Rep your favorite Eddie Bo production
Surrealist
218 Posts
As shocking as the news is that the great and prolific maestro Eddie Bo passed away, I think I can speak for any of my New Orleans friends in saying his life really will be celebrated. I know that Second Line for him will be one of the greatest in the history of that lovely city. His music is one of the main reasons I started collecting Funk 45s. In the spirit of celebrating his ingenuity and inimitable style, I thought about just naming some of my favorite productions by the late great genius who seemed to accurately capture every color of the human experience in his amazing music:The Explosions - Garden of Four Trees....I hope Juanita Brooks sings this song again in tribute to him. The breaks are incredible on this one.The Explosions - Jockey RideEddie Bo - We're Doing It (The Thang) It was amazing just to hold this 45 in my hand.Inell Young - Next Ball GameRoy Ward - Horse With A Freeze...the BREAKS! And the spoken word was really funnyEddie Bo & Inez Cheatham - Lover and a Friend...the vocals and, once again, the BREAKS! Never owned the version on Seven B, but have had the pleasure of owning the Capitol 45.Eddie Bo - Showdown...probably his rarest record, if I'm not mistaken.Doug Anderson - Hey Mama Here Comes the Preacher...an amazing instrumental with amazing organ and guitarEddie Bo...gone, but not forgotten
Comments
one of the best funk 45s evar IMO
consign on Lover and a Friend...wow
Eddie Bo "Every Dog Got His Day" one of the toughest RnB tunes of all time, that riff, good lord...(dont know if he produced it though)
so many good ones...they are all favorites
Young Lady: "Hey Everybody, We're doing it!"
Man: "Doing what?"
Young Lady: "The Thang!!!"
Man: "RIGHT ON!"
and then that whistle, oh my God...to say Eddie Bo was a genius really is an understatement...really can't believe I let that record go...
Roger & the Gypsies - Pass the Hatchet Pts 1&2
Probably my all time favorite 45, by anyone, and unf*ckwithable on every level...
Edited because I didn't read the thread title closely enough. Bo didn't produce this, but really, who the f*ck cares....
regardless, here's mine, all 45's:
"Fare Thee Well" (Chess)
"Oh Oh" (Chess)
"Check Mr. Popeye" (Swan)
"S.G.B." (Seven B)
"Hook & Sling" (Scram)
PLUS:
Curley Moore & the Kool Ones - "Shelley's Rubber Band"/"Funky, Yeah" (House Of The Fox - I think Eddie was involved in some capacity)
Major
We could say "inspired by Eddie Bo" for that one. And thank you for all your great work in documenting his legacy, by the way. I never knew Inez Cheatham was an alias for Mary Jane Hooper. Is it correct to say she was a member of the Explosions? I think what what makes me saddest about Eddie Bo passing away is the fact I never got the chance to meet him or see him play live. For those of us who are from the South or Anywhere, really, he is a god. I hope the good people of NOLA name a street after him and play his music all across the city.
I forgot to add:
Eddie Bo - Hook & Sling
David Robinson - I'm A Carpenter
Mary Jane Hooper - I've Got Reasons
I can't speak for anyone else, but I still have a lot of family members living in New Orleans. Most of them left after Hurricane Katrina. Some of my family members who left never made it back because they passed away. They were all elderly, and so in a way, Eddie Bo, Fats Domino and any other elders (and all others) who survived that tragic time are like family to me. We're all very familiar with Edwin Bocage - those of us who live in the South. The man and his productions are inextricably linked, but for those who still don't know much about Eddie Bo, there is a Wax Poetics article about him, Funky 16 Corners can answer questions you have about him, you can talk to Brice or Ms. Weber (Soul Sister) in New Orleans or you can start with Eddie Bo's website:
http://www.eddiebo.com/bio.html
Quite a few of the people he worked with are still alive and still singing and/or playing music in NOLA. Just go down there and talk to them about who Eddie Bo was and what he represents. You might even be able to catch one of their tribute shows to him at this year's Ponderosa Stomp. There's even an all soul and funk 45 night named after one of his songs, "The Hip Drop" that comes on the eve of the Ponderosa Stomp.
Dress
Yes!
All my favorites have already been mentioned:
"The Thang"
"Hook & Sling"
"Pass the Hatchet"
"Garden of Four Trees"
"Check Your Bucket"
"Lover and a Friend"
Mary Jane Hooper was a pseudonym for a singer named Sena Fletcher. For a long time it was assumed that she was also the singer who recorded as Inez Cheatham. Bo was interviewed a while back and insisted that they (Hooper and Cheatham) were two different people, but I've never seen any other documentation, and they sure sound like the same people to me. It has been suggested - further complicating things - that Fletcher and Cheatham performed together in a group called the Triple Souls. I don't think Hooper sang with the Explosions.
Reborn is massive of course, but the flip is real nice ballad
do with the ballad side, "Counting Tear Dops" but I love that track, too.
- and thanks, Rey, for the Explosions. Great track, pretty complex arrangement!
Years ago I asked Bo about James K Nine, and he said it was a real guy (singing that ballad).
Yeah, I knew that (from reading your blog
credit on the label of that side is Shelley Pope ... ?
Absolutely. That one is also one of the hardest to find Eddie Bo productions too, and my favorite green label Bo-Sound 45. I don't know how many green ones there are - most of his records on Bo-Sound (that I've seen) were red label. It's one of the records I ask about all the time when I'm in New Orleans, but no one ever has it. There was some information about Marilyn Barbarin along the lines of "Where Are They Now" that seems to have disappeared, but I did come across some writing that mentions Barbarin's lesser known records. Almost nothing on "Reborn", though. Barbarin is still around, and her family is well known in NOLA.
http://indangerousrhythm.blogspot.com/2007/09/marlilyn-barbarian.html
This is the 45 that first came to mind as well. I've always associated it very heavily with EB's actual catalog. Epitome of heavy.
here it is for everyone to enjoy
I keep coming back to Bogage's Let Our Love Begin / From This Day On (Seven B 7005). A fantastic two-sider that, like most singles of Eddie's, I will never be able to afford. Both sides exude love and humanity that is at once disarming and exciting.
And I know that folks might be avoiding The Hook & Sling since it's so obvious, but that's really the most enthralling drum song I've ever heard, of any genre. Honestly.
For the love of Eddie, can we all now finally agree that an exhaustive Bocage datafile should be compiled in short order?
It is[/b] Eddie Bo singing on 'Pass the Hatchet'. It's unusual because it's one of the few (only?) records he was involved with solely as a vocalist. The track is a band called Earl Stanley and the Stereos and Bo was brought in after it was recorded to add vocals (I think by Joe Banashak). The instrumental track is amazing, but I think Bo's vocals take it to a whole other level.
Now that I think about it, I believe he also appears on "Rock & Roll Santa Claus" by Huey "Piano" Smith & the Clowns. Don't know if he's playing piano, but he is unmistakably one of the singers. Even out of context, his voice is recognizable.
He was like Toussaint in that he sang backup on a bunch of his productions. You can hear him behind Mary Jane Hooper, Oliver Morgan and others.
ps - Is there another track with even more off-the-scale insane James Black drums? I would genuinly love to hear it.
I wonder if Bo had anything to do with Easterling's "I'm Your Man" single.
Anyone know anything about Bo's relationship with Wardell Q? I always thought their productions shared much in common and I was wondering if they were friends, rivals or both.
Here's the flip, I Won't Cry (I'll Just Laugh Myself To Death). It's a beautiful ballad with some unsettling laughter at the end
Oh man, I forgot about "Live It Up." Shame on me! That's an amazing track.