The Saints + Basin Street Blues - Red Allen

Henry James "Red" Allen (January 7, 1906 – April 17, 1967) was a jazz trumpeter and vocalist whose style has been claimed to be the first to fully incorporate the innovations of Louis Armstrong. Henry James "Red" Allen was born in the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, the son of bandleader Henry Allen. He took early trumpet lessons from Peter Bocage and Manuel Manetta. Allen's career began in Sidney Desvigne's Southern Syncopators. He was playing professionally by 1924 with the Excelsior Brass Band and the jazz dance bands of Sam Morgan, George Lewis and John Casimir. After playing on riverboats on the Mississippi River he went to Chicago in 1927 to join King Oliver's band. Around this time he made recordings on the side in the band of Clarence Williams. After returning briefly to New Orleans, where he worked with the bands of Fate Marable and Fats Pichon, he was offered a recording contract with Victor Records and returned to New York City, where he also joined the Luis Russell band, which was later fronted by Louis Armstrong in the late 1930s. In 1929 Allen joined Luis Russell's Orchestra where he was a featured soloist until 1932. Allen took part in recording sessions that year organized by Eddie Condon, some of which featured Fats Waller and/or Tommy Dorsey. He also made a series of recordings in late 1931 with Don Redman, and in 1933 he joined Fletcher Henderson's Orchestra where he stayed until 1934. He played with Lucky Millinder's Mills Blue Rhythm Band from 1934 to 1937, when he returned to Luis Russell for three more years by the time Russell's orchestra was fronted by Louis Armstrong. Allen very seldom received any solo space on recordings with Armstrong, but was prominently featured at the band's personal appearances, even getting billing as a featured attraction. As a bandleader, Allen recorded for Victor from 1929 through 1930. He made a series of recordings as co-leader with Coleman Hawkins in 1933 for ARC (Banner, Melotone, Oriole, Perfect, Romeo, etc.) and continued on as an ARC recording artist through 1935, when he was moved over to ARC's Vocalion label for a popular series of swing records from 1935 through late 1937. A number of these were quite popular at the time. He did a solitary session for Decca in 1940 and two sessions for OKeh in 1941. After World War II, he recorded for Brunswick in 1944, Victor in 1946, and Apollo in 1947. Allen continued making many recordings under his own name, as well as recording with Fats Waller and Jelly Roll Morton, and accompanying such vocalists as Victoria Spivey and Billie Holiday. After a short stint with Benny Goodman, Allen started leading his own band at The Famous Door in Manhattan. He then toured with the band around the USA into the late 1950s. In December 1957, Red Allen made an appearance on the "Sound Of Jazz" television show. In 1959 Allen made his first tour of Europe when he joined Kid Ory's band. From 1954 until the club ceased its jazz policy in 1965, Allen led the house band at New York's Metropole Cafe. Allen returned to working under his own name making numerous tours of the United States and Europe. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in late 1966, and after undergoing surgery, made a final tour of England ending six weeks before his death on April 17, 1967 in New York City. He left behind his widow, Pearly May, and a son, Henry Allen III.

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Summertime - WES MONTGOMERY w/ Pony Poindexter

Norwood "Pony" Poindexter (Feb. 8, 1926, New Orleans, Louisiana - Apr. 14, 1988, Oakland, California) was an American jazz saxophonist. Poindexter began on clarinet and switched to playing alto and tenor sax growing up. In 1940 he studied under Sidney Desvigne, and following this attended Candell Conservatory in Oakland, where he based himself. From 1947 to 1950 he played with Billy Eckstine. In 1950 he played in a quartet with Vernon Alley, from 1951 to 1952 he was with Lionel Hampton and in 1952 he played with Stan Kenton. Neal Hefti wrote the tune "Little Pony", named after Poindexter, for the Count Basie Orchestra. Through the end of the 1950s Poindexter played extensively both as a leader and as a sideman, recording with Charlie Parker, Nat King Cole, T-Bone Walker and Jimmy Witherspoon. From 1961 to 1964, he played backup for Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, who together also recorded a vocal version of "Little Pony". He was one of the first bebop saxophonists to begin playing soprano saxophone early in the 1960s, and recorded with Eric Dolphy and Dexter Gordon on a session for Epic Records around 1962. In 1963 he moved to Paris; while there he recorded with Ross, Phil Woods, Lee Konitz and Leo Wright. He later moved to Spain and then to Mannheim, Germany; in 1977 he returned to San Francisco and recorded again. He published an autobiography, Pony Express, in 1985, but had been largely forgotten by the time of his death in 1988.  

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Pencil papa - Johnny Dodds

Johnny Dodds (April 12, 1892 – August 8, 1940) was an American New Orleans based jazz clarinetist and alto saxophonist, best known for his recordings under his own name and with bands such as those of Joe "King" Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, Lovie Austin and Louis Armstrong.Dodds (pronounced "dots") was also the older brother of drummer Warren "Baby" Dodds. The pair worked together in the New Orleans Bootblacks in 1926. Born in Waveland, Mississippi, United States, he moved to new Orleans in his youth, and studied clarinet with Lorenzo Tio. He played with the bands of Frankie Duson, Kid Ory, and Joe "King" Oliver. Dodds went to Chicago and played with Oliver's Creole Jazz Band, with which he first recorded in 1923. Dodds also worked frequently with his good friend Natty Dominique during this period, a professional relationship that would last a lifetime. After the breakup of Oliver's band in 1924, Dodds replaced Alcide Nunez as the house clarinetist and bandleader of Kelly's Stables. He recorded with numerous small groups in Chicago, most notably Louis Armstrong's Hot 5 and Hot 7, and Jelly Roll Morton's Red Hot Peppers. Noted for his professionalism and virtuosity as a musician, and his heartfelt, heavily blues-laden style, Dodds was an important influence on later clarinetists, notably Benny Goodman. Dodds did not record for most of the 1930s, affected by ill health. He died of a heart attack in Chicago, in August 1940. In 1987, Dodds was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame.

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Weary Blues - Louis Nelson

Louis Hall Nelson (September 17, 1902 – April 5, 1990) was a New Orleans jazz trombonist. Louis Nelson was born on September 17, 1902 at 1419-21 Touro St. in New Orleans, LA. His father, Dr. George Harry Nelson, was a medical doctor. Dr. Nelson helped organize the 9th Louisiana Volunteers and served in the Spanish-American War. He was commissioned as first lieutenant. During the war he served in Cuba and also stormed San Juan Hill. His mother, Anna Hattie Adams Nelson, was a teacher and pianist from Springfield, Massachusetts. She was a descendant of runaway slaves from the Eastern Shore of Maryland. She was a graduate of the Boston Conservatory of Music. His mother moved to Louisiana to teach where she met his father. They had three children: Mary Nelson Welch, George Harry Nelson Jr. and Louis Hall Nelson. Both parents and his sister played the piano. His brother played the saxophone. In December 1902, his parents moved to Napoleonville, Louisiana because his father couldn't get medical patients after the July 1900 Robert Charles Race Riots in New Orleans. At the age of 15, while living in Napoleonville, Louis Nelson started playing the valve trombone and switched to the slide trombone, studying under Professor Claiborne Williams of Donaldsonville, Louisiana. Mr. Nelson credited Professor Claiborne Williams with teaching him the proper way to breathe. Williams also taught him that technique and intuition were far more important than technical skill. Mr. Nelson was quoted as saying "I heard a fellow, Lawrence Johnson, playing with a band out of Napoleonville. I said, one day I'm going to play trombone like that man. He had a smooth tone, and gave the notes the full value. That's why I followed in his footsteps." Weekdays, Louis Nelson lived with Reverend Isaac H. Hall in New Orleans, LA. Reverend Hall was a family friend who raised Mr. Nelson’s father. Mr. Nelson attended the Lutheran School on Annette St. and New Orleans University (high school) on St. Charles Ave. in New Orleans, LA, graduating in 1919. Louis Nelson’s first band was Joe Gabriel's band of Thibodeaux, Louisiana. With Joe Gabriel's band, he traveled through Cajun country, playing in dance halls for a dollar a night. Mr. Nelson married Julia Kissack in 1922. Louis Nelson and his wife moved to New Orleans after a brief stay in New York City as a Pullman porter because she was ill. While in New Orleans in the 1920s, Mr. Nelson played jazz music with: Buddy Petit, Kid Rena, Kid Punch Miller, Sam Morgan (musician), Chris Kelly (jazz), Papa Celestin, Willie Pajeaud, Kid Howard, Sidney Cates and Kid Harris' Dixieland Band. Louis and Julia Kissack Nelson had two children: Louis Hall Nelson Jr. (deceased) and Anna Nelson Tircuit. Julia Kissack Nelson died in 1928 from pregnancy complications. After his wife's death, Mr. Nelson joined the Sidney Desvigne Orchestra. This group played for white audiences in such spots as the New Orleans Country Club and the Southern Yacht Club. Monday and Tuesday nights were reserved for black audiences at such venues as the Pythian Temple and the Bulls Aids and Pleasure Club. During his 15 years with Desvigne's 10 piece Orchestra, Mr. Nelson played for summer Mississippi River cruises on the steamer S.S. Capitol, traveling as far north as Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN. To get work during the Depression, Louis Nelson joined the Works Progress Administration and became first chair in the WPA band. Between engagements, the musicians dug stumps at City Park in New Orleans. When WWII came along, Mr. Nelson volunteered for the U. S. Navy and became Musician 1st Class at the U.S. Navy base in Memphis, Tennessee. After serving in the Navy, Mr. Nelson returned to New Orleans and resumed playing with Sidney Desvigne's Orchestra until Desvigne moved to California. Mr. Nelson joined the hard-driving Kid Thomas Valentine band in 1945. With this band, he played one night a week at dance halls like the Tip Top, Fireman's Hall in Westwego, LA, and Speck's Moulin Rouge in Marrero, LA. He also worked for the Herbert Leary Orchestra at this time. To make ends meet, Mr. Nelson was forced to take day jobs such as a driver for the post office and for a fish merchant. He also worked as a chauffeur and as a janitor. In 1949, Louis Nelson made his first recording with clarinetist and leader Big Eye Louis Nelson Delisle, as well as Charlie Love, Johnny St. Cyr, Ernest Rogers, and Austin Young at Dr. Nelson's Touro Street house. This recording, by jazz historian Bill Russell of AM Records, marked the beginning of Mr. Nelson’s extensive recording career. In the 1950s, New Orleans French Quarter art gallery owner Larry Borenstein liked to go to the West Bank to hear the Kid Thomas Valentine band play in the evenings, but because he had to keep his art gallery at 726 St. Peter Street open at night, his ability to hear jazz music was limited. As a result, Borenstein asked Kid Thomas Valentine to play jazz sessions, which he called "rehearsals", in order to avoid union trouble. In 1961, Barbara Reed went to Baton Rouge to get a charter named The Society for the Preservation of Traditional New Orleans Jazz. This charter gave them a non-profit corporate license status as they could not afford the entertainment tax when Ms. Reed and Grayson Mills, among others, officially opened Preservation Hall in 1961. Later that year, Allan Jaffe took over Preservation Hall. Louis Nelson also played at the Paddock Lounge and later at Dixieland Hall, both on Bourbon Street. Because of Preservation Hall, Mr. Nelson now had permanent work, exposure to a new audience and was provided numerous opportunities for travel abroad as both a soloist and band member of the Billie and De De Piece and Kid Thomas Valentine's bands. Louis Nelson toured extensively from 1963, beginning with the George Lewis (clarinetist) band in Japan, Eastern, Western Europe, South America, Australia, Canada and Mexico, as well as the United States, until his death in 1990. Mr. Nelson appeared at every New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival until his death. Mr. Nelson joined the Legends of Jazz. In 1981, Mr. Nelson received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts where he developed a program in which he played for New Orleans public school students and discussed New Orleans jazz history. On April 5, 1990, Mr. Nelson died of injuries suffered from a March 27 hit and run automobile accident. The driver was never caught. Widely recorded, including music for the movie Pretty Baby (1978 film) starring Brooke Shields, Mr. Nelson also appeared in many New Orleans jazz documentaries, including Art Ford's House Party, Live the Jazz, Three Men of Jazz and Till the Butcher Cut Him Down.  

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My in Laws Made An Outlaw Out Of Me - LOU MILLET

Louis Millet (April 1926, Baton Rouge, La) was an American rockabilly and honky tonk guitarist and singer. Lou Millet was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. His musical career started a bit later than some people might do in the business, not learning to play the guitar until he was 16 years old. But, after he learned the guitar, he soon formed his own band called “The Melody Ramblers”. That band stayed together for about four years and appeared on several radio stations in the area including WLCS and WJBO as well as WLBR in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. Lefty Frizzell gave him his first big break and in 1953, he was still associated with Lefty, by fronting the band during one of Lefty’s tours. Other folks who helped Lou out included Troy Martin of the Southern Music Company and J. D. Miller of Crowley, Louisiana and Don Lan of Columbia Records.  


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Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives to Me - Eddie Miller with Lino Patruno & the MCJS

Carlo Bagnoli (ss, bar), Eddie Miller (ts), Sante Palumbo (p), Lino Patruno (g), Marco Ratti (b), Carlo Sola (dm). Edward Raymond Müller (June 23, 1911 – April 8, 1991) was a jazz musician who played tenor saxophone and clarinet born in New Orleans, Louisiana. His professional career began in New Orleans at 16 with his recording debut occurring in 1930. He worked in Ben Pollack's orchestra and then with Bob Crosby. He stayed with Crosby until the band broke up in 1942. He had his own band for a brief time after that before being drafted. However, he was discharged from the military early because of illness and settled in Los Angeles. After that he worked with Pete Fountain, appeared in most of Crosby's reunions, and did club work. Eddie also played with trumpeter Al Hirt. Miller was also a songwriter with his best known song being "Slow Mood," later known as "Lazy Mood" after Johnny Mercer noticed the tune and composed lyrics. Miller was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1998.  

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Blues (My Naughty Sweetie Gives To Me) - JIMMIE NOONE AND HIS APEX CLUB ORCHESTRA

Jimmie Noone (or Jimmy Noone; April 23, 1895 – April 19, 1944) was an American jazz clarinetist. Noone was born in Cut Off, Louisiana, and started playing guitar in his home town; at the age of 15, he switched to the clarinet and moved to New Orleans, where he studied with Lorenzo Tio and with the young Sidney Bechet, who was only 13 at the time. By 1912, he was playing professionally with Freddie Keppard in Storyville, and played with Buddy Petit, Kid Ory, Papa Celestin, the Eagle Band, and the Young Olympia Band, before joining the Original Creole Orchestra in Chicago, Illinois in 1917. The following year, he joined King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band, then in 1920 joined Keppard in Doc Cook's band which he would remain with for six years, and make early recordings with. In 1926, he started leading the band at Chicago's Apex Club. This band, Jimmie Noone's Apex Club Orchestra, was notable for its unusual instrumentation—a front line consisting of just Noone and alto saxophonist/clarinetist Joe Poston, who had worked with Noone in Doc Cook's band. The influential Pittsburgh-born pianist Earl Hines was also in the band for a time. Noone signed with Brunswick in May, 1928 and was assigned to their Vocalion label. From his first session yielded "Four or Five Times" b/w "Every Evening (I Miss You") (Vocalion 1185), which was a best seller. He continued recording for Vocalion prolifically through February, 1935. He then signed with Decca in early 1936 and one session each for Decca in 1936, 1937 and 1940. He did one session for Bluebird also in 1940. In 1935, Noone moved to New York City to start a band and a (short-lived) club with Wellman Braud. He then returned to Chicago where he played at various clubs until 1943, when he moved to Los Angeles, California. Shortly after he joined Kid Ory's band, which was featured for a time on a radio program hosted by Orson Welles. Noone played a few broadcasts with the band, but died suddenly of a heart attack. The Ory band, with New Orleans-born clarinetist Wade Whaley, played a blues (titled "Blues for Jimmie" by Welles) in his honor on the radio, and the number eventually became a regular feature for the Ory band. He died, aged 48, in Los Angeles, California.

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Kidnapper - Van Broussard

Although he is not a household name nationally, Van Broussard is almost legendary in the Cajun bayou areas of Southern Louisiana for helping forge the way for swamp pop music. At various times, he has performed as a solo act, as half of the team Van & Titus, and more recently with the Bayou Boogie Band. Before his sister, Grace Broussard, had a hit record in 1963 with Dale Houston in the pairing Dale & Grace, she also performed frequently with her older brother in their hometown of Prairieville, LA, at a nightspot called Cal's Club. During the early years of Broussard's career, his music revolved around Dixieland as he performed in the region of Ascension Parish. A turning point came in the mid-'50s, when Elvis Presley's early recordings caught Broussard's attention and he started leaning toward the sounds of R&B and, later, straight-ahead into swamp pop. Broussard's long career includes releases for a number of different labels, among them CSP, Red Stick, Rex, and Bayou Boogie. During his later years, Broussard put out more than half a dozen albums with CSP, amassing approximately 100 recorded songs for that label alone. His popular singles include "Lord I Need Somebody Bad Tonight" in 1977 and "Feed the Flame" in 1958. The Louisiana Hall of Fame inducted the artist in 1997.

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Dippermouth Blues - Sidney Arodin with Johnnie Miller's New Orleans Frollickers

Sidney Arnandan or Arnondrin, better known as Sidney Arodin (March 29, 1901, Westwego, Louisiana - February 6, 1948, New Orleans) was an American jazz clarinetist and songwriter, best known for co-writing the pop standard "Lazy River" with Hoagy Carmichael. Arodin began playing clarinet at age 15 and played at local New Orleans gatherings and on riverboats. He made his way to New York City and played with Johnny Stein's New Orleans Jazz Band from 1922. He played with Jimmy Durante in the middle of the decade, then returned to Louisiana to play with Wingy Manone and Sharkey Bonano. In the 1930s he worked with Louis Prima and with a reconstituted version of the New Orleans Rhythm Kings which also featured Manone. After 1941, Arodin's poor health prevented him from playing frequently live, but before this time he recorded with Johnnie Miller, Albert Brunies, Monk Hazel, and the Jones-Collins Astoria Hot Eight. Many of his performances are mistakenly credited on original recordings to Charlie Cordella.

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Tin Roof - Louis Cottrell And His New Orleans Jazz Band

Louis Albert Cottrell, Jr. (March 7, 1911, New Orleans - March 21, 1978, New Orleans) was a Louisiana Creole jazz clarinetist and tenor saxophonist. He was the son of the influential drummer Louis Cottrell, Sr., and grandfather of New Orleans jazz drummer Louis Cottrell. As leader of the Heritage Hall Jazz Band, he performed at the famous Carnegie Hall in 1974 Louis Cottrell was born into an upper-class Creole musical family. His father, Louis "Old Man" Cottrell, Sr., was a famed drummer, and cornetist Manny Perez was his godfather. The young Cottrell grew up around such great musicians as Barney Bigard, John Robichaux, and A.J. Piron. Cottrell studied clarinet under Lorenzo Tio, Jr. and Bigard. He began his career in the 1920s with the Golden Rule Orchestra, and then in 1925 played with Paul "Polo" Barnes. Later in the 1920s he worked with Chris Kelly and Kid Rena, then in 1929 found work on the riverboat SS Island Queen with Lawrence Marrero's Young Tuxedo Brass Band and Sidney Desvigne. These were the years when he became a prominent union organizer. He joined Don Albert's orchestra soon after, recording an album with the orchestra in 1935 under the Vocalion label. He tried his hand at composing, and with Lloyd Glenn and Albert wrote, "You Don't Love Me (True)." Rhythm and blues bandleader Paul Gayten would later approach Cottrell to record "You Don't Love Me" and it became one of the first hits of the R & B New Orleans era, having made it to the number 5 spot nationally on the R & B top ten charts. Cottrell toured widely throughout North America with Albert until 1939. After leaving Albert he returned to New Orleans, playing with Paul Barbarin in 1940. They would form an enduring collaboration. He performed with A.J. Piron in 1941, then returned to play with Desvigne from 1942 to 1947. In the 1950s he played again with Barbarin, and recorded with him in 1951 and 1955. Cottrell first recorded as a leader in 1961, when he formed the Louis Cottrell Trio to record for Riverside's "Living Legends" series. Barbarin and Cottrell in 1960 revived the Onward Brass Band. As a sideman he recorded with Peter Bocage (1960), Jim Robinson (1961–64), Harold Dejan (1962), Thomas Jefferson (1962), Paul Barbarin at Preservation Hall (1962), Sweet Emma Barrett (1963), Avery Kid Howard (1964), Waldren Joseph (1964–1965), Barbarin's Onward Brass Band (1968, 1968) and Paul "Polo" Barnes (1969). In 1967, Cottrell, went on a U.S.O. tour to entertain troops in Vietnam and Thailand. Cottrell took over the Onward Brass Band after Paul Barbarin's death in 1969. He formed the Heritage Hall Jazz Band in 1971 and also led that ensemble up until his death. In its day, Heritage Hall rivaled the better known Preservation Hall, both located in the French Quarter. It was during this period in 1974 that the Heritage Hall Jazz Band, under Cottrell's leadership, played Carnegie Hall in New York City. Blance Thomas was the featured vocalist. The recording of the live concert can be found on Viko. He made several television appearances, including Perry Como's Spring in New Orleans in 1976, and The Mike Douglas Show. He recorded "Big Lip Blues" on the Academy Award-nominated soundtrack Pretty Baby (1978), and had a cameo appearance in the movie. Louis Cottrell died suddenly at his home after a short illness in 1978 at the age of 67. Fittingly, he was honored with a jazz funeral, as thousands assembled in a small Gentilly Catholic church to bid him farewell. Inspired by this musical legacy, Cottrell's grandson, Louis Cottrell, became a drummer and performed with the Young Tuxedo Brass Band, Dr. Michael White and numerous other traditional jazz bands.

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SO MUCH TROUBLE - LARRY WILLIAMS

Lawrence Eugene "Larry" Williams (May 10, 1935 – January 7, 1980) was an American rhythm and blues and rock and roll singer, songwriter, producer, and pianist from New Orleans, Louisiana. Williams is best known for writing and recording some rock and roll classics from 1957 to 1959 for Specialty Records, including "Bony Moronie", "Short Fat Fannie", "High School Dance" (1957), "Slow Down", "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" (1958), "Bad Boy" and "She Said Yeah" (1959), which were later covered by British Invasion groups and other artists. John Lennon, in particular, was a fan of Williams, recording several of his songs over the course of his career. "Bony Moronie" is listed as one of the Top 500 songs that shaped Rock and Roll. Williams lived a life mixed with tremendous success and violence-fueled drug addiction. He was a long-time friend of Little Richard. As a child in New Orleans, Williams learned how to play piano. When he was a teenager, he and his family moved to Oakland, California, where he joined a local R&B group called the Lemon Drops. In 1954, Williams went back to New Orleans for a visit. He began work as Lloyd Price's valet and played in the bands of Price, Roy Brown and Percy Mayfield. In 1955, Williams met and developed a friendship with Little Richard Penniman, who was recording at the time in New Orleans. Price and Penniman were both recording for Specialty Records. Williams was introduced to Specialty's house producer, Robert Blackwell, and was signed to record. In 1957, Little Richard was Specialty's biggest star, but bolted from rock and roll to pursue the ministry. Williams was quickly groomed by Blackwell to try to replicate his success. Using the same raw, shouting vocals and piano-driven intensity, Williams scored with a number of hit singles. Williams' three biggest successes were "Short Fat Fannie", which was his first hit, reaching #5 in Billboard's pop chart, "Bony Moronie", which peaked at #14, and its flip "You Bug Me Baby" which made it to #45. "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" charted at #69 on Billboard the following year. Both "Short Fat Fannie" and "Bony Moronie" sold over one million copies, gaining gold discs. Several of his songs achieved later success as revivals, by The Beatles ("Bad Boy", "Slow Down", and "Dizzy Miss Lizzy"), The Rolling Stones ("She Said Yeah") and John Lennon ("Bony Moronie" and "Dizzy Miss Lizzy"). Williams had been involved with underworld activity since his early teens, and had reputedly been a pimp before he ever recorded music. After 1957 Williams did not have much success selling records. He recorded a number of songs in 1958 and 1959, including "Heebie Jeebies", with band members such as Plas Johnson on tenor sax and Jewel Grant on baritone, Rene Hall on guitar, Gerald Wilson on trumpet, Ernie Freeman or Williams himself on piano, and Earl Palmer on drums. He was convicted of dealing narcotics in 1960 and served a three-year jail term, setting back his career considerably. Williams made a comeback in the mid-1960s with a funky soul band that included Johnny "Guitar" Watson, which paired him musically with Little Richard who had been lured back into secular music. He produced two Little Richard albums for Okeh Records in 1966 and 1967, which returned Little Richard to the Billboard album chart for the first time in ten years and spawned the hit single "Poor Dog".[8] He also acted as the music director for the Little Richard's live performances at the Okeh Club. Bookings for Little Richard during this period skyrocketed. Williams also recorded and released material of his own and with Watson, with some moderate chart success. This period may have garnered few hits but produced some of his best and most original work. Williams also began acting in the 1960s, appearing on film in Just for the Hell of It (1968), The Klansman (1974), and Drum (1976). In the 1970s, there was also a brief dalliance with disco, but Williams' wild lifestyle continued. By the middle of the decade, the drug abuse and violence were taking their toll. In 1977, Williams pulled a gun on and threatened to kill his long-time friend, Little Richard, over a drug debt. They were both living in Los Angeles and addicted to cocaine and heroin. Little Richard bought drugs from him, arranged to pay him later, but did not show up because he was high. Williams was furious. He hunted him down but ended up showing compassion on his long-time friend after Little Richard repaid the debt. This, along with other factors, led to Little Richard's return to born again Christianity and the ministry, but Williams would not escape LA's seedy underworld. On January 7, 1980, Williams was found dead from a gunshot wound to his head in his Los Angeles, California home. He was 44 years old. The death was deemed suicide, though there was much speculation otherwise. No suspects were ever arrested or charged.

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Make It Rain - SHERMAN ROBERTSON

Sherman Robertson (born October 27, 1948, Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, United States) is an American blues guitarist, songwriter and singer, who has been described as "one part zydeco, one part swamp blues, one part electric blues and one part classic rhythm and blues." Robertson was born in Louisiana and raised in Houston, Texas. At the age of 13, he watched a performance on television by Hank Williams. Duly inspired and equipped with a cheap guitar purchased by his father, he started playing the songs previously performed by Freddie King and Floyd London. As he lived close to the Duke/Peacock recording studio, Robertson took the opportunity to acquaint himself with some of the musicians who recorded there. At the same time, in his late teens, Robertson played in a band in various bars of his Fifth Ward, Houston neighborhood. In 1982, Clifton Chenier heard Robertson's band playing at the Crosstown Blues Festival. Robertson moved back to Louisiana, learned to play slide guitar, and toured for several years in the 1980s with Chenier. Robertson contributed to his Live At The (1982) and San Francisco Blues Festival (1985) albums. After Chenier's death, Robertson played with Rockin' Dopsie, appearing on his Crowned Prince Of Zydeco album (1986), and Terrance Simien & the Mallet Playboys, before going solo. In addition, Robertson's guitar work appeared on Paul Simon's Graceland album, and he was on the bill at the 1994 Notodden Blues Festival. Robertson's I'm the Man (1994) was the first release on the Code Blue label. It was nominated for a W.C. Handy Award. Robertson's follow-up, Here & Now (1995), included his cover of the Tracy Nelson song "Here & Now". However the record label folded and Robertson re-appeared in 1998 on the independent label, Audioquest, with his next offering, Going Back Home. In November 2005 he released Guitar Man - Live with his new backing band, BluesMove. In 2008, Robertson & BluesMove played at the Harvest Time Blues festival in Monaghan, Ireland. In 2011, Roberston and BluesMove appeared at the Rhythm Festival in Bedfordshire, England. In 2012, a proposed concert in Gaildorf, Germany, was cancelled after Robertson suffered a stroke  

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Nervous Boogie - Paul Gayten

Paul Gayten (January 29, 1920 – March 26, 1991) was an American R&B bandleader, pianist, songwriter, producer and record company executive. Gayten was born in Kentwood, Louisiana, the nephew of blues pianist Little Brother Montgomery. In his teens he played piano in local bands while also setting up his own group, Paul Gayten's Sizzling Six, which featured future bebop saxophonist Teddy Edwards. During the war, he led a band at the Army base in Biloxi, Mississippi. He then moved to New Orleans and, with a new trio, established a residency at the Club Robin Hood. In 1947 the trio recorded two of the first New Orleans hits of the R&B era, "True (You Don't Love Me)", and "Since I Fell for You", the latter featuring singer Annie Laurie. Both made the top ten in the US Billboard R&B chart. Gayten also backed singer Chubby Newsom on her hit single "Hip Shakin' Mama". In 1949, Gayten expanded his combo into a nine-piece orchestra and moved to Regal Records. There, Gayten wrote the number 1 R&B hit "For You My Love" for Larry Darnell, and recorded "I'll Never Be Free" again with Annie Laurie. His orchestra toured widely, for a period adding saxophonist Hank Mobley and singer Little Jimmy Scott, and appearing on double bills with both Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. In 1952 he moved to Okeh Records. In 1956 he decided to quit as a touring bandleader and joined Chess Records as a talent scout, producer, promotion man, songwriter and part-time musician and recording artist. He discovered Clarence "Frogman" Henry and produced his first hit, "Ain't Got No Home", in 1956, later going on to co-write and produce his biggest hit, "But I Do", in 1961. At Chess, Gayten produced Bobby Charles' "Later Alligator" and played piano on Chuck Berry’s "Carol". In 1956 he also had one of the biggest hits of his own career with "The Music Goes Round And Round", followed up by "Nervous Boogie". In 1960 he moved to Los Angeles with his wife, Odile, to run the Chess operations there. In 1968 he set up his own label, Pzazz, which recorded Louis Jordan, among others. He continued to live in Los Angeles with Odile after retiring in the 1970s, and died there aged 71 in March 1991

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Nathan & the Zydeco Cha Chas

Nathan Williams plays zydeco, the fast and furious accordion-driven dance music of the Creole people of South Louisiana, a relatively modern style that emerged after the Second World War. With its trademark rubboard percussion, electric guitars and R&B influences, zydeco is distinct from the fiddle-driven music of neighboring Cajuns. Zydeco is now a familiar sound to many, heard in commercials for mainstream companies such as Burger King and Toyota, and there are pockets of devoted zydeco dancers throughout the world. Yet, after its flush of national popularity in the late 1980s, which saw soaring sales of both zydeco and Cajun CDs, zydeco has in many ways faded from popular consciousness, retreating to the South Louisiana dance halls and festival gigs that sustained it all along. If zydeco was a one-trick pony, that might be well and good. However, in the hands of a dedicated musician and songwriter such as Nathan Williams, zydeco is one of the most expressive sounds in roots music. NathanÕs down-home parables are delivered with surprising musical turns and a distinctive Caribbean lilt that reaches back to the very beginnings of Creole culture in Louisiana. Growing up in a Creole-speaking home in St. Martinville, Nathan eagerly sought out the music of zydeco originators such as Clifton Chenier. When he was too young to actually attend a Clifton Chenier dance at a St. Martinville club, he hovered by the window-sized fan at the back of the building to hear his idol, only to have the bill of his baseball cap clipped off by the fan when he leaned too close. Later, while recovering from a serious illness, Nathan decided to dedicate himself to learning the accordion. That dedication blossomed into an illustrious career, encompassing seven albums and spanning close to two decades. The music of Nathan and the Zydeco Cha Chas is the expression of a remarkable South Louisiana family. Dennis Paul Williams, Nathan's brother, brings his jazz-influenced guitar chops to the band. He's also a well-known painter whose work has been shown throughout the country, and who contributed the cover and tray card paintings for their new album, Hang It High, Hang It Low. Keyboardist Nathan Williams Jr. is enrolled in the music program at the University of South Louisiana, while he leads his own band in the Lafayette area. Rubboard player Mark Williams is a cousin who has been with the band since its inception. Manager Sid El Sid O Williams, the eldest Williams brother, is an entrepreneur who has built a remarkable network of businesses in Lafayette, while honing his skills as an accordion contender himself. Rounding out the Cha Chas is the exceptional rhythm section of bassist Paul Newman and drummer Herman 'Rat' Brown, who held the drum chair with Buckwheat Zydeco for many years. In the world of contemporary African-American music, roots styles are easily categorized as old music, good for sampling maybe, but not music that relates to the lives of mainstream American people. Nathan and the Zydeco Cha Chas might make us think twice about this assumption, for here is uplifting, new music that remains connected to its place in history. If you haven't heard what's happening in zydeco lately, here's your chance!  
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Clarence “Frogman” Henry

Clarence “Frogman” Henry (b. Clarence Henry, 19 Mar 1937 in New Orleans, LA, USA - aka Clarence ‘Frogman’ Henry & Clarence Frogman Henry), is an rnb singer. Fats Domino & Professor Longhair were young Henry’s main influences, whilst growing up. When playing in talent shows, he dressed like Longhair & wore a wig, with braids on both sides. His ‘trademark’ croak - utilized manifestly, on his 1956 début hit Ain’t Got No Home - earned his nickname & jump-started a career that endures, to this day. You Always Hurt The One You Love & (I Don’t Know Why) But I Do (both 1961), were also big hits. Henry opened eighteen concerts for The Beatles across the US & Canada (1964) - However, his main source of income was from the Bourbon St strip (New Orleans), where he played for nineteen years. His name could still draw hordes of tourists, long after his hit-making days had ended. “Ain’t Got No Home”, achieved fresh notoriety in the 1990s - through its use, for a time, as the “Homeless Update” theme music, on The Rush Limbaugh Show. Clarence Henry’s pioneering contribution, to the genre, has been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. Mark Sandman (lead singer / bass player, of the rock band Morphine) - during a home-studio interview - cited Frogman as an important influence.

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Salty Dog and Lizzie's Blues - Lizzie Miles

Lizzie Miles was the stage name taken by Elizabeth Mary Landreaux (March 31, 1895 – March 17, 1963), an African-American blues singer Miles was born in the Faubourg Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, in a dark-skinned Francophone Creole ("Creole of Color") family. She traveled widely with minstrel and circus shows in the 1910s, and made her first phonograph recordings in New York of blues songs in 1922 – although she did not like to be referred to as a "blues singer", since she sang a wide repertory of music. In the mid-1920s Miles spent time performing in Paris, before returning to the United States. She suffered a serious illness and retired from the music industry in the 1930s. Not before she recorded "My Man O' War", described by one music journalist as "a composition stuffed with rococo suggestiveness". In the 1940s she returned to New Orleans, where Joe Mares encouraged her to sing again—which she did, but always from in front of, or beside the stage, since she said she had vowed in a prayer not to go on stage again if she recovered from her illness. Miles was based in San Francisco, California, in the early 1950s, then again returned to New Orleans where she recorded with several Dixieland and traditional jazz bands and made regular radio broadcasts, often performing with Bob Scobey or George Lewis. In 1958 Miles appeared at the Monterey Jazz Festival. In 1959 she quit singing, except for gospel music. She died in New Orleans, from a heart attack, in March 1963. Her half-sister Edna Hicks was also a blues singer

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I Found Something Better - Curtis Griffin

CURTIS JACK GRIFFIN by Cadillac Zack .. .. Curtis Jack Griffin aka C.C. Griffin was born March 17, 1930 in Poole, Louisiana. He chopped cotton, pulled corn, and all the other crazy hard labor that your typical bluesman had to do to survive. But he's not your typical bluesman. .. .. He moved to Los Angeles in the early 1950's, quickly becoming a gripping blues singer and stinging blues guitarist. Soon thereafter he began appearing on marquees, opening shows for artists such as BB King and Bobby Bland. .. .. I was told when I first moved to Los Angeles in 1997, "You have to hear Curtis Jack Griffin. He's the greatest living blues singer around here. Smokey Wilson's great, but Curtis is the best." .. .. Well, it took me two years to find him. Curtis was in some sort of hybernation at that time. But the way I eventually stumbled upon him, deep in South Central Los Angeles, is a mysterious and exhilerating story that will have to be told in a future interview. .. .. Let' s just say, when I heard this man sing for the first time I thought Bobby Bland was being channeled through a new body. But Curtis's sound is sweeter and more vulernable than Bland's, while somehow being able to conjure an angrier or more innocent edge than Bland when he wants. .. .. Let's just say I love Curtis's singing. I first heard him on a Black Magic Records CD compilation of authentic bluesmen produced by the late harp player, William Clarke called "Hard Times". On his only song "I Get So Lonesome", accompanied by guitarist Zach Zunis, Griffin's vocals are much "cleaner" than your average blues singer. .. .. Curtis's clear annunciation is a biproduct of having to compete in the business world his whole life. You see, he always had a day job and always raised a family. He worked as a butcher for somthing like 30 years. And this is how I suspect Curtis got such a huge physique. Even at 77 years old, he's the size of a NFL linebacker! .. .. I sincerely hope you are lucky enough to hear Curtis sing sometime in Los Angeles before it's too late. He really is one of the last of the real deal, blues singers. And my goal is to champion this phenomenal rare talent in the future, as I have been doing for the last six years. .. .. In the meantime, listen to some of his songs I've uploaded here. They were recorded for some small labels in the 1960's.
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It Takes Me All Night - Eddie Giles

I met Eddie at Sound City studio in Shreveport, Louisiana. This is where the recording of Losin' Boy that is on Stax 0103 was recorded. The year was 1971. I engineered the record. James Stroud played drums and Louis Villery played bass. Eddie is now a famous Nashville producer. He had been with Bobby Bland for years-not sure where he is today. There was an earlier recording of Losin' Boy (mid to late 60's) produced by a gentleman named Mr. DesMarais. He owned a small record shop in Cedar Grove ( a section of Shreveport) I think it was called "Bayou Records" (no connection to our studio). It was said that Mr. DesMarais would bring local bands (mostly black) into a small recording studio behind his record shop and let them record their songs. He would sometimes put out records on them, such as Losin' Boy by Eddie Giles. Eddie was known then as "Eddie G and the Jive Five". We didn't meet Eddie at Sound City until approximately five years after Mr. DesMarais had recorded the first Losin' Boy. These are the only two versions I know of. First the Mr. DesMarais recording (on Murco Records in Cedar Grove, Louisiana) and then the Sound City recording which later became the Stax version.
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Robert Pete Williams

Robert Pete Williams (March 14, 1914 – December 31, 1980) was an American Louisiana blues musician. His music characteristically employed unconventional blues tunings and structures, and his songs are often about the time he served in prison. His song "I've Grown So Ugly" has been covered by Captain Beefheart, on his album Safe as Milk (1967), and by The Black Keys, on Rubber Factory (2004) Williams was born in Zachary, Louisiana, to a family of sharecroppers. He had no formal schooling and spent his childhood picking cotton and cutting sugar cane. In 1928, he moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana and worked in a lumberyard. At the age of 20, Williams fashioned a crude guitar by attaching five copper strings to a cigar box, and soon after bought a cheap, mass-produced one. Williams was taught by Frank and Robert Metty, and was at first chiefly influenced by Peetie Wheatstraw and Blind Lemon Jefferson. He began to play for small events such as Church gatherings, fish fries, suppers, and dances. From the 1930s to the 1950s, Williams played music and continued to work in the lumberyards of Baton Rouge. He was discovered in Louisiana State Penitentiary, by ethnomusicologists Dr Harry Oster and Richard Allen, where he was serving a life sentence for shooting a man dead in a local club in 1956, an act which he claimed was in self-defense. Oster and Allen recorded Williams performing several of his songs about life in prison, and pleaded for him to be pardoned. Under pressure from Oster, the parole board issued a pardon, and commuted his sentence to 12 years. In December 1958, he was released into 'servitude parole', which required 80 hours of labor per week on a Denham Springs farm without due compensation, and only room and board provided. This parole prevented him from working in music, though he was able to occasionally play with Willie B. Thomas and Butch Cage at Thomas's home in Zachary. By this time, Williams' music had achieved some favorable word-of-mouth reviews, and he played his first concert outside Louisiana at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival. By 1965, he was able to tour the country, traveling to Los Angeles, Massachusetts, Chicago and Berkeley, California. In 1966 he also toured Europe. In 1968 he settled in Maringouin, west of Baton Rouge and began to work outside of music. In 1970, Williams began to perform once again, touring blues and folk festivals throughout the United States and Europe. His music has appeared in several films notably, the Roots of American Music; Country and Urban Music (1971); Out of the Blues into the Blacks (1972) and Blues Under the Skin (1972) the last two being French-made films. His most popular recordings included "Prisoner's Talking Blues" and "Pardon Denied Again". Williams has been inducted into the Louisiana Blues Hall of Fame. Williams had slowed down his work schedule by the late 1970s, largely due to his age and declining health. Williams died in Rosedale, Louisiana on December 31, 1980, at the age of 66   

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St. James Infirmary Blues - Danny Barker

Danny Barker (January 13, 1909 – March 13, 1994), born Daniel Moses Barker, was a jazz banjoist, singer, guitarist, songwriter, ukelele player and author from New Orleans, founder of the locally famous Fairview Baptist Church Marching Band. He was a rhythm guitarist for some of the best bands of the day, including Cab Calloway, Lucky Millinder and Benny Carter throughout the 1930s. On September 4, 1945 he recorded with Ohio's native jazz pianist—Sir Charles Thompson—a date that included saxophonists Dexter Gordon and Charlie Parker. Barker's work with the Fairview Baptist Church Brass Band was pivotal in ensuring the longevity of jazz in New Orleans, producing generations of new talent. Brothers Wynton Marsalis and Branford Marsalis both played in the band as youths as well as "The King of Treme" Shannon Powell, Lucien Barbarin, Dr. Michael White and countless others. One of Barker's earliest teachers in New Orleans was fellow banjoist Emanuel Sayles, whom he recorded with. Throughout his career, he played with Jelly Roll Morton, Baby Dodds, James P. Johnson, Sidney Bechet, Mezz Mezzrow, and Red Allen. He also toured and recorded with his wife, singer Blue Lu Barker. Danny Barker was born to a family of musicians in New Orleans in 1909, the grandson of bandleader Isidore Barbarin and nephew of drummers Paul Barbarin and Louis Barbarin; he first took up clarinet and drums before switching to a ukulele that his aunt got him, and then a banjo from his uncle or a trumpeter named Lee Collins. Barker began his career as a musician in his youth with his streetband the Boozan Kings and also toured Mississippi with Little Brother Montgomery. In 1930 he moved to New York City and switched to the guitar. On the day of his arrival in New York, his uncle Paul took him to the Rhythm Club, where he saw an inspiring performance by McKinney's Cotton Pickers. Ironically, that was also their first performance in New York as a band. During his time in New York, he frequently played with West Indian musicians, who often mistook him for one of them due to his Creole style of playing. Barker played with several acts when he initially moved to New York, including Fess Williams, Billy Fowler and the White Brothers. He worked with Buddy Harris in 1933, Albert Nichols in 1935, Lucky Millinder from 1937 to 1938, and Benny Carter in 1938. From 1939 to 1946 he was frequently recording with Cab Calloway, and started his own group featuring his wife Blue Lu Barker after leaving Calloway. In 1947 he was performing again with Lucky Millinder, and also with Bunk Johnson. He returned to working with Al Nichols in 1948 and in 1949 rejoined efforts with his wife in a group. During the 1950s he was primarily a freelance musician, but did work with his uncle Paul Barbarin from 1954 to 1955. In the mid-1950s he went to California to record yet again with Albert Nichols. Sometime in the early 1960s he formed a group he called Cinderella. He performed at the 1960 Newport Jazz Festival with Eubie Blake. In 1963 he was working with Cliff Jackson, and then in 1964 appeared at the World Fair leading his own group. In 1965, Barker returned to New Orleans and took up a position as assistant to the curator of the New Orleans Jazz Museum. In 1972 he found and led a church-sponsored brass band for young people—the Fairview Baptist Church Marching Band—which became popular. In later years the band became known as the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. During that time, he also led the French Market Jazz Band. It was the earnest and general feeling that any Negro who...entered the hell-hole called the state of Mississippi for any reason other than to attend the funeral of a very close relative...was well on the way to losing his mentality, or had already lost it. Danny Barker in reference to touring with Little Brother Montgomery in Mississippi quoted in Escaping the Delta by Elijah Wald The Fairview band also launched the careers of a number of professional musicians who went on to perform in both brass band and mainstream jazz contexts, including Leroy Jones, Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Kirk Joseph, and Nicholas Payton. As Joe Torregano—another Fairview band alumnus—described it, "That group saved jazz for a generation in New Orleans." Barker played regularly at many New Orleans venues from the late 1960s through the early 1990s, in addition to touring. During the 1994 Mardi Gras season, Barker reigned as King of Krewe du Vieux. He also published an autobiography and many articles on New Orleans and jazz history. Barker also authored and had published two books on jazz from the Oxford University Press. The first was Bourbon Street Black, coauthored with Dr. Jack V. Buerkle, in 1973, which was followed by A Life In Jazz in 1986. He also enjoyed painting and was an amateur landscape artist. Living during a period when segregation was still common practice in the United States, Barker faced many obstacles during his career. Barker suffered from diabetes throughout most of his adult life, and was often in general poor health. He died of cancer in New Orleans on 13 March 1994 at age 85.

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