Celebrating the Birthday of Earl King

Singer-songwriter and guitarist Earl King (Earl Silas Johnson) was born in New Orleans on February 7, 1934. King started playing guitar at 15, entered local talent contests, and met his idol, Guitar Slim, at one such contest at the Dew Drop Inn. In 1954, King toured with Guitar Slim's band, representing himself as Slim, after an automobile accident had sidelined Slim.King ultimately became a regular at the Inn, and made his first recording in 1953 as Earl Johnson. In 1955 his hit song “Those Lonely, Lonely Nights” reached number 7 on the BillboardR&B chart. The legendary Dave Bartholomew invited King to record for Imperial Records in 1960, and it was there that he recorded his signature songs “Trick Bag” and “Come On”.

While King did not record for much of the 1960s, he was very productive producing and songwriting for local labels, including the iconic “Big Chief” recorded by Professor Longhair. He recorded a few tracks for Motown Records in the mid-1960s, and in 1972 he recorded the album Street Paradewith Allen Toussaint and the Meters, which was ultimately released in 1982. King appeared on the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival 1976, recorded the album That Good Old New Orleans Rock ‘n Roll, released in 1977. His 1986 album Glazedwas nominated for a Grammy Award. He released two more albums in the 1990s featuring such luminaries as Snooks Eaglin, George Porter, Jr., and David Torkanosky. King performed off and on locally until his death. 

Earl King passed away on April 17, 2003, just a week before the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. And in typical New Orleans style, his funeral was held during the festival with many musicians in attendance, including Dr. John, Aaron Neville, and Leo Nocentelli. On this day we remember one of the greats of New Orleans Blues!

Photo by: Masahiro Sumori

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 Allen Toussaint 1/14

Pianist, songwriter, arranger and record producer Allen Toussaint was born in Gert Town in New Orleans on January 14, 1938. He was an influential figure in New Orleans rhythm and blues from the 1950s to the end of the century, described as "one of popular music's great backroom figures". Many musicians recorded Toussaint's compositions, including “Whipped Cream”, "Java", "Mother-in-Law", "I Like It Like That", "Fortune Teller", "Ride Your Pony", "Get Out of My Life, Woman", "Working in the Coal Mine", "Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky", "Here Come the Girls", "Yes We Can Can", "Play Something Sweet", and "Southern Nights". He was a producer for hundreds of recordings, among the best known of which are "Right Place, Wrong Time", by his longtime friend Dr. John ("Mac" Rebennack), and "Lady Marmalade", by Labelle. Toussaint was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998, the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2009, the Songwriter's Hall of Fame and the Blues Hall of Fame in 2011. In 2013 he was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama In 2016, he posthumously won the Pinetop Perkins Piano Player title at the Blues Music Awards.Sadly, Toussaint passed away on November 10, 2015, while on tour in Madrid, Spain.

Photo by Henryk Kotowski

Celebrating the Birthday of Danny Barker

Guitarist, banjo player, singer and author Daniel “Danny” Barker was born in New Orleans on January 13, 1909, and performed as a rhythm guitarist for several bands throughout the 1930s, including Cab Calloway. Throughout his career, he played with noted artists including Jelly Roll Morton and Sidney Bechet, as well as touring with his wife, singer Blue Lu Barker. From the 1960s, 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, including Wynton and Branford Marsalis who played in the band as youths. Barker passed away on March 13, 1994, but his music lives on! Today we appreciate his many contributions to the City and music we love.

Celebrating the Birthday of Kid Ory

KID ORY

Influential early jazz trombonist, bandleader and composer Edward "Kid" Ory was born on December 25, 1886, on Woodland Plantation, near LaPlace, Louisiana. Ory started playing music with homemade instruments in his childhood, was leading a band by his teens, and moved his band to New Orleans when he was twenty-one.  Ory played banjo in his youth, which helped him develop a particular style of trombone playing called “tailgate”, with a rhythmic line underneath the cornets and trumpets. Ory was discovered by Buddy Bolden, and by the 1910s had one of New Orleans’ most well-known bands. He hired many of the City’s greatest jazz musicians including Joe “King” Oliver and Louis Armstrong. 

In 1919, he moved to Los Angeles, and in 1921 his band recorded a number of songs, including two instrumentals, “Ory’s Creole Trombone” and “Society Blues”, which were the first jazz recordings made on the West Coast by an African-American band from New Orleans. Ory paid the recording company Nordskog for the pressings and then sold them at Spikes Brothers Music Store in Los Angeles with his own label, "Kid Ory's Sunshine Orchestra". Ory moved to Chicago in 1925 where he worked and recorded with Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, King Oliver, Bessie Smith, and many others. He also mentored Benny Goodman and, later, Charles Mingus. Ory retired from music during the Great Depression, running a chicken farm in California during that period. But he returned to music in 1944, leading one of the premier New Orleans-style bands of the time. 

The Ory band helped to revive interest in New Orleans jazz, appearing on popular 1940s radio broadcasts, and in 1944–45 the group made a series of recordings for Crescent Records. During the late 1940s and early 1950s, Ory and his group appeared in Los Angeles, and in 1958 he played at 'On the levee' on the San Francisco waterfront. Ory retired from music in 1966 and spent his last years in Hawaii, where he passed away January 23, 1973. He led a remarkable life, which we celebrate today!

Celebrating the Birthday of Dave Bartholomew

David Louis Bartholomew was born on December 24, 1918, in Edgard, Louisiana. He was a musician, bandleader, composer, writer, arranger, and producer in many musical genres including Big Band, swing, R&B, rock and roll, New Orleans and Dixieland Jazz. Bartholomew is best known for his numerous successful collaborations with Fats Domino and other artists, as well as for his significant and influential role in the transition from swing and jump blues to rock and roll. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 and recognized for these achievements, being dubbed “one of the Crescent City’s greatest musicians.” New Orleans music legend Dave Bartholomew passed away on June 23, 2019, at the age of 100, but his music lives on. Today, on his birthday, we celebrate the life and legacy of Dave Bartholomew!

Photo by Klaus Hiltscher; SpinningSpark