Professor Longhair

Professor Longhair , actually Henry Roeland Byrd (born December 19, 1918 in Bogalusa , Louisiana , † January 30, 1980 in New Orleans , Louisiana), was an American musician who worked as a singer, composer and pianist for the rhythm and blues New Orleans 'gave impulses especially in its early phase and also wrote some Mardi Gras classics , which are still part of the standard program of the local carnival to this day. He shaped rock 'n' roll , soul , funk and ska by bringing younger musicians from New Orleans such as B. Fats Domino , Huey "Piano" Smith , Allen Toussaint , The Meters and the Jamaican founding fathers of the local record industry Duke Reid and Coxsone Dodd influenced. After his rediscovery, Professor Longhair inspired musicians like Dr. John or the Neville Brothers ; Paul McCartney is one of his avowed admirers.

biography

Early years

The musician, later known as “Professor Longhair” or “Fess”, had lived in New Orleans since he was two years old. His mother Ella Mae Byrd played the piano in jazz bands and promoted her son's musical talent at an early age. Henry earned money as a teenager with street tap dancing and a promotional song for snake oil medicine. He allegedly found his first piano in the rubbish bin, various keys were missing, which didn't prevent Henry from playing. Later he worked as a cook, briefly as a boxer, and repeatedly worked as a card player. Around 1937 he first found a large audience as a pianist and guitarist: he played for colleagues who worked with him in the Roosevelt government's job creation programs. His playing was also influenced by the boogie-woogie of the Creole New Orleans musician Tuts Washington (1907-1984).

successes

Longhair served in the Second World War until 1943. From 1947/48 his career as a professional musician took shape: he performed in the local Caledonia Club and was given his stage name there. His band "Professor Longhair and the Four Hairs" replaced the combo of band leader Dave Bartholomew , with whom the later so successful Fats Domino performed. In 1949 Longhair recorded his first records, including four pieces for the Star Talent label, including the legendary Mardi Gras in New Orleans . His backing band was called The Shuffling Hungarians at the time for some inexplicable reason . Longhair did not enter the rhythm and blues charts until 1950 as Roy Byrd & his Blues Jumpers with the hit Bald Head , which landed at number 5. The record was released by Mercury Records and would remain Longhair's only national chart hit.

In New Orleans and Louisiana, however, Fess quickly became a music great. His " Mambo - Rumba - Boogie style" influenced all Mardi Gras pianists who came after him. The professor played boogie-woogie bass runs with one hand, syncopated with the other and sang in his unmistakable style, which is also said to have inspired Elvis Presley . Were in his music, in addition to the rhythms of Carnival parades and the Zydeco , and Caribbean influences - like Calypso to notice - -Anklänge; some of Longhair's ancestors were from the West Indies.

In 1953 Longhair took on his unforgettable title Tipitina . A well-known nightclub in New Orleans has also been named after the song since 1977. Longhair meanwhile worked for the record label Atlantic, where connoisseurs of popular music such as Jerry Wexler and Ahmet Ertegün produced and composed. In 1959 Professor Longhair played his number Mardi Gras again . It is this version of the song that has been playing regularly at the New Orleans Carnival since then, the “definitive” version. In 1964/65 an elaborate production of the song Big Chief was initiated, but after that things went downhill for Fess for a few years: he had to work as a caretaker, swept out - bitter irony - record stores or tried his hand at card games again. He also lost one of his children to a violent crime.

Rediscovery

However, young R&B fans rediscovered the impoverished and partially forgotten Longhair in the early 1970s, when Fess performed at the largest music festival in the state, the Jazz & Heritage Festival , in 1971 and was enthusiastically celebrated. In 1973 Longhair was a guest at the Montreux Jazz Festival . In 1975 he performed at a private party of ex-Beatle Paul McCartney on board the old RMS Queen Mary . From 1977 Longhair finally had a regular venue again in the nightclub mentioned, celebrities such as Robbie Robertson and Robert Plant attended his performances. In 1978 Fess went on his first European tour, in 1979 on a US tour; even an appearance in the opening act of the punk band The Clash was planned.

In 1979 Professor Longhair was given a free hand in the production of his own album for the first time in his life. A documentary was also made about him. Longhair died before the film was finished, exactly one day before the release of his new album Crawfish Fiesta (Alligator Records). The album won the 1980 WC Handy Prize for the best contemporary blues album, and the following year the album "The London Concert".

In November 1981 he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame and in January 1992 into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame . He was awarded a posthumous Grammy in 1987 for the re-release of his early Atlantic recordings . Thanks to the use of his songs in international TV commercials, Professor Longhair's music is perhaps more present today than it ever was in his lifetime.

The sessions

Professor Longhair's music lived essentially in live performances. The professor's studio recordings were comparatively rare and suffered from a considerable lack of continuity in several respects.

Since 1949 Professor Longhair has made recordings for a number of labels, only a few of which were released promptly. A number of recordings were not published at all, others only years or even decades later.

Many of Longhair's recordings were published under various names, particularly in the early 1950s. The need to choose a different name for a publication was mostly due to contractual reasons. For example, some Mercury recordings from the spring of 1950 were recorded and published at a time when Professor Longhair (under this name) had an exclusive contract with the small label Star Talent . To avoid a conflict with Star Talent , Mercury released the recordings under the name Roy Byrd And His Blues Jumpers. The situation was similar with the (few) recordings for the small Wasco label from Memphis , Tennessee , from the fall of 1950, for which Professor Longhair was given the name Robert Boyd.

Musically, many of Longhair's themes repeat themselves over the decades. Many songs were recorded again and again. They differed significantly in terms of their arrangement, and were occasionally given other names. Professor Longhair recorded Mardi Gras in New Orleans in at least seven different versions between 1949 and 1978. In a direct comparison of the different versions of a song, Longhair's musical development can be easily followed.

Some songs have been recorded with different names over the years. For example, the classic Got My Mojo Working on Longhair's last album "Crawfish Fiesta" was called Got My Red Beans Cooking , and the instrumental piece 501 Stomp was also referred to as Longhair Stomp or Stompin 'with Fess on some recordings .

Star Talent , November 1949

Longhair's first studio shot. Four recordings published under the name of Professor Longhair And His Shuffling Hungarians :

• She ain't got no hair
• Bye bye baby
• Professor Longhair's Boogie
• Mardi Gras in New Orleans

Atlantic , December 1949

Nine recordings released under the names of Professor Longhair And His New Orleans Boys :

• Hey now baby
• Mardi Gras in New Orleans (2 versions)
• She Walks Right In (2 versions)
• Walk Your Blues Away
• Professor Longhair Blues
• Boogie Woogie (instrumental)
• Longhair's blues rhumba

Two other recordings were released under the name Roy "Bald Head" Byrd And His New Orleans Rhythm :

• Hey little girl
• Willie Mae

Mercury , February 1950

Five recordings released under the name Roy Byrd And His Blues Jumpers :

• Byrd's Blues
• Her Mind Is Gone
• Soon head
• Hey now baby
• Oh well

Mercury , July 1950

Five recordings released under the name Roy Byrd And His Blues Jumpers :

• Hadacol Bounce (2 versions)
• Longhair Stomp
• Been foolin 'you
• Between the Night and Day

Wasco , fall 1950

Two recordings published under the name Robert Boyd :

• East St. Louis Blues (a variation on "Mardi Gras in New Orleans")
• Boyd's Bounce

Federal , December 4, 1951

Four recordings released under the name Roy "Bald Head" Byrd :

• KC Blues
• Curly Haired Baby
• Rockin 'with Fess
• Gone so long

Atlantic , November 1953

Four recordings published under the name Professor Longhair And His Blues Scholars :

• In the night
• Tipitina
• Ball the Wall (a further development of "Boyd's Bounce")
• Who's Been Foolin 'You

Ebb Records , March 18, 1957

Six recordings released under the name Professor Longhair And His Band :

• No Buts - No Maybes
• Cry pretty baby
• Look What You're Doing to Me
• Misery
• Looka no hair
• Baby let me hold your hand

The Lost Sessions 1971/1972

A total of around 15 recordings, most of which were made in 1971, some also in 1972. These are the first recordings after the "rediscovery", i. H. after a musical break from Professor Longhair of several years. The recordings were initially not published and were forgotten. It wasn't until 1995 that they were released under the name "House Party New Orleans Style" with the subtitle "The Lost Sessions".

EmArcy 1974

New recordings of widely known songs in new arrangements.

Honorary title

• The Picasso of Keyboard-Funk
• The Bach of Rock & Roll (Allen Toussaint)
• It's Louis Armstrong after 47 shots of espresso. The man can play. (Coldbacon.com)

Quotes

• " I'm a little rowdy with my playing " (Professor Longhair)
• " If I'm so great, I wonder why I don't have some terrific contract. "(German:" If I'm really that great, why don't I have a fabulous [record] contract? ", Professor Longhair, 1976)

literature

• Rick Coleman: Blue Monday - Fats Domino and the Last Dawn of Rock'n'Roll , Da Capo Press 2006, ISBN 978-0306814914
• Vladimir Bogdanovic u. a .: All Music Guide to the Blues , Backbeat Books 2003, ISBN 9780879307363

Web links

• Works by and about Professor Longhair in the catalog of the German National Library
• Professorlonghair.com
• Longhair links at yahoo