I was recently working on a proposal for an essay on Chicago blues and I was thinking of
Bobby Charles because he was signed to the Chess record label. With the intention of trying to contact him, I searched the Internet. I was saddened when I discovered that he passed on in January 2010. I have been a fan of Bobby for some years.
Bobby Charles is one of my top albums of all time! After some research I quickly learned that, even if he was still with us, the chances of getting to speak with the reclusive songwriter would have been slim.
Bobby Charles (February 21, 1938 – January 14, 2010) was an American singer and songwriter. His best know titles include
“See You Later Alligator” and “
Walking to New Orleans”. In 1938 Bobby was born Robert Charles Guidry in Abbeville, Louisiana. He later dropped his Surname for professional purposes.
Charles came from a poor Cajun family and grew up making up his own songs because he could not read any music. He could not play an instrument or read music. Songs popped into his head, fully formed. To capture them, he’d sing into the nearest answering machine; sometimes he’d call home from a convenience store pay phone.
“I can hear all the chords up here,” he said, pointing to his brain, “but I can’t tell you what they are.”
His early influenced came from
Hank Williams,
Fats Domino,
Ray Charles,
Percy Mayfield and of course a lot of French Cajun music. His parents mostly listened to the French stations but he explained how he ‘freaked out’ when he found the country and R’n’B stations on the radio;
Going to the River by
Fats Domino changed his life!
During his school years Bobby used to hang out with swam-pop legend
Warren Storm. The two used to make demos in their bathroom, using the bath as their echo chamber. Before Warren had a set of drums they would hit cans. His first joined a band called Cardinals, which were a local band and later had to change their name to the Clippers.
He was recommended to
Leonard Chess by a local record storeowner. Chess arranged for
“See You Later Alligator” to be recorded in New Orleans with is band mate,
Harry Simoneaux, taking the sax solo and
Fats Domino’s backing band at his disposal. Later Leonard decided to record him in Chicago and sent him a plane ticket. Up until this point Bobby had only spoken to the
Chess brothers on the phone. He was me by
Phil Chess, who promptly exclaimed ‘Good God! Leonard’s gonna have a heart attack’. Bobby describes Leonard’s reaction, “Leonard just kept lookin’ at me like he was waiting for me to change colour!”
He subsequently became the first white artist to be signed to the
Chess label. His studio band was made up of members of the
Muddy Waters and
Little Walter bands. He also joined package tours with stars like
Chuck Berry.
Berry told
Rolling Stone how, when they were on an 11 night tour, Bobby would go in the front door and get the hot meal, while Chuck would have to go in the back and get sandwiches. Bobby would give the hot meal to Chuck and they’d swap; Bobby preferred sandwiches.
Despite developing a close relationship with
Leonard Chess, he earned little money from his contact. He was later approached by
Imperial Records and signed a deal that was “bad one! I’d write the songs and they’d take ‘em.”
Around ’63 he recorded for smaller labels and then wanted to set up his own label in Louisiana. He was having his songs cut by
Fats Domino and
Clarence ‘Frogman’ Henry. It was around this time that he met
Stan Lewis; an independent record storeowner which operated a mail order services covering most of the country. Together with Lewis, Bobby, set up the Jewel Records. It was through Bobby’s contacts with
Chess that it became a leading independent label. They were supposed to own half each. Unfortunately, due to his lack of business knowledge, Bobby, “got taken for a ride on that too”, so then he “got really depressed and disappointed with the business…stayed away from it.”
In 1972 he teamed up with members of
The Band and other musicians, such as,
Dr. John,
Ben Keith and
Bob Neuwirth to record a self-titled album for the
Bearsville Label. [Review to follow]
On November 26, 1976, Charles was invited to play with
The Band at their farewell concert,
The Last Waltz. Charles played “
Down South in New Orleans”, with the help of
Dr. John and
The Band.
Click here to watch the video.
Bobby Charles at The Last Waltz
In the 1970s, Mr. Charles wrote a song called “The Jealous Kind.”
Joe Cocker recorded it in 1976, followed by
Ray Charles, Delbert McClinton,
Etta James and
Johnny Adams.
Kris Kristofferson and
Gatemouth BrownTennessee Blues covered Mr. Charles’ “,” as did newcomer
Shannon McNally.
Muddy Waters recorded “
Why Are People Like That”; so did Houma guitarist
Tab Benoit on his Grammy-nominated 2006 album “
Brother to the Blues.”
He co-wrote the song “
Small Town Talk” with
Rick Danko of
The Band. “
Promises, Promises (The Truth Will Set You Free)” was co-written with
Willie Nelson.
Charles continued to compose and record (he was based out of Woodstock, New York for a time) and in the 1990s he recorded a duet of
“Walking to New Orleans” with Domino.
In September 2007,
The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame honoured Charles for his contributions to Louisiana music with an induction.
Charles collapsed in his home near Abbeville and died January 14, 2010.
Sources:
Harris, P. 2000. Walking to New Orleans –
The Jewel and Paula Recording 1964-65 (London: Demon-Westside) Notes to WESA 874.
Marcus, G. 1969. Roll Over Chuck Berry.
Rolling Stone. 14th June. Issue 35. p.16.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/jan/15/bobby-charles-obituary
http://www.nola.com/music/index.ssf/2010/01/bobby_charles_louisiana_songwr.html
http://www.americansongwriter.com/2010/01/r-i-p-bobby-charles/
