We have reached the dizzy heights of number 79 in the Blues Collection with James Booker the New Orleans Keyboard King.
I'm not sure whether that title was bestowed upon him or self proclaimed. Perhaps the latter as he was also dubbed the Black Liberace or even The Bayou Maharajah. I think it's safe to say that he wasn't known for his modesty.
Booker died aged 43 on November 8, 1983, while seated in a wheelchair in the emergency room at New Orleans'Charity Hospital , waiting to receive medical attention. The cause of death, as cited in the Orleans Parish Coroner's Death Certificate, was renal failure related to chronic abuse of heroin and alcohol. Pretty much the compulsory ending of a Bluesman from that era.
The songs on the album are taken from concerts in Hamburg c 1977. When searching for images of the album I came across a recording on You Tube of the whole album which you might enjoy. 112 out of the 3.3K viewers seem to.
For those of you who prefer something more tangible here are a couple of the tracks
Self-proclaimed I suspect when other claimants to the title of king include Dr John, Professor Longhair, Jelly Roll Morton, Fats Domino, Allen Toussaint etc etc
ReplyDelete