numbe r 6 on the R & B charts and was very popular in New Orleans. On his fifth rele ase "Every Night About This Time" he introduced the triplet chord figure which h e made so famous. It has been suggested that the idea was inspired from Texas b lues pianist Little Willie Littlefield, whose recording "It's Midnight" reached no. 3 on the R & B charts in 1949. Between 1950 and 1955, 14 of 26 releases of Domino's singles made the top ten on the R & B charts, as he was also edging clo ser and closer to the white market. Finally, in May 1955, his "Ain't That a Sha me" made no. 10 out of Billboard's top 100; the first song by a New Orleans R & B artist to break into the white pop charts. It was covered that same year by Pat Boone, whose 'smaltzy' rendition brought it to no. 1. He won a Billboard DJ poll that same year as favorite artist. He also reached number five on the whi te pop charts with a rollicking dance number "I'm in Love Again" (not the Richar d Rogers tune). Meanwhile, the Shaw agency in New York booked his road tours. I n 1954 he had played the Rock-and-Roll Jubilee Ball at the St. Nicholas Arena in New York, organized by Alan Freed, the DJ who coined the term "Rock and Roll". Domino's first TV appearance was on the Steve Allen Show in 1956. He was booke d on the Perry Como Show twice in 1957, and frequently appeared on Dick Clark's American Bandstand. He also appeared as a performer in a number of Rock-and-Ro ll movies such as "The Girl Can't Help It" (arguably the best one); "Do re Me" ; "Shake, Rattle and Roll" ; "Disc Jocky Jamboree"; and "The Big Beat". His ea rly country roots stood him in good stead. He covered a number of Country and W

estern tunes, the most famous of which was, of course, "Blueberry Hill" in 1956. (First recorded by Gene Autry in 1941, which Dave Bartholomew thought was hor rible, until Chudd told him it had sold 2 million copies.) He also covered "I'm Gonna Be a Wheel Some Day" by Baton Rouge singer Roy Haynes (first recorded by Bobby Mitchell, a black New Orleans singer), and Hank Williams' "Jambalaya" and "Your Cheatin' Heart." These recordings endeared him to a large White blue-coll ar audience, which was unique among Black R & B artists. Meanwhile, Ricky Nelso n covered Domino's hit "I'm Walkin'" in 1957, launching Nelson's career as a pop star. By the early 1960's, his voice had matured and he began to record some s tandards since his producers were afraid the Rock and Roll phenomenon would disa ppear. He recorded "My Blue Heaven," "When My Dreamboat Comes Home," "Margie," and "I'm in the Mood for Love," all of which showed off a greater vocal range a nd polish. But Rock and Roll turned into Rock and broadened out with the Britis h invasion of 1963, the year the Beatles took New York. Lew Chudd had sold Impe rial Records that same year, while R & B began to fade in popularity, being repl aced by the more socially and politically oriented Rock music. Domino's last so ng to make the charts was his cover of Paul McCartney's "Lady Madonna" which bar ely made the 100 slot on Billboard's top 100 in 1968. He was still playing La s Vegas regularly well into the 1970s (where he lost $180,000 in two weeks, whil e making $6500/week in salary). In 1982 he made "Whiskey Heaven," which made th e Country charts, but his recording activity never returned to the level of his most successful years. He still tours and appears regularly at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, playing his old successes. Domino's compilation alb ums sell strongly. EMI owns the old Imperial masters, and Domino '65 on Mercur y captures his live act well. Nowadays he mostly leads a modest life in the Nin th Ward, surrounded by his souvenirs and frequently cooking up a storm. @004 Dr. John\ Dr. John (1941-) was born Malcolm ("Mac") Rebennack in New Orlea ns November 21, 1941, his first instrument was the guitar. Both his parents lov ed music --his mother had studied dance as a child. As an infant he posed for l ocal advertising photos of Ivory Soap. At age 3 he was picking out melodies on the family piano. His earliest musical influences were from country music-Hank Williams, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry (but also blues pianists Roosevelt Sykes, Champ ion Jack Dupree and Memphis Minnie.) He listened for hours to the 78s his fathe r Malcolm Sr. stocked in his radio/appliance/record shop. A musical prodigy, he frustrated his Nun piano teacher by playing exactly what she played right after she played it. He chose the guitar to be his first serious instrument and imme diately began picking out licks from records of Lightning Hopkins and Lightning Slim. He loved the Blues but had little patience for note reading. His father' s friendship with Cosimo Matassa got him into the studio, where he pestered the musicians to show him licks. He first saw Professor Longhair at a Westbank club called the Pepper Pot, but he had to watch through a window because he was unde rage. He took guitar lessons from Fats Domino's guitarist, Papoose Nelson. His love of Rock and Roll caused him to quit Jesuit High School and completed his de gree by correspondence. Rebennack did his first session work at age 15; he form ed a band with his high school buddies, which never lacked for work both in New Orleans and in the surrounding region. Rebennack constantly crossed the racial line and sometimes suffered serious repercussions from racist patrons, but he wa s undeterred. He picked up African-American speech patterns and generally found acceptance among black musicians. Rebennack became a prolific song and session player on guitar in the late 1950s for local labels Ace, Rex and Ebb, playing on records with Joe Tex, Huey "Piano" Smith, Professor Longhair, Frankie Ford and others. More than 50 of his compositions were recorded between 1956 and 1963, v ery few of which he received any royalties for. He wrote "Lights Out" for Jerry Byrne (one of his own band members), which became a legendary local hit with Ar t Neville on piano as well as "What's Goin' On" for Neville. Under his own nam e he cut the instrumental "Storm Warning" in 1959 for the Rex label. He hit the national charts with his tune "Lady Luck," sung by Lloyd Price, which reached n umber 14 on the pop charts in 1960, although he received no royalties for it. He met with somewhat less than stellar success with his song "Losing Battle," sung

by Johnny Adams, which hit no. 30 on the R & B charts in 1962. He then built u p a roster of artists for Johnny Vincent of Ace Records, scouting out artists in some of the shabbiest places. On Christmas Eve, 1961, he received a bullet woun d in his left index finger from a motel manager in Jacksonville, FL. This cost him his future with the guitar, and he began to turn to keyboards, taking some l essons from James Booker on organ. After the death of his father in 1962, the b reakup of his marriage in 1964, and a bout with drugs (for which he committed hi mself to a hospital in Fort Worth, TX.), in 1965 he left New Orleans to join his mother and sister in Anaheim, CA. There, he hooked up with his old friend and fellow New Orleans musician Harold Battiste, the music director for Sonny and Ch er. Battiste put him in touch with the local scene, and he became an active ses sion player. In 1967, he created the character of Dr. John, based on the 19th ce ntury New Orleans voodoo adept, an enormous Black man who claimed to be a Senega lese prince, and who was consulted by thousands. Battiste developed the marketi ng strategy and the time was right as alternative Rock was beginning to catch on . He recorded an album, Gris-Gris, which sold 50,000 copies and donned the sobr iquet "The Night Tripper," a take-off on the Beatles' "Daytripper". At concert appearances he made an elaborate ritual of costuming, and his stage show offered a pop version of voodoo. Rebennack made one more LP with Battiste as his manag er, Babylon, a confused attempt to be politically hip; it sold poorly. Then he switched to Sonny and Cher's manager, Charlie Green and made the LP Remedies wh ich drew deeply on New Orleans cultural references. A serious argument with Gr een in London caused their breakup, and Rebennack was left in need of musical su pport to cut the album he had come to make. Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton among others came to his aid, and the LP entitled "The Sun, the Moon and Herbs" was made, featuring some of his best work. But he was also deeply in debt. Fortun ately, Jerry Wexler of Atlantic Records came to his rescue and hooked him up wit h good management. As a result, he made a popular New Orleans style album Gumbo in 1972, using the best of the New Orleans musical Diaspora in Los Angeles, in cluding Battiste. The LP was a nostalgic tour through Rebennack's favorite New Orleans songs including "Big Chief," "Tipitina," "Those Lonely, Lonely Nights," Sugar Boy Crawford's "Iko Iko" and a medley of Huey Smith tunes. The album wa s a hit, and Rebennack was 'in-demand' for tours, this time abandoning the elabo rate costumes. Next, he recorded a highly successful LP with Allen Toussaint, " Right Place, Wrong Time" whose title cut reached Billboard's top 10 in the sum mer of 1973. TV appearances followed: in 1978 he recorded City Lights and in 1 981 he made "Dr. John Plays Mac Rebennack", a gorgeous piano solo album which in cludes tributes to his father ("Big Mac") and his mother ("Dorothy"). In 1985 h e put out a 5-audio tape series of lessons on New Orleans Piano on Homespun Tape s, followed a few years later by a video cassette on the same label. Rebennack c ontinues to record and perform, making regular appearances in New Orleans while living in New York. @005 Professor Longhair\ Professor Longhair (1918-1980) Born Henry Roeland "Roy" Byrd in Bogalusa, LA, December 19, 1918, the man who became known as Professor Longhair, or Fess, was to become the major influence-despite a limited though hi ghly original style and idiosyncratic way of playing the piano-on Fats Domino, M ac Rebennack (Dr. John), Allen Toussaint, James Booker, Huey Smith, Smiley Lewis , the Meters, and just about every other New Orleans R & B piano player. He fir st rose to prominence in the early 50s but by the mid-60s had sunk into obscurit y, having become a mysterious legend to blues aficionados around the world. The n, he was rediscovered in the early 70s, recorded several LPs, and died on the e ve of success in 1980, having taken his place at the forefront of New Orleans R & B piano pantheon with a New Orleans nightclub, Tipitina's dedicated to his mem ory. A captivating performer both during his early and late periods of notoriety , he would stir crowds to swaying and dancing with his oddball songs, and his hi ghly rhythmic piano playing, which he said combined "rumba, mambo and Calypso," but which also was strongly Blues and Shuffle-based. His distinctive voice, thi n-toned, almost yodeling and cracking on the high notes, became an icon; its voc al "quality" was immaterial. Nearly as important was his whistling. Byrd's fath

er deserted him and his older brother and mother Ella Mae shortly after he was b orn, so she brought the family to New Orleans, settling in a tenement in the cen tral business district, which was later torn down to make room for the new City Hall. The teenage Byrd tap-danced for tips on Bourbon and Rampart Streets with his buddies. They eventually developed an act in which Byrd danced while the ot her two beat our rhythms on old orange crates or tin cans. Byrd's mother played a number of instruments and showed him the basics on them. He first tried guit ar, but gave up soon afterwards because the strings kept breaking and it made hi s fingers sore. Although underage, he would hang out at a club called Delpee's , which featured piano players. These were the old boogie-woogie and barrelhous e artists, most of whom never recorded; names like Robert Bertrand, Kid Stormy W eather, Little Brother Montgomery, Drive 'Em Down, and Sullivan Rock. He also c ame under the influence of Isador "Tuts" Washington (1907-1984), who showed him the basics of stride piano, although Byrd's hands couldn't reach Washington's 't enths'. At one point Byrd became interested in the drums and bought himself a s et piece by piece, but he soon gave up on them because they were to cumbersome. He then turned his attention to the piano. Like Morton a generation earlier, B yrd tried to represent the other band instruments in his piano playing, particul arly the drums and guitar, both of which he had previously played. This gave hi s music a particular direction, a purpose, which he worked out in what became hi s very innovative but very awkward style on the piano --the style which eventual ly became a standard in the genre. During this period of musical development he learned the classic "Pinetop's Boogie-Woogie" from Sullivan Rock (Rocky Sullivan ), whom he had met in a speakeasy around 1936. He also began to get hired, along with his street entertainer friends in the Lincoln and Palace theaters on weeke nds. They developed their act to include acrobatics including dancing up and do wn four-foot walls. But Byrd only stayed with this a month, since he objected t o the comedian throwing pies in his face. He also developed a passion for card -playing around this time, especially the game of coon-can. He got so good at i t that he later supported his family on his gambling winnings at this game. Byrd 's first professional job was at the Cotton Club on Rampart Street with champion Jack Dupree. Although 8 years his senior, Dupree eagerly studied Byrd's licks and tricks on the piano in exchange for teaching Byrd to sing. Longhair stopped tap-dancing due to a knee problem around that time but spent more time on piano playing and gambling. In 1937, Byrd spent six months in the Civilian Conservat ion Corps doing infrastructural work such as building levees, grading roads, dig ging spillways and landscaping the highways. He realized he could avoid some of the heavy work by entertaining his fellow workers on the recreation hall piano. It was also during this time as he traveled around Louisiana that he came into contact with rumba and Calypso bands, which formed a deep impression on him. Ba ck in New Orleans, his primary interest was in playing coon-can; he took piano jobs whenever he ran out of money to get back in the game. He even tried boxing , but gave that up when he got his front teeth knocked out in a back-alley fight . After a two-year stint in the army (ending in a medical discharge due to a her nia and burst appendix), Byrd went into partnership in a soul food restaurant, t eaching himself to cook, with a little gambling and sales of cheap items on the side. He married, but stayed with his wife only month, although he could not di vorce her until 1975, the day before he married his second wife and companion of many years, Alice Walton Byrd. After the war his partner bought him out, and B yrd returned to coon-can and piano playing to supplement his income. Byrd's big break came in 1948 at the Caledonia Club, located at the corner of St. Claude an d St. Philip Streets. Dave Bartholomew was playing there with his orchestra, an d Byrd asked to sit in. Once he started playing, the audience reacted with imme diate enthusiasm, and people started pouring into the club. The owner, Mike Tes sitore then fired Bartholomew and hired Byrd on the spot. Byrd hired his own ba nd, which was billed as the Three Hair Combo "featuring Professor Longhair, Shor thair, and No Hair." Byrd was now 'in-demand' among club owners. In October of 1949 he made his first recording in a makeshift studio for the Dallas-based Sta r Talent label. He called his group "Professor Longhair and his Shuffling Hunga rians" and recorded "She Ain't Got No Hair" and the original "Mardi Gras in New

Orleans." The record was never released, however, because the session was held under non-union conditions. At that time it was considered unusual to record so ngs about Mardi Gras, so Byrd's song was an innovation --his first released reco rding turned out to be a success on the R & B charts, reaching no. 5 in August, 1950. It was entitled "Baldhead," a remake of "She Ain't Got No Hair" on the Mercury label. Byrd had to record under his own name, Roy Byrd, in order to avo id legal hassles from Star Talent. He next recorded for Atlantic (even before th e Mercury recording became a success), cutting ten sides to make a total of thre e singles, including "Mardi Gras in New Orleans," "Professor Longhair Blues," an d "Walk Your Blues Away." They sold very well locally. In 1951 Byrd changed to the Federal label and recorded "Curly Haired Baby" and "Gone So Long" for it, t he latter becoming a modest hit in Louisiana and Texas. In 1952, Byrd went on a short midwestern tour with Dave Bartholomew and Fats Domino. Even though Fats w as better known through his record sales, Byrd consistently upstaged him with hi s wild antics on the piano, including walking across the keys. He also bested F ats at coon-can during the long stretches in the back of Fats's Cadillac between stops. In 1953, Byrd recorded his famous "Tipitina" for Atlantic (with Earl Pa lmer, Red Tyler, Lee Allen and Frank Fields as sidemen), which became a local hi t. But since he appeared live only at small clubs in New Orleans, the record di d not catch on beyond the Gulf Coast. In 1954, Byrd suffered a mild stroke which stopped him from performing. His common-law wife Alice Walton, was forced to take in laundry for the family to survive, and Byrd went back to coon-can playin g. He began recording again the following year, but by 1958, after recording fo r Ron Records his popularity began to wane, giving way to newer performers such as Lee Dorsey, Irma Thomas and Ernie K-Doe. Most of his work came around Carniv al time, and on Mardi Gras day in 1960 he was arrested for suspicion of drug pos session. His musical spirits briefly return when he recorded Earl King's "Big Ch ief" for Watch records in 1963, but due to bad release timing and weak promotion the record did not do well, and Byrd's enthusiasm for music began to sink again . He resorted to sweeping up around Joe Assunto's One-Stop Record shop on South Rampart Street, abandoned by record companies. Byrd remained in poverty, dejec tion and obscurity until rescued by two young jazz enthusiasts, Quint Davis and Allison Minor, who had put together the first New Orleans Jazz Festival in Congo Square in 1969. The following year they brought international festival produce r George Wein in on the project, and when he happened to hear a recording of Pro fessor Longhair he told them they'd better find him if they wanted to do a festi val in New Orleans. It took them nearly a year, but they finally ran into him a t the One-Stop record shop, suffering from a vitamin deficiency, toothless, his knee in terribly shape and hardly able to digest food or urinate. They took car e of him and got him to perform at the still fledgling 1971 festival. He was th e hit of the event. After having difficulties fending off what seemed like an ar my of would-be managers, Quint Davis assumed the job. A demo session in 1972 re ally set things going. Byrd cut 34 songs in a Baton Rouge studio, and they came to the attention of Atlantic records president Jerry Wexler and The Band manage r Albert Grossman. As a result, Wexler arranged a European tour for Byrd in 197 3 which included Paris and Montreux, in which he was accompanied by Allen Toussa int and the Meters. Atlantic also issued a "New Orleans Piano" album as part of their six-part Blues Originals series, which collected Byrd's sessions from 1 949 to 1953. The album attracted attention world-wide and gave Professor Longha ir another boost. His life was now transformed; his health had radically improve d and he began to be concerned with business matters. Throughout the dark times he had remained intensely loyal to his family, which had been a source of stren gth, especially in the person of his wife Alice Walton Byrd, but he had forbidde n his children from taking up music. Unfortunately, the R & B club scene was st ill in its infancy, and Byrd found no steady work. The late Jed Palmer, owner o f Jed's on Maple Street (now Muddy Waters) was the first to hire him and charge a cover charge --$1. Byrd and his family moved into a house on South Rampart St reet which Quint Davis had rented as a rehearsal hall, but it burned to the grou nd during Jazz Fest 1974, and Byrd lost everything. A benefit only raised $4500 , so the French label Barclay fronted the money for another album, Rock 'n' Rol

l Gumbo, which turned out to be one of his best. Byrd began playing for dances at the 501 Club and Davis gave over his management completely to Allison Minor, since the Jazz Festival was taking up all of his energies. Paul McCartney notic ed him when the ex-Beatle was in New Orleans to record an album at Allen Toussai nt's studio Sea-Saint in 1976, and he hired Byrd to play for a part aboard the Q ueen Mary, which was recorded on Harvest (a subsidiary of Capitol). At the tim e Byrd had never heard of the Beatles. In 1977 a group of Byrd's local admirers bought the 501 Club (at 501 Napoleon Ave.) and turned it into Tipitina's. There Byrd put on exciting performances, memories of which are treasured by those who saw him. Byrd finally had a stable income, and he was a generous man. He was ' in-demand' world-wide and would jet off for appearances to New York, Chicago, Lo s Angeles or London. In November, 1979, he recorded Crawfish Fiesta at Sea-Sain t with a stellar band, including Dr. John on guitar. The results were excellent and preparations were made for a big release celebration, but Byrd died of a h eart attack in his sleep less than a day before the album was to be sold in reco rd stores: January 30, 1980. @006 Smith, Huey "Piano"\ Smith, Huey "Piano" (1934-) Born in New Orleans Januar y 26, 1934, Huey Smith rose to prominence during the formative years of R & B in the 1950s only to fall back into obscurity in the late 1960's. His early music al influences included Dinah Washington, Ivory Joe Hunter, Bull Moose Jackson, C harles Brown and even Hank Williams. But his main influence at this stage was L ouis Jordan, the famous band leader precursor of rock and roll. Later Smith's p iano style became heavily influenced by Professor Longhair (Henry Roeland "Roy" Byrd). Smith teamed up with Eddie Jones, AKA Guitar Slim in 1949, and played so me backups on some of Slim's recordings. He first recorded under his own name i n 1953, following a giant audition held by Savoy records. He cut "You Made Me C ry" and "You're Down on Me," pounding at the piano and singing in a somewhat str ained, still immature voice. Smith did session work for Smiley Lewis (the intro on "I Hear You Knocking") as well as with Lloyd Price and Little Richard, but go t his first big break when Johnny Vincent left Specialty records to form Ace in 1955, and Smith played piano on Earl King's hit "Those Lonely, Lonely Nights," b ut Vincent implicitly gave the credit to Fats Domino, who was a rising star at t he time. When Vincent finally did record Smith it was to fill out the flip side of Eddie Bo's "I'm Wise," but then Smith's cut "We Like Mambo" was "mistakenly" credited to Bo. The next printing corrected the error, but the damage had been done, and Bo even began featuring "We Like Mambo" on his live dates. Smith fina lly did record "Little Liza Jane" for Ace, which became a local hit. He gigged around the region, often playing in clubs a hundred or so miles from each other on successive nights. He hooked up with Shirley and Lee for some roadwork which took him to Atlanta and New York, but his next big break came with "Rockin' Pne umonia and the Boogie-Woogie Flu," which made no. 10 on the R & B charts and no 52 on the pop charts in 1957, which he recorded with his band the Clowns, featur ing singer Bobby Marchan. The band became known for their crazy on-stage stunts which were very popular with audiences. Their next recording "Don't You Just Kn ow It" and "High Blood Pressure" did even better, reaching no. 4 on the R & B ch arts and no. 9 on the pop charts, selling over 2 million copies in 1958. But Hu ey dropped out of the band to come back to New Orleans, being replaced by James Booker, leaving Marchan to lead the band. The event which left Smith most frustr ated, however, was Johnny Vincent's giving his song "Sea Cruise" to Frankie Ford to record. Smith never received more than a few hundred dollars of his promise d royalties for this major hit. After a few more forays in commercial music, wh ich met with only moderate success, Smith withdrew into religion, becoming a Jeh ovah's Witness. He tried to make a comeback a few times, but was mistreated, di scouraged, had bouts with alcoholism, and finally withdrew definitively from the music scene. @007 Sykes, Roosevelt\ Sykes Roosevelt (1906-1883) If Jelly Roll Morton and Tony Jackson belonged to the first generation of modern New Orleans piano players, t hen Roosevelt Sykes-New Orleanian by adoption late in life-and Tuts Washington b

elonged to the second. As a blues player he influenced people like Dave "Fat Ma n" Williams and Dr. John, belonging to that generation who came to artistic matu rity before the New Orleans R & B style had begun to coalesce in the late 1940s. Sykes was born January 31, 1906 on his grandfather's farm in Helena AR, a town on the Mississippi River about 60 miles down river from Memphis, but he grew up in St. Louis. He absorbed influences from both places, often returning to Hele na to hear piano players like Jese Bell, Joe Crump and Baby Sneel, his earliest influences. In St. Louis he accompanied blues vocalists like St. Louis Jimmy an d "Specks" McFadden. He first recorded in New York in 1929, and settled in Chic ago in 1934. The Windy City was at that time a Mecca for the blues, having been the main destination for the great black migration from the Mississippi Delta w hich had started after World War I. It was through this migration that the "coun try blues" became the "urban blues," frequently in the same people, as is the ca se with Sykes, who enjoyed his greatest popularity in the 30s and especially the 40s. In 1940 he took on Memphis Slim (Peter Chatman) as a student. He enjoyed four decades of recording and performing, using many pseudonyms along the way, i ncluding "Dobby Bragg," "Willy Kelly," "Casey Papa Johnson," St. Louis Johnny," and his most famous, "The Honeydripper." He toured Europe four times between 19 61 and 1974. His piano style featured a simple left hand, frequently single repe ated notes on the beats, with great rhythmic complexity in his right hand. He r emained harmonically very straightforward, rarely venturing beyond the three sta ndard blues chords, a style with more kinship to the guitarists of the region th an to the recorded pianists, although the unrecorded ones were frequently even s impler than that. He would often sing about half a measure ahead of his accompa niment, a trait that became his trademark. A gentle, spiritual man, Sykes became a regular at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival after settling there in the 70s (he said because he liked the fishing so well), and was known for the r isqu lyrics of songs like "Dresser Drawers" and "Ice Cream Freezer." But he look ed to the blues as "a true confession thing," he said, "and people always did li ke the truth." His lyrics covered a wide variety of subjects, including love, r evenge, life in the city, regrets, as well as sexuality. Sykes died in New Orlea ns July 11, 1983. @008 Toussaint, Allen\ Toussaint Allen (1938-) Composer, pianist, producer Allen Toussaint was born January 14, 1938 in New Orleans, growing up in the Gert Town neighborhood near the historic Lincoln Park (the African-American amusement par k where Buddy Bolden played around the turn of the century, now occupied by a ga soline station on Carrollton Avenue). He manifested his musical interests at a ge 7 when he began playing on his sister's piano. Later he was deeply influence d by Henry Roeland ("Roy") Byrd, AKA Professor Longhair, whom he later dubbed "t he Bach of Rock." He dropped out of school to tour with Shirley and Lee, replac ing Huey "Piano" Smith and later became a regular at the Dew Drop Inn. Toussaint began hanging around Cosimo Matassa's studio in the early 1950s, and Dave Barth olomew finally hired him to play backing tracks for Fats Domino's "I Want to Kno w" and "Young School Girl," among others. He was soon recognized for his arrang ing talents, especially on the Lee Allen hit "Walking for Mr. Lee" in 1958. He made his own LP that year for RCA, The Wild Sounds of New Orleans, recording th e entire album in two days, including "Java," which turned out to be a hit for A l Hirt in 1963. He became the principal producer for the Minit label, owned by J oe Banashak and Larry Mckinley in 1960, and recorded Jesse Hill's "Ooo Poo Pah D o" which reached no. 3 on the R & B charts and no. 30 on the pop charts that yea r; and Ernie K-Doe's "Mother-in-Law," which reached no. 1 on both charts in 1961 . He also recognized the talents of Benny Spellman and produced Spellman's hit "Lipstick Traces" in 1962. When Joe Banashak became dissatisfied with his dist ributor he left Imperial and founded Instant records, putting Toussaint in again as head producer. There Toussaint produced Chris Kenner's "I Like It Like That " which reached no. 2 on both R& B and pop charts in 1961. Toussaint was drafted in 1963 and got out in 1965, when he was courted by several labels, but chose i nstead to form a partnership with Marshal Sehorn, originally from Charlotte, NC, and who had produced Wilbert Harrison's "Kansas City" which had reached no. one

on both R & B and pop charts in 1959, as well as Lee Dorsey's "Yah-Yah" (no. 1 on R & B, no. 7 on pop in 1961) in 1961. Toussaint and Sehorn opened Seasaint S tudio together in 1972. There he produced more hits with Lee Dorsey and also re corded the Meters, the Neville Brothers, Dr. John (Mac Rebennack), LaBelle, Joe Cockers and many others, doing the arrangements for Paul Simon's album Rhymin' S imon. Toussaint's own album activity, confined to that period, include Toussain t in 1971 on Tiffany; Life, Love and Faith in 1972; and Southern Nights in 1 975 on Reprise and Motion in 1978 on Warner Brothers. His compositions have be en recorded by the Oak Ridge Boys, Devo, Little Feat, Boss Scaggs, Bonnie Raitt and many others. @009 Washington, Tuts\ Washington, Tuts (1907-1984) Isadore "Tuts" Washington, J r. was born in New Orleans January 24, 1907. He considered himself a Creole; hi s great-grandfather was an Indian, and Tuts claimed he had gotten his skin color . Washington was raised by his aunt after his mother died when he was six, and first began to play on his aunt's piano when he was ten, having been exposed to the rich musical life of New Orleans where, on weekends, bands would compete on street corners and where every wake had a band, as he told Jeff Hannusch He beg an by teaching himself the Blues, listening from the outside to the many players holding forth in the clubs. He started playing professionally in a movie theat er for the silent films and at fish fries-parties held by individual families to raise expense money, where musicians ate for free and got paid a few dollars (s ee Dave "Fat Man" Williams biography). Washington quit school after the sixth gr ade and worked as a shoe-shine boy, very content with the $7/week he was making. He played with a number of the Dixieland bands, including those led by Kid Ren a and Kid Punch, and he figured out that he had to play more than the blues if h e didn't want to be just one more in the legion of barrelhouse piano players. Du ring the 1920s Washington played in "Black Storyville," a red light district on Perdido Street, now mostly parking lots in the central business district. Story ville had been closed in 1917. There he'd run into the blues players who were t he mainstay of solo piano in the black brothels, men like Hezekiah, Fats Pichon, Burnell Santiago, Kid Stormy Weather, Drive 'Em Down, Little Brother Montgomery and "Black" Merineaux. Sometimes three of four of them would try to "buck" eac h other, competing to see who was best, taking turns on one piano. If a place w as raided, Washington would have to escape quickly, since he was still underage. His aunt frequently beat him on suspicion of hanging out at the whorehouses. At that time his main musical influence was Joseph Louis "Red" Cayou (1905-1947) , who was generally acknowledged as the best of the local piano players. Accord ing to Washington, he could run any player off the piano by simply entering the room. Washington copied his left hand technique from Cayou, who left New Orlean s for Oakland, CA around 1925, and died in a car crash. At age 18 Washington was sent to a teacher, but he quit after one lesson, since the teacher felt he coul dn't teach the boy anything. He continued to learn by ear, and during the 1930s Washington lived well playing mostly in black-run speakeasies and brothels on S outh Rampart Street (where he was reportedly well-treated by the women who worke d there) and with bands on Bourbon Street, such as those run by Kid Sheik, Alton Purnel and Thomas Jefferson. It was also during this time that the underage Wa shington met the young Roy Byrd (aka Professor Longhair), who came the South Ram part Street clubs to listen to him. Throughout the 1940s Washington worked in an d around New Orleans, often with vocalist Smiley Lewis (Overton Lemons), whom he had met while he was playing with Jefferson during the previous decade. In 194 8, Washington was on Lewis's record "Turn On Your Volume" and "Here Comes Smiley " on Deluxe, and they became a popular group around town, playing at places such as The Gypsy Tea Room, the El Morocco and the Dew Drop Inn. Washington supplie d Lewis with a number of his songs, many of which never gave Washington credit, including "Tee-Nah-Nah," whose popularity became the basis for their touring aro und the region. Washington broke with Lewis in 1951 and joined Papa Celestin's Dixieland Band, replacing Jeanette Kimball-his cousin-on piano, playing mostly a t the Paddock Lounge on Bourbon Street. He gave the job back to Kimball when sh e asked for it and took a resort job in Grand Isle, LA with Andrew Anderson. Wa

shington knew Fats Domino and James Booker coming up. He would visit Booker's h ouse when Booker was young and admired the prodigy, who in turn learned what he could from Washington. They remained friends, and it saddened Washington to see Booker's problems with narcotics and the law. In 1979, Washington participated with Allen Toussaint and Professor Longhair in a video made by Stevenson Palfi c alled Pianists Rarely Ever Play Together. The idea was to show three generatio ns of piano players. Professor Longhair died before the final shooting, so the video consists mostly of rehearsals in which the piano players interact with eac h other informally. Washington began a two-year solo stint at the Bayou Bar of the Pontchartrain Hotel in 1980, playing mostly standards with an occasional boo gie-woogie. In March, 1983, he finally made his first recording New Orleans Pia no Professor on Rounder, which he was very proud of, and which achieved much su ccess locally. He died while performing at the New Orleans World's Fair in Augu st, 1984. @010 Spann, Otis\Spann Otis (1930-1970) Otis Spann was born in Jackson Mississip pi Mar. 21 1930. One of five children, his mother was a singer/guitarist who pl ayed with Bessie Smith. His father, like many bluesmen was also a preacher. Ot is taught himself piano at the age of five, and was playing in his fathers churc h by the time he was just seven years old. When he was eight he won a talent co ntest in his home town of Jackson MS. During the 30's and 40's, Otis worked out side of the music scene. He played Pro Ball for the Bells Team and was a Golde n Gloves Boxer between 1944-46, until he went Pro. During that time he served i n the US Forces in Germany and Japan. Not unlike every other Bluesman, Otis wor ked with several bands, including Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and Little Walter. During the late 40's into the 50's, Otis was known as a kind, warmhearted man who was well liked by the musicians and audience alike. He did not, however, re cord under his own name very often and usually lent his talents to other bands ( like the ones noted above.) Finally, by the late 60's he started recording unde r his own name with his wife Lucielle. Backing up a decade to when the mid 50's hit, he toured with friend Muddy Waters once again in concerts throughout the U .K., ending his tour by playing the Leeds Festival in London England in 1958. B y this time, Otis had become a favorite with many Blues artists and was invited to play at many festivals throughout North America and overseas, including The A merican Blues Caravan, The Newport Folk Festival, and other well-known events. Unfortunately, it wasn't until after his death that Otis received the recognitio n he deserved and was given an award by Blues Unlimited Magazine (1973) as the best Blues Pianist. The site of the Ann Arbor Blues Festival was also formally dedicated to "The Otis Spann Memorial Field" (1972). Otis was well known as a v irtuoso soloist and a gravel voiced singer who will always be remembered by the Blues world as a pioneer of the Chicago-Styles. Otis died in April 24th 1970 in Chicago, IL. @011 King B.B.\King B.B.(1925-) Born Riley B King on a cotton plantation in Indi anola Mississippi, BB began singing at an early age. As both his parents were sharecroppers, he was used to hard work and naturally learned the Blues as an in tragal part of life. His parents separated when he was still young and BB staye d with his mother, singing with his school's spiritual quartet. After the death of his mother in 1934, he moved back with his father and worked as a farmhand o n a local plantation while still contributing as a singer in the church choir. Around the age of 13, BB picked up the guitar and taught himself how to play. H e formed his first band, The Elkhorn Singers, which was a gospel band that play ed at local churches. King also served briefly in the U.S. army and sang Blues for the troops at Camp Shelby in Mississippi and Fort Benning in Georgia. In 19 46, he grew tired of playing on street corners and subsequently hitchhiked to Me mphis Tennessee in 1946, where he worked amateur shows at the WC Handy Theater/P alace. He can under the teaching of his uncle the great Bukka White. In 1951, King recorded his first hit "3 O'Clock Blues". The promoters were so impressed with him that they brought him to N.Y. It was then that he shortened his name f rom "Beale Street Blues Boy" to simply BB. Besides bringing his unique approach

to Blues music, King has also helped bring the Blues into the mainstream (he ha s played with such bands as U2, and has cameos on many other Pop albums), King d ismisses the idea that Blues is typically 'sad music'. Now 66 years of age, Ki ng still performs upwards of 300 concerts a year, playing at all the major Blues festivals around the world. @