Celebrating the Birthday of Jerry Lee Lewis

Singer songwriter and pianist Jerry Lee Lewis was born on September 29, 1935, in Ferriday, Louisiana. Known by his nickname, The Killer, Lewis has been described as "rock & roll's first great wild man.” His 1957 rock n roll hit "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" achieved worldwide fame for Lewis. Hits "Great Balls of Fire", "Breathless" and "High School Confidential" followed, but his career faltered in the years after his 1958 marriage to his third wife, Myra Gale Brown, his 13-year-old cousin. Lewis’ live performances became increasingly wild and energetic, and his 1964 live album Live at the Star Club, Hamburg, is regarded by many as one of the wildest and greatest live rock albums. In 1968, Lewis transitioned to country music, reigniting his career and resulting in chart-topping country-western hits. Lewis continues to release albums and tour worldwide. He has a dozen gold records in both rock and country, and has won several Grammy awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award. Lewis was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. Sadly, Lewis died at his home on October 28, 2022, in Nesbit, Mississippi, at the age of 87.

By By photographer:Maurice Seymour, Chicago. (eBay item photo front photo back) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons - File:Jerry Lee Lewis 1950s.JPG, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47369105

Happy Birthday, Deacon John!

Bandleader, singer, guitarist, Blues, R&B, and Rock n Roll musician Deacon John Moore was born in New Orleans on June 23, 1941, and grew up in the 8th Ward. Moore was active on the New Orleans R&B scene since his teens, and was a session player on many hit recordings of the late 1950s and the 1960s, including those by Allen Toussaint, Irma Thomas, Lee Dorsey, Ernie K-Doe, and others. His band The Ivories at New Orleans' Dew Drop Inn attracted an enthusiastic following, sometimes upstaging visiting national acts Moore was hired to open for. While highly regarded locally and by his fellow musicians, lack of hit records under his own name kept him from the national fame achieved by a number of his peers. Regardless, in 2000 Moore was inducted into the Louisiana Blues Hall of Fame. Moore has acted in films and television, and was featured in the documentary segment Going Back to New Orleans: The Deacon John Film and the concert CD, Deacon John's Jump Blues (2003). On July 25, 2006 Moore became president of the local branch of the American Federation of Musicians. Deacon John remains a local favorite on the New Orleans music scene. If you have the chance, be sure to catch one of his fantastic shows!

Photo by Mobilus In Mobili - https://www.flickr.com/photos/mobili/21498536583/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=44363359

Happy Birthday, Samantha Fish!

Samantha Fish was born on January 30, 1989, in Kansas City, Missouri. Fish started out playing drums, but when she was 15 she switched to the guitar. Fish frequently went to the Knuckleheads Saloon to hear touring Blues artists, ultimately joining in with the performers after she turned 18. Fish recorded and produced the live album Live Bait in 2009, which led to a record with two other female blues artists, Cassie Taylor and Dani Wilde, titled Girls with Guitars, as well as an international tour in 2011. Fish won the 2012 Blues Music Award for Best New Artist for her record Runaway. In 2013, Fish released her second major studio album, Black Wind Howlin', and her third studio album Wild Heart, in 2015. Fish released her fourth solo album, Chills & Fever in 2017, her fifth, Belle of the West in 2017, her sixth, Kill or Be Kind, in 2019, and her seventh, Faster, in 2021. Fish regularly performs in New Orleans and is a favorite at local festivals. The annual Samantha Fish Cigar Box Guitar Festival showcases her unique talent using unique instruments. Today we say to this amazingly talented artist, Happy Birthday Samantha!

Photo: Salamanamanjaro

Celebrating the Birthday of Snooks Eaglin

Guitarist and vocalist Fird “Snooks” Eaglin was born in New Orleans on January 21, 1937. Not long after his first birthday, Eaglin lost his sight due to glaucoma. At about five years of age, his father gave him a guitar, and he taught himself to play by listening to and playing along with the radio. Mischievous as a child, Eaglin was given the nickname "Snooks" after a radio character named Baby Snooks. In 1947, at the age of 11, Eaglin entered a radio talent contest, and in 1950, he dropped out of a school for the blind to become a professional musician. Two years later, he joined a local band started by Allen Toussaint called the Flamingoes. Eaglin played both the guitar and the bass parts simultaneously on his guitar, and he stayed with the band until they disbanded in the mid-1950s. 

His vocal style was reminiscent of Ray Charles, and he played such a wide range of songs and styles of music, sometimes within the same concert, album, or song, that he was nicknamed “The Human Jukebox.” He usually did not prepare set lists for his live shows, playing songs that came to him on stage and taking requests from the audience. Amazingly, his musical repertoire was said to include 2500 songs. Though he had a lengthy career spanning nearly five decades, Eaglin’s recording and touring as a solo artist were inconsistent. Over the years he worked with luminaries such as James Booker, Dave Bartholomew, Ellis Marsalis, Professor Longhair, and the Wild Magnolias. He was at his most consistent between 1987 and 1999, when he recorded five albums and recorded with other artists including Earl King and Henry Butler. 

Eaglin was scheduled to make a comeback appearance at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in the spring of 2009, but sadly he passed away on February 18, 2009. Today we celebrate the life and legacy of one of New Orleans’ own.

Photo by: Masahiro Sumori - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Sumori

Celebrating the Birthday of Louis Prima

Trumpeter, singer, songwriter, actor, bandleader and composer Louis Prima was born in New Orleans on December 7, 1910. In the late 1920s Prima formed a New Orleans-style jazz band, then he led a swing band in the 1930s, and a big band group in the 1940s. By the 1950s, he had helped popularize jump blues and was a featured act in Las Vegas. From the 1940s through the 1960s he played early R&B, rock’n’roll, boogie woogie and Italian folk music. Despite that musicians of his era were discouraged from displaying their ethnic roots, Prima embraced his Italian heritage and helped pave the way for other musicians to display their ethnic roots in their music. Some of his most popular songs include, “Just A Gigolo”, “I Wanna Be Like You”, “Jump, Jive an’ Wail”, “Pennies from Heaven”, and “When You’re Smiling”. Sadly, Prima passed away on August 24, 1978, after a lengthy illness. Today we celebrate this unique performer who always left us smiling’!

Photo by: William P. Gottlieb

Happy Birthday, Jerry Lee Lewis!

Singer songwriter and pianist Jerry Lee Lewis was born on September 29, 1935, in Ferriday, Louisiana. Known by his nickname, The Killer, Lewis has been described as "rock & roll's first great wild man.” His 1957 rock n roll hit "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" achieved worldwide fame for Lewis. Hits "Great Balls of Fire", "Breathless" and "High School Confidential" followed, but his career faltered in the years after his 1958 marriage to his third wife, Myra Gale Brown, his 13-year-old cousin. Lewis’ live performances became increasingly wild and energetic, and his 1964 live album Live at the Star Club, Hamburg, is regarded by many as one of the wildest and greatest live rock albums. In 1968, Lewis transitioned to country music, reigniting his career and resulting in chart-topping country-western hits. Lewis continues to release albums and tour worldwide. He has a dozen gold records in both rock and country, and has won several Grammy awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award. Lewis was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. Happy birthday, Killer!

By By photographer:Maurice Seymour, Chicago. (eBay item photo front photo back) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons - File:Jerry Lee Lewis 1950s.JPG, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47369105