Bobby Charles

Robert "Bobby" Charles Guidry (born February 21, 1938 in Abbeville , Louisiana , † January 14, 2010 ) was an American singer and composer who belonged to the Cajun . His compositions, which are mostly assigned to swamp music , can be found under the name Bobby Charles as well as under Robert Charles Guidry, Robert Guidry and Charles Guidry.

life and work

Bobby Charles grew up influenced by Cajun music and later learned about rock 'n' roll . As a teenager, he performed regularly at dance events with his band Cardinals .

The beginnings as a white musician on a "black label"

At 14 he wrote the song Later Alligator (better known as See You Later, Alligator ), Charles Redlich, the owner of a record store in Crowley and later owner of Viking Records, heard the song and let Charles Leonard Chess of Chess Records take that track over the Play phone back. Chess agreed to have the title recorded; the recordings were to take place in Cosimo Matassa's J&M studio in New Orleans . Musicians like Alvin Tyler and Lee Allen were hired for the recordings , but Bobby Charles insisted on playing with his Cardinals . Chess was happy with the recordings and gave Charles a recording deal without ever meeting him. So Bobby Charles became the only white artist on a "black label". Phil Chess , co-owner of Chess Records, met Charles at the Chicago airport and his first reaction was, “You can't be Bobby Guidry. Leonard's going to shit but there's nothing we can do about it now; the record's already out and it's a hit. "

The single was released in 1955 and reached number 14 on the African American-dominated R&B charts, the second single Only Time Will Tell number 11, and his recordings did not go into the Billboard Hot 100 , which is dominated by white musicians . Charles, meanwhile, went on tour with Chuck Berry and Frankie Lymon ; he was the only white musician to face the same reprisals as his colleagues. During a performance at the University of Mississippi , Charles was almost attacked by a group of football players, only the intervention of Chuck Berry and his musicians prevented worse. During a stay in Birmingham , Alabama, Charles and his fellow musicians stayed in a "black hotel" that was arson that same night.

In December 1955, See You Later, Alligator, was covered by Bill Haley - under contract with the much larger label Decca - and became a hit in the USA (6th place on the Hot 100). In 1960 his composition Walking to New Orleans with Fats Domino also became a top ten hit. Clarence "Frogman" Henry had his greatest success in 1961 with a Bobby Charles title, he reached number 4 in the US charts with (I Don't Know Why I Love You) But I Do. Charles published singles on various labels (e.g. Imperial Records or Jewel Records ) until the mid-1960s , but these remained little successful.

Bobby Charles and The Band

Charles remained silent until the early 1970s. In the summer of 1972 Charles came to Woodstock , New York under an assumed name - wanted for a drug offense - . Musicians like Paul Butterfield , Geoff Muldaur and Amos Garrett were staying there at the time, and the members of The Band lived in the neighboring town of West Saugerties . Through bassist Jim Colegrove , Charles got in touch with Albert Grossman , the former agent of Bob Dylan and Simon and Garfunkel , who promised to take care of Charles's legal problems if he signed a record deal with his label Bearsville .

In 1972, Charles released his self-titled debut album, which was produced by The Band bassist Rick Danko and The Band producer John Simon . In addition to Levon Helm , Garth Hudson and Richard Manuel from The Band , musicians such as David Sanborn and Mac “Dr. John “Rebennack contributed to the album. While the reviews were good, the album's audience success was low.

In 1973 Charles contributed to albums by Paul Butterfield (It All Comes Back) and Eric Von Schmidt (Living On the Trail) . Charles made his first public appearance in over 20 years on Thanksgiving 1976 as a participant in The Last Waltz , The Band's farewell concert . In the Martin Scorsese concert documentary, Charles, who along with Dr. John sang the track Down South in New Orleans , but not seen, but the track can be heard on the accompanying album.

In 1977 Bearsville recorded another album with Charles, it was produced by Ben Keith . Keith, who was also involved in the previous album, became known for his work as a producer and pedal steel guitarist for Neil Young . Spooner Oldham could be won as a pianist . Before the album was released, Charles, who was feeling increasingly uncomfortable, parted ways with Grossman. Charles said goodbye to Grossman with the words: "I can't say that it was good doing business with you, so I'll just say adios, motherfucker!" . The album never came out.

Charles withdrew from the public again, but his compositions were recorded by a wide variety of musicians, including Joe Cocker , Ray Charles , Tom Jones , Kris Kristofferson , Bo Diddley and others. a.

Rice 'n' Gravy

At the end of the 80s Charles founded his own label Rice 'n' Gravy . In 1987 the album Clean Water was released in Europe - distributed by Zensor Records . Distributed through the Canadian label Stony Plain , Charles released the album Wish You Were Here Right Now in 1996 , which was recorded in Willie Nelson's studio and includes contributions by Neil Young, Fats Domino and Sonny Landreth in addition to Nelson . In 1998 the album Secrets of the Heart was finally released .

Then it became quiet again around Charles. His fifth album (Last Train to Memphis) was released in 2004 and his sixth album (Homemade Songs) in 2008 , both are compilations of new and old recordings. Charles suffered a personal stroke of fate in 2005 when his home in Holly Beach , Louisiana, on the Gulf of Mexico was completely destroyed by Hurricane Rita .

On January 14, 2010, Charles collapsed and died in his home near Abbeville. According to a confidante, he suffered from diabetes and kidney cancer .

The album Timeless , on which Charles worked before his death, was released posthumously . In addition to guitarist Sonny Landreth, Charles' long-time companion Dr. John involved in the recording.

Work technique

Bobby Charles never learned to play an instrument and could neither read nor write notes. He usually recorded his compositions with a tape recorder . If this was not available to him, he sang on his answering machine .

Compositions (selection)

• (I Don't Know Why I Love You) But I Do (Clarence Henry)
• See You Later, Alligator (Bill Haley)
• Walking to New Orleans (Fats Domino)

Publications

• 1972: Bobby Charles
• 1987: Clean Water (only published in Europe)
• 1995: Wish You Were Here Right Now
• 1998: Secrets of the Heart
• 2004: Last Train to Memphis (compilation of recordings from 1975 to 2001)
• 2008: Homemade Songs
• 2010: Timeless

Awards

• October 2007: Induction into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame

swell

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Tom Aswell: Bobby Charles Biography of the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame
2. ↑ Larry Benicewicz: " Bobby Charles - Last Train to Memphis: Part I: The Chess Years ( Memento of the original from June 14, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ". BluesArtStudio, 2004. 
3. ↑ Bobby Charles on theband.hiof.no
4. ^ Emmett Grogan , " The Band's Perfect Goodbye - A Behind-the-Scenes Report ". Oui Magazine 1976/77.
5. ↑ Keith, Oldham and Young can be heard together on Young's 1978 album Comes a Time
6. ↑ Larry Benicewicz: “ Bobby Charles - Last Train to Memphis: Part II: A Songwriter Blossoms ( Memento of the original from August 27, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ". BluesArtStudio, 2004. 
7. ↑ Named after a traditional Cajun dish consisting of rice and gravy .
8. ^ " Louisiana singer-songwriter Bobby Charles dies at 71 ". CBC News, Jan. 15, 2010
9. ↑ Alex Rawls: " Hurrican Bobby - Bobby Charles ( Memento of the original from June 29, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ". Blurt Online January 21, 2009 

Web links

• Entry on Allmusic.com
• Bobby Charles in the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame
• Three part article about Bobby Charles in BlueArtStudio
• Detailed overview of publications and compositions
• Portrait (2012) on National Public Radio