Eddie Bo

Last time I was here we were in the Cajun part of La, with DL Menard, prior to that we were also in La but in NO with guitarist Snooks Eaglin. We are staying in La today with a NO singer/songwriter/producer/pianist by the name of Eddie Bo who died in March this year.

Like many of the NO greats, Eddie was a hero in his home town but underappreciated elsewhere. Despite lots of talent and releasing more than 50 singles in a career lasting more than 50 years, he never had a national hit commensurate with his musical standing.

Born Edwin Joseph Bocage on September 20, 1930, Bo was raised in the Algiers and Ninth Ward sections of New Orleans by a musical family. His uncles Peter and Charles and cousin Henry all played in post-WWI jazz orchestras, and his mother was a self-taught pianist in the style of friend, Professor Longhair.

1. Got To Know – 1950s – I Love To Rock N Roll – Tk 20 – 2.47

Eddie graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in NO before going into the army towards the end of WW2. After his military service, he returned to New Orleans to study at the Grunewald School of Music, where he learned piano, music theory and arrangement. It was there that he discovered bebop pianists like Art Tatum and Oscar Peterson. He started playing around the jam-heavy New Orleans jazz scene, but soon discovered that R&B was more popular and accessible, not to mention better-paying. He joined the house band at Club Tijuana under the name Spider Bocage, and later formed the Spider Bocage Orchestra, a professional backing band that supported many prominent blues and R&B artists of the day, including Ruth Brown, Earl King, Lloyd Price, Big Joe Turner, Smiley Lewis, and Guitar Slim.

In the 1950s he and a group of New Orleans musicians toured the country supporting singers Big Joe Turner, Earl King, Guitar Slim, Johnny Adams, Lloyd Price, Ruth Brown, Smiley Lewis, and The Platters

Bo cut his first record in 1955 for the Ace label and went on to release more singles than any other New Orleans artist save Fats Domino. This next track, a single for the Apollo label was later adapted by Little Richard into the hit "Slippin' and Slidin'

2. I’m Wise – 1950s – I Love To Rock N Roll – Tk 5 – 2.15

In addition to recordings with Ace and Apollo, Bo also recorded a few singles for Chess and Checker, but did the majority of his '50s work for the small New Orleans label Ric, scoring regional hits with tracks like "Tell It Like It Is" and "Every Dog Has Its Day" which were two sides of a Ric single in 1960.

3. Tell It Like It Is – 1960 – Check Mr Popeye – Tk 10 – 2.23

4. Every Dog Has Its Day – 1960 – Check Mr Popeye – Tk 14 – 2.15

One writer noted of Eddie’s style: ”His versatility and professionalism have had a vital impact on the world of contemporary New Orleans music. As a vocalist, he is one of a kind. As a pianist, he transcends categorizing. His spirit and vitality are an inspiration to musicians all over the world.”

This next track, from the late 1950s, "My Dearest Darling" was also covered by Etta James for a hit in 1960.

5. My Dearest Darling – late 1950’s – I Love To Rock N Roll – Tk 16 – 2.35

In 1961, Eddie had a hit with a dance number called "Check Mr. Popeye" however, competing versions by Chubby Checker and Huey "Piano" Smith diminished its chart performance.

6. Check Mr Popeye – 1961 – Check Mr Popeye – Tk 1 – 2.16

During the 1960s, Bo also produced records by numerous local artists; his credits include work with Irma Thomas, Chris Kenner, and Johnny Adams, among others.

Irma Thomas was a good friend. "He knew his craft," said Thomas, who added that Bocage was one of the first people she worked with when she entered the business in the early 1960s. Thomas also performed regularly at a nightclub Bocage ran in the city from the late 1970s to early 1980s

By 1965, he was in house producer at Joe Banashak's Seven B label where he also released several singles including this next great funk track, with a great vocal performance from co-writer Inez Cheatham.

7. Lover and a Friend – 1965 – I Love To Rock N Roll – Tk 29 – 2.37

As the '60s wore on, Bo's piano style not only got funkier, but brought back more and more of his jazz training, creating a distinctive sound that helped lay the groundwork for New Orleans' own brand of funk (along with artists like the Meters).

Eddie’s biggest hit, "Hook and Sling, Pts. 1 & 2," was recorded for the local Scram label and reached the Top 40 on the R&B charts in 1969.

8. Hook & Sling – 1969 – The Hook & Sling – Tk 1 – 3.41

By the late 1960s however, Bo was tired of being at the music industry's mercy for his livelihood; he subsequently formed his own Bo-Sound label and in 1971 scored another local hit with "Check Your Bucket."

9. Check Your Bucket – 1971 – The Hook & Sling – Tk 4 – 4.53 (play 2.50)

Other early-'70s sides for his Bo-Sound label, such as "Pass the Hatchet," cemented Bo's future standing as a lost funk treasure.

Another writer wrote “He had a very percussive sound, more jazzy than Professor Longhair. He was always at the forefront of trends, right back to the Little Richard days and into the funk era, when he released some really revolutionary records.”

In 1975 he dropped out of the music scene, instead setting up his own building renovation business. In the late '70s he did record two self-produced albums. He also recorded with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band during the late '80s, when he also toured Europe.

After studying for a time at the Yahweh Institute in Miami, he returned to New Orleans in the late 1980s.

Track from this 1990’s period - piano solo, recorded live in 1995

10. Boogie at the Boiler Room – June 1995 – NO Piano Solo – Tk 5 – 5.23

Reviewing Mr. Bo in performance at Tramps Cafe in New York in 1993 for The New York Times, Jon Pareles called him a one-man orchestra: “His left hand trundles out steady-rolling bass lines, meshed with chords or splashed with barrelhouse triplets from his right; he stamps his feet in one more layer of rhythm.”

In recent years he appeared regularly at the annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, toured extensively abroad and recorded albums on his Bo-Sound label, including “Nine Yards of Funk” (1998) and “Saints, Let’s Go Marching On In” (2007).

Track from Nine Yards of Funk

11. Chicken Talk – May 1998 – Nine Yards of Funk – Tk 10 – 3.59

In 1999, he was featured in the PBS documentary River of Song. In addition to touring, he also gigged frequently in his hometown, most often at Tipitina's

In 2003 he bought a doctor's office which he and his sister converted into an eatery calling it "Check Your Bucket" after his 1970 hit. Like Bo’s home and recording studio it was hit by Hurricane Katrina while Bo was on tour in Paris, and never reopened.

Eddie Bo died on March 18, 2009, at age 79 of a heart attack. Like Snooks Eaglin, he was booked to appear at the upcoming Jazz and Heritage Festival, but never made the gig. He is survived by two sisters, two brothers, and eight children: as well as many grandchildren and great grandchildren]

The NY Times wrote in his obit “Mr. Bo, a rhythm-and-blues belter and florid barrelhouse pianist, came of age when New Orleans street music, based on marching band traditions, was being translated into a distinctive local rhythm and blues style.”

Eddie himself described his music thus:

"There's that mysticism, that little extra beat that you can always tell comes from New Orleans. It's an extra beat inside the beat that we can't seem to explain to people. We call it a stutter step, that extra step that the second liners do [in the street parades]. We incorporate that from when we are children, and when you hear it, then you know it, 'cause there's only one set of people that's able to bring that forth, to incorporate that extra little thing that's going on in there. Mister, you can tell New Orleans anywhere you go."

Close out with

12. Piano Roll – 1996 – Louisiana Gumbo – Tk 8 – 5.23