Uncredited phot - if you know better then please let me know and I will accredit
Showing posts with label Professor Longhair. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Professor Longhair. Show all posts
Friday, July 03, 2026
Monday, February 16, 2026
Amongst My Top Ten Albums of ALL Time? Crawfish Fiesta - Professor Longhair
Start the week with this if nothing else! . . . . . .
I discovered the Fess through Dr John and started collecting everything I could find live boots everything and when this ‘New’ album just came out (produced by Mac) only to find the album had a stamped message on the cover that Fess had died and then after watching the first music programme on the UK’s newest channel, Channel 4 [Piano Players Rarely Play Together featuring Fess, Allan Toussaint and Tuts Washington] documentary profile film shows The Professor’s funeral and New Orleans wake as he died during it’s making . . . . . it stood for years as one of my top three albums of all time and is always in my top ten I would say
Play this at my funeral!
Friday, November 21, 2025
. . .with you I can be Professor Longhair! Ahmet Ertegün recalls meeting the ‘Fess!
Fess
BUT I SIGNED WITH THEM AS ROELAND BYRD. . .
WITH YOU, I CAN BE PROFESSOR LONGHAIR
Ahmet Ertegün (co-founder and president of Atlantic Records) :
"While we were down South, someone mentioned Professor Longhair, a musical magician who played in a style all his own. We asked around and finally found ourselves taking a ferryboat to the other side of the Mississippi, to Algiers, where a white taxi driver would deliver us only as far as an open field.
"You're on your own,' he said, pointing to the lights of a distant village. 'I ain't going into that nigger town. Abandoned, we trudged across the field, lit only by the light of a crescent moon. The closer we came, the more distinct the sound of distant music - some big rocking band, the rhythm exciting us and pushing us on. Finally we came upon a nightclub - or rather a shack which, like an animated cartoon, appeared to be expanding and deflating with the pulsation of the beat. A big man at the door barred our way and told us we couldn't go in. I was going to say, 'We're from Atlantic Records, but then I remembered that hardly anyone had even heard of Atlantic, so I said, 'We're from Life magazine. And he said, 'Oh really?' I said, 'Yeah and we've come to hear Professor Longhair. So the guy said, 'Well, I don't think you should be coming in here. So I said, 'Well, just put us in a corner, hide us, we want to hear the music. I mean it was blaring out of there - drums, a mike on the piano and on the vocals the place was packed, people hanging out of the windows and everything. Finally the guy on the door said, 'Okay, I can put you right behind the bandstand. I said, 'Fine put us anywhere, it doesn't matter. So he walked us in, and a lot of people actually scattered because they figured the law had arrived. We were put in a corner and I was amazed to see that there wasn't a full band, there wasn't even a drummer, there was only a single musician - Professor Longhair. He was using the upright piano as both keyboard and bass drum, pounding a kick plate with his right foot to keep time, playing two and four against the thing, creating these weird, wide harmonies and singing in the open-throated style of the blues shouters of old.
'My God!' I said to Herb, 'We've discovered a primitive genius.' I'd never heard music like that and I've never to this day heard anybody else play the piano quite like that. So after the set he came over and I said, 'You know what, you're going to be recording for Atlantic Records. So he said, 'I'm terribly sorry, but I signed with Mercury last week. Then he added, 'But I signed with them as Roeland Byrd. With you, I can be Professor Longhair.”
Professor Longhair - Red Beans - (Crawfish Fiesta) a favourite Fess album and a favourite track
said to be released every year for Mardi Gras . . . how could you not go?
Professor Longhair - Go To The Mardi Gras
Monday, March 03, 2025
VA - Mercury Records, The New Orleans Sessions 1950 - 1953 [2007] (2 x CDs) BUTTERBOY
MERCURY RECORDS
So Butterboy has found some Naweleans RnB which features some Prof Longhair before he was the Fess! That is before yours truly was even born! Roy Byrd and His Blues Jumpers!
The Mercury New Orleans sessions began with William B. Allen, who owned a radio supply store at Orleans and North Robertson streets and also distributed Mercury records in New Orleans. In late 1949 Allen talked to Mercury’s main office about recording black artists in New Orleans. “He had impressed the people in Chicago in knowing something about it and having something to offer,” recalled Murray Nash, Mercury’s primary Southern A&R (artists and repertoire) man of the time, “and they sent me down there to check it out.”
Allen acted as Mercury’s talent scout. He didn’t have to look very far, as his business was on the border between the French Quarter, where George Miller & His Mid-Driffs often performed, and the black Treme district, where Professor Longhair and Alma Mondy played the’Caldonia Inn,’ though one or two of the Mercury artists were chosen from an audition at the ‘Club Desire,’ a swanky black nightclub in the middle of a poor Upper Ninth Ward neighborhood a few miles to the east of the downtown area on Desire Street, likely after Nash, who usually recorded country music, arrived from his home in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Before signing with Mercury in 1948, Nash had been a successful distributor and A&R man for RCA Victor, where over the course of a decade his many achievements included the creation of several innovative distributing practices, persuading producer Steve Sholes to sign Hank Snow, and the recording of the original version of Tennessee Waltz by Pee Wee King and the Golden West Cowboys (after Sholes had rejected the song), Nash would later recommend the song to Mitch Miller, the pop A&R man at Mercury, for either Patti Page or Eddy Howard to Record. Of course, Miller recorded the song with Page and the rest is pop music history – perhaps (an alternate story suggests that ‘Billboard’ writer Jerry Wexler, having liked Erskine Hawkins’ pop cover version, recommended the song to Jack Rael, Page’s manager).
In early 1950 Murray traveled to one of his favorite cities, New Orleans, where segregation was obvious. “New Orleans was divided and there was a regular black section, and they had their clubs and businesses,”sremembered Nash. “Whites normally didn’t go into the colored section at all.” Nash and Allen went to segregated black clubs and had to stand behind the bar to watch the artists. On one memorable night Allen enjoyed a black hairdresser’s convention at a nightclub, watching women wearing hairdos “three or four feet” above their heads!
From all indications – the releases of the records and mentions of the recording in the media – the first sessions were probably held in February 1950. Likely because of economic considerations – seven artists recorded in marathon sessions over two nights – the recordings were made at National Recorders in the Godchaux Building on Canal Street, instead of at Cosimo Matassa’s J&M studio. The songs were recorded primarily on 33 1/3rpm acetates. “That’s all they had at National at the time,” says Cosimo Matassa. “Two engineers from WWL and another guy named Ray McNamara, an organist, owned National. They got all of the aircheck business from WWL (radio)… They weren’t around a terribly long time after that.”
The musicians on the session were George Miller’s Mid-Driffs, including Miller on bass, Lester Alexis on drums, Alex ‘Duke’ Burrell on piano, and Leroy ‘Batman’ Rankin and Lee Allen on tenor saxophones. Alexis recalled that former Paul Gayten sideman Jack Scott, husband of Jewel King of ‘3×7=21’ fame, played the guitar.
“He (Allen) knowed how good we was,” claimed Lester Alexis. “He wanted to invest some money. So he used Fess, Alma and all them recording and we backed all of them up… We started playing early that night and recorded all night, man. We ate and drank and everything (in the studio).”
In April 1950 ‘Billboard’ reported, “Murray Nash did his first Southern blues and rhythm waxing, cutting Roy Byrd and his Blues Jumpers, New Orleans group, and Alma Mondy, blues singer… (www.louisianamusicfactory.com)
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Saturday, February 01, 2025
The Wings Fun Club Newsletter from before the launch of Venus and Mars, the party on the Queen Mary (feat. Prof Longhair) Spring 1975
Look what I found!
Worth a read though hey?
50 years later . . . . .
Fess - Mess Around (Live on the Queen Mary (MPL Productions 1978)
Venus and Mars Rehearsals 1975
Paul McCartney & Wings - Bon Voyageur (New Orleans 1975)
Bon Voyageurs . . . . . . .
Thursday, December 19, 2024
Remembering Professor Longhair (December 19, 1918 – January 30, 1980) - Two profiles of THE ‘FESS!
MAESTRO!
Remembering Professor Longhair (December 19, 1918 – January 30, 1980)
New Orleans is said to be a city where having a party has been elevated from a casual pastime to a way of life. Nobody understood this better than Professor Longhair, one of the pioneers of New Orleans rhythm & blues. His influence can be heard in Fats Domino, Allen Toussaint and Dr. John, among many others. Known for his unique mix of blues, jazz, calypso, ragtime, and zydeco, "Fess" (as he was known) defined and captured the essence of New Orleans in his music.
Born Henry Roeland Byrd in Bogalusa, Louisiana 1918, and raised in New Orleans, Fess started performing at an early age, often dancing down Bourbon Street for tips. In addition to piano, he learned to play guitar and drums in the early 1930s and was in and out of numerous bands. He soon found there were better ways to make money than music. He worked as a cook, then as a boxer, and eventually became a professional card player. It wasn't until the late 1940s that he returned to music.
He went into the army during World War II, and was discharged in 1943. At that point he led a variety of groups, including the Mid Drifs, Professor Longhair and the Four Hairs, and Professor Longhair and His Shuffling Hungarians. He made his recording debut with the latter group in 1949 on the Star Talent label. A year later he had a new group and a new label. The Blues Jumpers recorded for Mercury, which released Bald Head, the only Professor Longhair ever to make the R&B charts, peaking at number five.
Longhair recorded for Atlantic and Federal, and many smaller labels such as Edd, Ron, Rip. Despite recording such classics as Tipitina, Big Chief, and Going To The Mardi Gras, he never received much exposure outside of Louisiana, although his reputation in New Orleans was substantial. With songs like Tipitina, Hey Now, Baby, In The Night, Big Chief, and the great Going To The Mardi Gras, Fess was the reigning king of New Orleans.
"Tipitina" Professor Longhair & The Meters 1974
Even though a New Orleans legend, Fess was forced to support himself by returning to cards and working as a janitor in the mid-1960s. Luckily, he was rediscovered in the early 1970s and performed at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 1971. He played the New Orleans festival every year thereafter until his death. He toured Europe, headlining the 1973 Montreux Jazz Festival. Paul McCartney flew him to California in 1975 to play an exclusive private party on the Queen Mary. He was an idol to people who were not even born when Bald Head was a hit.
Of his many recordings, however, perhaps his best and most fully realized is Crawfish Fiesta, recorded for Alligator Records in 1979. Bruce Iglauer, president of Alligator Records, continues the story. "I was on the phone with Professor Longhair's manager, and I mentioned that I'd love to record Fess for Alligator. I loved his eccentric, rhumba-blues New Orleans piano style and wild, cracked vocals, and he was one of my favorite musicians. I flew down to New Orleans and listened to the master pound out all his old hits and a slew of Crescent City R&B standards. I made an offer, and, much to my amazement, it was accepted. Surrounded by friends (including Dr. John on guitar) and finding himself in a studio situation where he was completely in charge (maybe for the first time ever), Professor Longhair presented Alligator with perhaps the finest album of his long career and one of the best Alligator ever released."
Don's Tunes
Crawfish Fiesta usually in my Top Three Albums of all time!
A favourite from that album is this
Professor Longhair - I Know There Is Something On Your Mind
I’d been saving this profile since way back so here’s another biog. introduced via Dr John as I have b=banged on about but he rapidly became my main man and no mistake. I have said f=before add nauseam tha Fess featured on a the FIRST music show on the then new Cghannel 4 when they broadcast Piano Players Rarely Play together featured Fess. Tuts Washington and Allen Touusaint . . . duding the filming they lost Fess and filmed his way Nawleans style which was staggering and just posthumously they rebased Crawfish Fiesta as agrranged by his student and main man hisself The Good Doctor John Mac Rebennack!
Henry Roeland "Roy" Byrd (December 19, 1918 – January 30, 1980), better known as Professor Longhair or "Fess" for short, was an American singer and pianist who performed New Orleans blues. He was active in two distinct periods, first in the heyday of early rhythm and blues and later in the resurgence of interest in traditional jazz after the founding of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 1970. His piano style has been described as "instantly recognisable, combining rumba, mambo, and calypso".
Music journalist Tony Russell (in his book The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray) wrote that "The vivacious rhumba-rhythmed piano blues and choked singing typical of Fess were too weird to sell millions of records; he had to be content with siring musical offspring who were simple enough to manage that, like Fats Domino or Huey "Piano" Smith. But he is also acknowledged as a father figure by subtler players like Allen Toussaint and Dr. John."
Byrd was born on December 19, 1918, in Bogalusa, Louisiana.[2] His distinctive style of piano playing was influenced by learning to play on an instrument that was missing some keys. He left the city as a baby with his parents, who were most likely fleeing the racial tension surrounding the Bogalusa Massacre.
He began his career in New Orleans in 1948. Mike Tessitore, owner of the Caldonia Club, gave Longhair his stage name. Longhair first recorded in a band called the Shuffling Hungarians in 1949, creating four songs (including the first version of his signature song, "Mardi Gras in New Orleans") for the Star Talent record label. Union problems curtailed their release, but Longhair's next effort for Mercury Records the same year was a winner. Throughout the 1950s, he recorded for Atlantic Records, Federal Records and local labels.
Professor Longhair had only one national commercial hit, "Bald Head", in 1950, under the name Roy Byrd and His Blues Jumpers. He also recorded his favourites, "Tipitina" and "Go to the Mardi Gras". He lacked crossover appeal among white and wide audiences. Yet, he is regarded (and was acknowledged) as being a musician who was highly influential for other prominent musicians, such as Fats Domino, Allen Toussaint and Dr. John.
After suffering a stroke, Professor Longhair recorded "No Buts – No Maybes" in 1957. He re-recorded "Go to the Mardi Gras" in 1959. He first recorded "Big Chief" with its composer, Earl King, in 1964. In the 1960s, Professor Longhair's career faltered. He became a janitor to support himself and fell into a gambling habit.
After a few years during which he disappeared from the music scene, Professor Longhair's musical career finally received "a well deserved renaissance" and wide recognition. He was invited to perform at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 1971 and at the Newport Jazz Festival and the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1973. His album The London Concert showcases work he did on a visit to the United Kingdom. That significant career resurrection saw the recording of the album "Professor Longhair - Live On The Queen Mary", which was recorded on March 24, 1975, during a private party hosted by Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney on board the retired RMS Queen Mary.
"Walk Right In/Shake, Rattle & Roll" Professor Longhair & The Meters 1974
Prof Longhair Crawfish Fiesta
I always fancied having this is as the last number at my funeral!
Monday, July 08, 2024
Today's Playlist - MOON MULICAN, ROY MONTRELL, PROFESSOR LONGHAIR!
PLAYLIST : MOON MULLICAN from
Butterboy's Louisiana & The Old New Orleans Sound!
said to have more than a mere hand in co-writing this stone rockabilly folk, country, Americana classic with our Hank (Williams y’all!)
We really enjoy Moon Mullican and the rhythm to this is hard to beat!
I mean check out this for a playlist! I’M IN HEAVEN!
CD1
01 Hawketts Mardi Gras Mambo 2:14
02 Clifton Chenier Louisiana Stomp 2:54
03 Irma Thomas It's Raining 2:11
04 Rusty & Doug Kershaw Louisiana Man 2:34
05 Fats Domino Walking to New Orleans 2:01
06 Benny Spellman Lipstick Traces (On a Cigarette) 2:28
07 Bunk Johnson Alexander's Ragtime Band 3:15
08 James "Sugar Boy" Crawford Jock-a-Mo 2:31
09 Clarence Garlow New Bon Ton Roulay 2:54
10 Paul Gayten Creole Gal 2:30
11 Shirley & Lee Feel So Good 2:52
12 Professor Longhair Go to the Mardi Gras 2:49
13 Boozoo Chavis Paper in My Shoe 2:16
14 Smiley Lewis One Night 2:27
15 Little Richard Send Me Some Lovin' 2:22
16 Alvin Robinson Down Home Girl 3:03
17 Moon Mullican Jambalaya 2:39
18 Sharkey Bonano South Rampart Street Parade 3:37
19 Cookie & the Cupcakes Mathilda 3:12
20 New Orleans Salvation & Marching Band Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho 3:16
21 Billie & DeDe Pierce Algiers Hoodoo Blues 4:49
22 Red Onion Jazz Band When It's Sleepy Time Down South 4:28
23 Slim Harpo I'm a King Bee 3:04
24 Ernie K-Doe A Certain Girl 2:46
25 Sweet Emma & Her Dixieland Boys I Ain't Gonna Give Nobody None of My Jelly Roll 5:32
CD2
01 Bobby Charles See You Later, Alligator 2:50
02 Johnny Preston Cradle Of Love 2:21
03 Earl King Those Lonely Lonely Nights 2:25
04 Joe Barry I'm A Fool To Care 2:23
05 Warren Storm Mama, Mama Look What Your Little Boy's Done 2:22
06 Mr. Banjo & The New Orleans Redheads Heart Of My Heart 5:00
07 Spiders I Didn't Want To Do It 2:46
08 Chris Kenner Something You Got 2:52
09 Johnny Dodds Wild Man Blues 3:11
10 Percy Humphrey's Crescent City Joymakers We Shall Walk Through The Streets Of The City 3:55
11 Bobby Mitchell I'm Gonna Be A Wheel Someday 2:29
12 Link Davis Big Mamou 2:50
13 6 & 7/8ths String Band Dixieland One-Step 1:16
14 Roy "Professor Longhair" Byrd Bald Head 2:32
15 Johnny Adams I Won't Cry 2:22
16 Jimmy C. Newman Cry, Cry Darling 2:31
17 Al Terry Watchdog 2:06
18 Roy Montrell (Every Time I Hear) That Mellow Saxophone 2:25
19 Benny Spellman Fortune Teller 2:15
20 Smiley Lewis I Hear You Knocking 2:33
21 Huey "Piano" Smith Rockin' Pneumonia And The Boogie Woogie Flu, Pt. 1 2:17
22 Clifton Chenier Country Bread 2:28
23 Jim Robinson's New Orleans Band When You Wore A Tulip 4:51
24 Bobby Charles Take It Easy, Greasy 2:13
25 Jimmy Newman A Fallen Star 2:17
Roy Montrell (Every Time I Hear) That Mellow Saxophone
CD3
01 Irma Thomas Wish Someone Would Care 2:18
02 Kid Ory & His Creole Jazz Band Shine 4:36
03 Bunk Johnson Just A Closer Walk With Thee 2:48
04 Guitar Slim The Things That I Used To Do 3:00
05 Clarence "Frogman" Henry I Ain't Got No Home 2:22
06 Lloyd Price Just Because 2:48
07 Turk Murphy Hard Hearted Hannah 3:40
08 Johnny Horton The Battle Of New Orleans 2:31
09 Slim Harpo Got Love If You Want It 2:49
10 Lightinin' Slim My Starter Won't Start 2:51
11 The Dixie Rebels Back Home Again In Indiana 4:16
12 Lazy Lester I'm A Lover, Not A Fighter 2:45
13 Jimmy Clanton A Letter To An Angel 2:54
14 Al Terry Pardon Mr. Gordon 2:08
15 Jivin' Gene & The Jokers Breakin' Up Is Hard To Do 2:28
16 Lightinin' Slim It's Mighty Crazy 2:37
17 Fats Domino Goin' To The River 2:33
18 Jimmy Clanton Another Sleepless Night 2:10
19 6 & 7; 8ths String Band Floating Down That Old Green River 2:37
20 Frankie Ford Sea Cruise 2:46
21 Warren Storm Prisoner's Song 2:52
22 Cookie & The Cupcakes Until Then 2:32
23 John Fred Shirley 1:54
24 Eureka Brass Band West Lawn Dirge 5:44
25 Rod Bernard This Should Go On Forever 2:46
CD4
01 Jack Delaney & His N.O. Jazz Babies Basin Street Blues 2:21
02 Huey "Piano" Smith Don't You Just Know It 2:31
03 Joe Jones You Talk Too Much 2:32
04 Lightinin' Slim Rooster Blues 2:34
05 Phil Philips & The Twilights Sea Of Love 2:23
06 Lu Watters; The Yerba Buena Jazz Band Big Bear Stomp 3:26
07 Johnny Preston Running Bear 2:38
08 Marilyn Horne; Richard Robinson Creole Lullaby 2:30
09 Al Ferrier Hey Baby 2:25
10 Clarence "Frogman" Henry (I Don't Know Why I Love You) But I Do 2:20
11 Emile Christian & His New Orleans Jazz Band Rhythm Kings Lament 2:56
12 Lazy Lester Sugar Coated Love 2:46
13 Charles Sheffield It's Your Voodoo Working 1:49
14 Jimmy Clanton Just A Dream 2:32
15 Red Onion Jazz Band Diga Diga Doo 3:51
16 Slim Harpo Rainin' In My Heart 2:34
17 Halfway House Orchestra Let Me Call You Sweetheart 3:08
18 Cleveland Crochet Sugar Bee 2:33
19 Johnny Dodds Clarinet Wobble 2:34
20 Big Boy Myles New Orleans 2:24
21 Sweet Emma & Her Dixieland Boys Just A Little While To Stay Here 4:01
22 Vin Bruce Dans La Louisianne 3:07
23 Kid Ory & His Creole Jazz Band St. James Infirmary 3:18
24 Glenn Yarbrough The House Of The Rising Sun 3:26
25 Dutch Swing College Band Ory's Creole Trombone (Live) 2:53
FESS - Go To The Mardi Gras!
Thursday, February 23, 2023
Fess! PBS Soundstage CBS 1974 Dr John, The Meters, Earl King and Professor Longhair!
biog notes here are worth a read . . . . . .
Professor Longhair (Henry Roeland Byrd) - Profile - Music Rising Tulane Ed
She Walks Right In/Shake Rattle & Roll - Professor Longhair [1974's PBS series “Soundstage]
Check out the good Doctor’s introduction of the KING! Now it would seem Mac was totally off his gourd here but hey, whatcha gonna do it is freakin’ hilarious and his entrance is without equal (and you thought Little Richard was flamboyant!)
Singing Ooh Bop Sh’Bam Diddly Iddly Bop!
Everyday I Have The Blues
Tipitina!
The Whole Programme here . . . .
DR. JOHN:1.Walk Right In 0:00. PROFESSOR LONGHAIR: 2.Shake Rattle & RollPROFESSOR LONGHAIR:2.Shake Rattle & Roll 1:20/ 3.Tripatina3.Tripatina 5:00/ 4.Whole Lotta Lovin'4.Whole Lotta Lovin' 8:40/ 5. Everyday I Have The Blues5. Everyday I Have The Blues 11:20. EARL KING: 6.Mama & PapaEARL KING:6.Mama & Papa 15:10/ 7.Those Lonely, Lonely Nights7.Those Lonely, Lonely Nights 19:05. The METERS: 8.Looka Py PyThe METERS:8.Looka Py Py 22:40/ 9.Jungle Man9.Jungle Man 25:50. Dr. John: 10.Call A DoctorDr. John:10.Call A Doctor 29:50/ 11.Qualified
11.Qualified 32:30/ 12.Quitters Never Win12.Quitters Never Win 38:00/ 13.Such A Night13.Such A Night 42:15/ 14.Right Place14.Right Place 46:20. Finale-EARL KING-END JAM: 14.Big ChiefFinale-EARL KING-END JAM:14.Big Chief 50:10DR. JOHN & PROF. LONGHAIR - THE METERS - - EARL KING - Night Trippers/ SOUNDSTAGE 1974 "NEW ORLEANS SWAMP"
Fess at Home
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