Edgar Blanchard

Edgar Blanchard (born August 17, 1924 in Grosse Tete , Louisiana, † September 16, 1972 in New Orleans , Louisiana) was an influential American R&B guitarist and arranger. For many years he was the band leader of the group The Gondoliers , which consisted of well-known musicians from New Orleans.

Life

The Blanchard family moved from Grosse Tete to New Orleans with young Edgar, who was already a talented guitarist at the time. Trumpeter Frank Mitchell recalls a performance with the 10-year-old in New Sarpy , Louisiana. During the Second World War Edgar was stationed as a soldier in Europe, from 1945 he studied music theory and arrangement at Grunewald's School of Music.

After graduation, Blanchard formed a band with drummer Albert “June” Gardner , saxophonist Otis Ducker, pianist Ed Blackwell and bassist Steward Davis, which he called “The Gondoliers” in memory of a stay in Venice during the war. The group performed in the city's well-known clubs and impressed with complex arrangements and the virtuoso guitar playing of the band leader.

At Percy Stovall's Pelican Club, the gondoliers became a house band. Stovall had a second mainstay with a concert agency and signed a contract with the group in 1948 as a support band for his artists such as Roy Brown or Chubby Newsome . So the gondoliers got an engagement at the Bronce Peacock Club in Houston , Texas, whose owner Don Robey recorded the band for his label Peacock Records : the Creole Gal Blues and She'll Be Mine after a While present Blanchard as guitarist and singer .

In 1950 the Gondoliers played for some time in the Dew Drop Inn in New Orleans until Blanchard broke up the band in favor of an engagement in Roy Brown's band "The Mighty Mighty Men". Edgar rose to band leader through some line-up changes and arranged, among other things, Roy's chart hit Hard Luck Blues . After an argument with the blues shouter Brown, he left the Mighty Mighty Men and tried to gain a foothold in Cosimo Matassa's J&M studio as a session musician, but could not oust the already established Ernest McLean . Frustrated, Edgar withdrew from the music business for a while.

In 1952, drummer Alonzo Stewart persuaded Blanchard to revive the gondoliers. Edgar was to become musical director, Alonzo business director. Experienced musicians were asked to do this with Warren Hebrard on tenor saxophone, August Dupont on alto saxophone, Edward Santino on piano and Frank Mitchell on trumpet. The saxophonist Lee Allen jumped at short notice in favor of an engagement in Paul Gayten's band. The new gondoliers' debut concert at the Hide Away Inn met with great interest and led to follow-up engagements in the Perez Lounge and again at the Dew Drop Inn. They also played as a backing band on the tours of Big Joe Turner and Ray Charles .

Blanchard and the gondoliers were increasingly used in the studio to accompany them. So Edgar was for the famous guitar intro of Big Joe Turner's Honey Hush responsible for Atlantic Records were Professor Longhairs Tipitina , Tommy Ridgleys I'm Gonna Cross the River and Ray Charles' Feeling Sad recorded. Bumps Blackwell , who was a producer at Specialty Records , regularly booked the J&M studio and hired Blanchard for sessions with Little Richard , including hits like Slippin 'and Slidin' , Ready Teddy and Miss Ann . At Specialty, Blanchard was also able to record on his own behalf again: The tracks Mr. Bumps and Stepping High appeared in 1956 on Specialty 585 and 586. For Chess Records Blanchard played on Paul Gayten's Driving Home , on Eddie Bo's Oh-Oh and various sessions with Charles Williams , Clarence Henry and Bobby Charles .

In 1958 Edgar recorded the instrumentals Let's Get It and Lonesome Guitar for Ace Records , which were passed on to Joe Ruffino 's Ric Records label for publication. Then Blanchard also worked as A&R manager for Ruffino, his arrangements for Eddie Bo, Al Johnson , Tommy Ridgley and Irma Thomas should help shape the sound of the Ric and Ron Records label family . The Gondoliers recorded Let's Have a Blast, the only album that was released on Ric Records, but which did not bring out the musical creativity of the band in favor of the novelty elements of their live performances.

Between 1960 and 1964, the Gondoliers were the house band at Club Natal's. In the meantime, the line-up had changed again with bassist Frank Fields , saxophonist Warren Bell and Lawrence Cotton at the piano. After Natal's closure and a few weeks in Mobile , Alabama, the band broke up.

Blanchard went into public service and only played music part-time. His excessive alcohol consumption was troubling his health. On September 16, 1972, he died of a heart attack.

Discography

Singles

• 1949 - Creole Gal Blues / She'll Be Mine after a While , Peacock 1514 (Edgar Blanchard with the Gondoliers)
• 1956 - Mr. Bumps / Ricki-Ticki-Too , Specialty 585 (Edgar Blanchard & his Band feat.Roy Montrell )
• 1956 - Stepping High / Sweet Sue , Specialty 586 (Edgar Blanchard & his Band)
• 1958 - Let's Get It / Lonesome Guitar , Ric 954 (Edgar Blanchard)
• 1958 - You Call Everybody Darling / Knocked Out , Ric 957 (The Gondoliers)

Albums

• 1961 - Let's Have a Blast , Ric RLP-2001 (The Gondoliers)

literature

• Jeff Hannusch: The Soul of New Orleans. A Legacy of Rhythm and Blues . Swallow Publications, Ville Platte 2001, ISBN 0-9614245-8-3 , Edgar Blanchard & The Gondoliers: Let's Get It, p. 92-96 (American English).

Web links

• Discography on WangDangDula
• Edgar Blanchard at Discogs (English)
• Edgar Blanchard at Allmusic (English)