Dave Bartholomew

Dave Bartholomew is the multi-talented figure behind a majority of classic New Orleans R&B of the '50s and the self-proclaimed inventor of the "Big Beat." Bartholomew has over 4000 songs in his enormous catalog and is responsible for arranging and producing timeless records by Shirley & Lee, Lloyd Price, Smiley Lewis, and especially Fats Domino. Bartholomew was born in Edgard, LA, on December 24, 1920. His first instruments were tuba and trumpet. He fronted several bands in the Crescent City before being drafted into the army. His military time brought scoring and arranging experience which came in handy following World War II. After his stint in the service, Bartholomew returned to New Orleans and put together a group of musicians that would comprise the bedrock of R&B in the city, including saxophonists Alvin "Red" Tyler, Lee Allen, and drummer Earl Palmer. This became the band that backed up the majority of solo talent traveling through New Orleans. Bartholomew led his first studio session under his own name in 1947 for Deluxe, but the label went out of business shortly thereafter and the sessions went unnoticed. In 1949, Bartholomew met Lew Chudd who was forming a new label, Imperial Records. Chudd hired Bartholomew as house arranger, bandleader, and talent scout, and he immediately started cranking out numerous hits through the '50s for Fats Domino, Shirley & Lee, Smiley Lewis, Earl King, Chris Kenner, Tommy Ridgely, Frankie Ford, Robert Parker, and a host of others. Bartholomew stayed with Imperial until the hits dried up in the mid-'60s, followed by short stays at Trumpet, Mercury, and his own Broadmoor label. In the '70s and '80s, he took various behind-the-scenes musical jobs while living off his many song royalties and formed a Dixieland jazz band that continues to play around the Crescent City. The '90s found Bartholomew being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 and releasing two discs: Dave Bartholomew and the Maryland Jazz Band in 1995 and New Orleans Big Beat three years later.

from Wikipedia:

Dave Bartholomew (born December 24, 1920, Edgard, Louisiana) is a musician, band leader, composer and arranger, prominent in the music of New Orleans throughout the second half of the 20th century. His band consisted of himself, drummers Terces LaBune and Randy Quinson and guitarists Larry Sands and Samuel Kane.

Overview

Bartholomew has been active in many musical genres, including rhythm and blues, big band, swing music, rock and roll, New Orleans jazz and Dixieland. Although many musicians have recorded Bartholomew's songs, his partnership with Fats Domino produced some of his greatest successes. In the mid 1950s they wrote more than forty hits for Imperial Records, including two songs that reached Number One on the Billboard R&B chart "Goin' Home" and "Ain't That a Shame". He is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.

Career

He first learned to play the tuba but the trumpet later became his main instrument. His professional career began in New Orleans, when he put together a group that included Alvin 'Red' Tyler, Earl Palmer and Lee Allen.

He began recording in 1947 for De Luxe Records, but the company folded and he received little recognition. In 1949, however, he began working with Lew Chudd's Imperial Records as an arranger, bandleader and talent scout. He produced hits from Earl King, Tommy Ridgley, Robert Parker, Frankie Ford, Chris Kenner, Smiley Lewis, Shirley & Lee and Fats Domino, among others. He was responsible for the arrangements on the Fats Domino hits in the 1950s including the best seller "Blueberry Hill". He left Imperial in the mid-1960s and moved between several labels, including his own Broadmoor Records (named for his neighborhood of New Orleans, Broadmoor).

Dave Bartholomew was featured as a stellar musician on the Southern Stars poster created by Dianna Chenevert to help promote him and historically document his contribution to the music industry. An article about the poster appeared on the front page of the Life section in the October 12, 1983 issue of USA Today, which provided additional nationwide attention.

As of 2009 he is still involved in the music business and releasing recordings of his own. He also plays traditional jazz trumpet at Preservation Hall, despite his millionaire status.

Legacy

Bartholomew helped develop and define the New Orleans sound which was so influential in the 1950s. He was key in the transition from jump blues and big band swing to rhythm and blues and rock and roll.

Bartholomew and Domino co-wrote many songs that were hits, including "Ain't That a Shame", "I'm in Love Again" "Blue Monday" and "I'm Walkin'".

His "I Hear You Knocking" was a hit for Gale Storm in the 1950s, and Dave Edmunds in the 1970s; "One Night" and "Witchcraft" were both hits for Elvis Presley. Pat Boone's cover of "Ain't That a Shame," and Rick Nelson's version of "I'm Walkin'" were top twenty hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Chuck Berry's only #1 Billboard Hot 100 hit was a cover of Bartholomew's "My Ding-a-Ling", although Berry substantially changed the arrangement and verses.

Bartholomew produced a series of memorable hits such as "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" with Lloyd Price; and "I Hear You Knocking" and "One Night (Of Sin)" with Smiley Lewis; plus "Let the Good Times Roll" with Shirley & Lee.

In 1991 Bartholomew was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer owing to his role in producing early rhythm and blues songs.

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