History of Rock and Roll New Orleans

New Orleans 2 – musical heritage – diverse culture  New Orleans has always had a rich, vibrant, influential music scene  The city is a diverse cultural mix: Native, Spanish, French, British, African, Caribbean, Latin American  The city also has cultural links to Latin American and Caribbean music and traditions such as Mardi Gras

New Orleans 3 – musical heritage – diverse popular styles The cultural mix gave the New Orleans R&B a similarly mixed sound:  Latin rhythms  “band” instrumentation (horns, etc)  The influence of blues The city was known for being a very important center in the development of jazz:  ragtime  “barrelhouse” piano (a combo of jazz, ragtime, blues and boogie-woogie)  “New Orleans” style jazz (and Dixieland) Other musical influences from New Orleans’ culture:  Parade bands, with African and Creole elements  funeral processions  festivals, celebrations  hundreds of music clubs

New Orleans 4 – Sound Characteristics What are we listening for today?  Instrumentation: emphasis on piano, bass, and sax/horn section  music that mixes diverse influences: R&B, jazz, funk, Latin or Caribbean  Inventive and varied rhythms, often with a Caribbean feel, or the use of polyrhythms  the boogie-influenced “Barrelhouse” piano style

New Orleans 5 – Professor Longhair PROFESSOR LONGHAIR  B. Henry Roeland Byrd, 1918  one of the earliest artists to typify the “New Orleans” R&B sound.  A cross of cultural influences: “offbeat Spanish beats and Calypso downbeats” “Boogie rhumba” style: boogie bass lines set to a rhumba beat, which became a hallmark of the New Orleans style Very influential on later New Orleans piano players such as Fat Domino, Allen Toussaint, Art Neville, Dr John, Huey “Piano” Smith Never really became nationally famous, but deeply respected by other musicians; died in 1980.

Professor Longhair: Tipitina  Released in 1953 on Atlantic Records  There is a famous bar in N.O named “Tipitina’s”  He was ‘rediscovered’ in his 70’s, but died in 1980.

New Orleans 6 – Dr John The influence of earlier New Orleans pianists can be found in artists such as Dr John.  Real name Mac Rebennack  An example of a musician whose music crosses ethnic boundaries  Played with all the great New Orleans session musicians as a young man  This particular song (“Right Place, Wrong Time”) is a good example of the famous New Orleans piano style merging with a particularly “New Orleans’ style of funk.

New Orleans 7 Now that we’ve had an introduction to the concept of New Orleans style, let’s look at some of the 1950s R&B artists who came out of New Orleans and contributed their influence to the sound of early rock and roll, and learn where they recorded.

New Orleans 8 - Labels 1950’s Recordings Two particular labels carried a lot of New Orleans artists through the 1950's:  Imperial (Fats Domino)  Specialty (Little Richard) Both labels were based in LA, although the artists recorded in New Orleans.

New Orleans 9 – Cosimo Matassa’sStudio  At this time in the 1950’s, there was only one recording studio in New Orleans: J&M (run by engineer Cosimo Matassa.)

New Orleans 10 – Dave Bartholomew  The session band at Matassa’s studio was led by bandleader Dave Bartholomew  Bartholomew’s band worked with many New Orleans artists: Smiley Lewis, Lloyd Price, Fats Domino, etc

New Orleans 11 – Fats Domino: The Fat Man Antoine “FATS” DOMINO  B. 5/10/29 in New Orleans  Father was a jazz violinist  Hands injured in a factory accident when he was young; overcame that to become famous pianist  Discovered in 1949; Dave Bartholomew became his co-writer and arranger  First big hit (1950): “The Fat Man,” featured members of Bartholomew’s band: Herb Hardesty and Alvin “Red” Tyler, sax; drummer, Earl Palmer; bass, Bartholomew

New Orleans 12 – Fats Domino – “Ain’t that a Shame” Fats Domino hit it big in 1955 with the song “Aint That a Shame.” Listen for:  12 bar blues  “catchy” tune  strong dance beat / rhythmic variety  “Tight” (meaning precise and virtuosic) ensemble playing  Repeating bass riff, a trademark of Bartholomew’s style  Drummer Earl Palmer’s style - Palmer would go on to be a very famous LA session drummer  “Ain’t That a Shame” went to #1 on R&B charts, #10 on pop charts  Pat Boone covered it, and it went to #1 on the pop charts

New Orleans 13 – Fats Domino – Blueberry Hill  Fats Domino’s biggest hit: Blueberry Hill, 1955  Originally recorded by another New Orleans legend, Louis Armstrong, in 1949  The single was controversial: some jazz purists didn’t like the idea of a “rock” cover of a jazz tune  Listen again for the boogie bass and the drum style with the snare backbeat

New Orleans 14 – Fats Domino  Fats was consistently successsful  1963: went to ABC records; they changed his sound to a more “modern Nashville” production.  Had a 60’s hit with his cover of the Beatle’s Lady Madonna  Successful live performing career has continued Fats was missing for several days after Hurricane Katrina. Fortunately, it turned out that he had been rescued from his rooftop.

New Orleans 15 – Little Richard Little Richard is a great example of an artist who experienced the tension between the sacred and the secular: the risqué innuendo of rhythm and blues lyrics are often delivered with the passionate vocal style of gospel music Little Richard’s style included:  the percussive energy of the boogie-woogie piano players  the famous vocal “squeals” of Ruth Brown and Louis Jordan  a campy, outrageous on-stage persona, with elaborate outfits, poofy hair, makeup Little Richard’s first hits were recorded in Cosimo Matassa’s famous studio in Cosimo Matassa’s famous studio in New Orleans, with Dave Bartholomew’s Band Famous quote: “Elvis may be Famous quote: “Elvis may be the King of Rock and Roll, the King of Rock and Roll, But I’m the Queen!” But I’m the Queen!”

New Orleans 16 – Little Richard, bio  Born Richard Penniman, 6/5/32 in Macon Georgia  one of 12 children in a very religious Seventh Day Adventist household  Earliest musical influence was church music & gospel  Family disapproved of his music and his gay lifestyle; kicked him out when he was a teenager  “adopted” by a white couple who owned a local nightclub, and encouraged him to play music  age 19, won a recording contract with RCA and became “Little Richard”; no success at first  got contract with Specialty records in LA; they sent him to record in New Orleans

New Orleans 17 – Little Richard Little Richard’s first hit: Tutti Frutti (1955)  They hadn’t planned to record it  Little Richard started singing it during a break  Produced (Bumps Blackwell) decided it would be a great single, however…  They had to clean up the original words, which were: A wop-bop a-loo-Mop, a good goddamn, Tutti frutti…good booty…

New Orleans 18 – Little Richard, “Tutti Frutti” “Tutti Frutti” was the first big hit for Richard, and reached the Top Ten on both the rhythm and blues charts and the pop charts. It has the following musical characteristics:  12-bar blues structure  “stop time chorus”  Richard’s voice – “vocal fuzz box”  vocal “cues” – a particular “scream” always cues the soloist  Pat Boone did an infamous cover version of this tune – one of the examples often used of a “white” artist’s record company deciding to cash in on a “black” artist’s rhythm and blues hit. Boone’s went to Number One.

Little Richard: Long Tall Sally  Released in 1956  Pat Boone also covered this song, but Richard’s version outsells it.  The Beatles recorded this song years later, with Paul doing his famous “Little Richard” imitation.  Jimi Hendrix once said, “I want to do with my guitar what Little Richard does with his voice.”

Little Richard: Lucille  Released in 1957  Richard is a great example of the “singer” being more important than the “song”, as a good number of his songs are filled with nonsense lyrics.  Your book points out, “When you hear Little Richard, you don’t hear the songs, you hear him.”

New Orleans 19 – Little Richard’s conflict  Late 50’s: Richard has crisis of faith  Left rock and roll  Enrolled in Oakwood Bible College in AL  1962: went back on tour singing gospel  eventually went back to rock and roll  This battle between “sacred and profane” has been an issue for him many times during his career.

New Orleans 20 – Allen Toussaint Another important New Orleans artist is Allen Toussaint:  musician  songwriter (wrote many hits for other artists, esp. in the 60s)  producer  successful career lasting to the present day  Toussaint was also evacuated from New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. As recently as summer 2006, he was living in New York while his house is rebuilt (Wikipedia.)

New Orleans 21 – The Neville Brothers  An example of New Orleans’ tradition of musical families  Aaron, Art, Cyril, Charles, Ivan Neville  African-American and Native- American background (one of their bands was the “Wild Tchopitulas,” named after a Native tribe)  Aaron had huge hit in 1966 with the ballad “Tell it Like it Is”  Neville Brothers successful career continues to the present; Grammys, etc Several of the Nevilles also lost their homes in Hurricane Katrina and have relocated.