Artist:James Booker
Song:Gonzo
Album:Raunchy! Volume 2: More Instrumentals: Rockin' Into the Sixties
Pianist James Booker was a legend of New Orleans R&B. He was known as The Black Liberace. For the most part he was a sideman and studio musician. But he occasionally he recorded as a leader. The 1960 single Gonzo was an R&B hit. Maybe you heard it on the AMC TV series Mad Men. He was born Dec. 17, 1939 in New Orleans. Booker's father and grandfather were Baptist ministers who played piano. He started playing at age six and played piano in his father's church. He spent part of his childhood with his aunt due to his father's health problems. In school he became friends with Art Neville, Charles Neville and Allen Toussaint. Then Booker was hit by an ambulance and broke his leg in eight places. He recovered but was left with a permanent limp. Booker learned to play trumpet and sax and played organ on radio station WMRY every Sunday. Booker first recorded for Imperial Records in 1954. His recordings were produced by Dave Bartholomew. Though his own recordings were unsuccessful, Bartholomew frequently had Booker play piano on Fats Domino records. At the same time, Booker adopted a flamboyant stage persona similar to Little Richard. He became known as The Black Liberace. In the late 50s, Booker recorded for Chess and Ace and as a sideman with Huey "Piano" Smith, Shirley and Lee, Joe Tex, Larry Davis, Junior Parker, Earl King, Smiley Lewis and Lloyd Price. In the early 60s, Booker recorded several singles for Don Robey's Peacock Records. These were all instrumental. Gonzo was the most successful of these. It reached #43 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #3 on the R&B Singles chart. This was the only time Booker charted. As I said, you may have heard Gonzo on the AMC TV series Mad Men. And you can get it on this 2CD various artists comp from the reissue label Jasmine. The musicians on this record are not identified. But I believe Booker played all the instruments including the flute solo. Heroin landed Booker in jail. After his mother's 1967 death, Booker was convicted of heroin possession and sentenced to a year in Angola. He was assaulted while there and lost an eye. After his release, Booker returned to session work. He recorded an album for Paramount in 1973. But the master tapes were lost. They were found in the 90s and released. Then he signed with Island Records and had success touring Europe. Booker returned to New Orleans in 1978 and continued to play clubs until his death on Nov. 8, 1983 at age 43. Though James Booker was never famous, he was certainly revered by the New Orleans music community. Here's a video for Gonzo by James Booker.
No comments:
Post a Comment