Robert Charles Guidry was leaving a diner in his native Louisiana when he heard the words that would forever make him Bobby Charles. "See you later, alligator," the 17-year-old jive-talked to a friend, only to hear, like a gospel call-and-response, "In a while, crocodile" from a neighboring patron.
He had been playing teen soirees with a combo called the Cardinals (no relation to the r&b vocal group of the same name) in the small town of… more »
Snooks Eaglin, who died on February 18 at age 72, was a quintessential New Orleans character - the "Human Jukebox," as he was known locally, a guitarist and singer who claimed a repertoire of 2500 songs - blues, r&b, pop, rock, gospel, traditional - you name it, he played it. Eaglin recorded in every format, from solo acoustic to electric band with horns. And like many truly quintessential New Orleans characters, he never had a… more »
The Ponderosa Stomp, which is organized essentially by record collectors and takes place in New Orleans mid-week between the two Jazzfest weekends, is an eMusic.com kind of event. It's a two-night, marathon (6 PM to 4 AM) celebration of the unsung heroes and one-hit wonders of American music, including early rock 'n'roll, rockabilly, swamp pop, blues, soul, funk and garage bands. Needless to say, many of them record for independent labels. So many, in fact,… more »
Released in conjunction in 2002 with the four-disc box set Walking to New Orleans, as well as three other titles in EMI/Capitol’s Crescent City Soul series, The Fats Domino Jukebox: 20 Greatest Hits the Way You Originally Heard Them becomes the definitive single-disc Fats collection on the market nearly by default — it’s remastered, it’s the one in print, and it has a flawless selection of songs. It’s not markedly better than, say, the ’90s’ definitive Fats compilation, My Blue Heaven, since it has essentially the same track selection and even if the tapes were restored to their originally running speed, the difference is not enough for most ears to notice, but it’s still a great collection of some of the greatest music of its time, and it summarizes Domino’s peaks excellently. So, if you don’t already have a Fats Domino collection, this surely is the one to get (despite the really ugly art). – Stephen Thomas Erlewine
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