2010 isn’t turning out to be a very good year for legendary Louisiana rock ’n’ rollers. Just last month we reported on the passing of Bobby Charles. Sadly, this month we must pass on the news of Dale Hawkins’ death on February 3. Hawkins died at a hospice facility in his adopted hometown of Little [...]
Obituary: Ned Theall (1937-2010)
Ned Theall, the noted saxophonist, arranger and bandleader of the Boogie Kings died in a Lafayette hospital January 8, 2010. He was 72. Theall had played with the group as recently as New Year’s Eve.
Born in Abbeville, Louisiana, and a long-time resident of New Iberia, Theall joined the group in the mid-1960s after a hitch [...]
Obituary: Bobby Charles (1938-2010)
Louisiana lost one of the brightest jewels on its musical crown with the passing of Robert Charles Guidry a.k.a. Bobby Charles on January 14, 2010. The reclusive Charles, 71, who had diabetes and had suffered a bout with cancer, died at home. While Charles was a moderately successful recording artist, he excelled as a songwriter. [...]
RIP Ernest “Skipper” Skipper, Jr., Funeral Services to be held Friday, December 18, 2009
Ernest “Skipper” Skipper, Jr., Grand Marshal of the Young Tuxedo Brass Band and singer/bandleader of Ernest Skipper and the Thunder Blues Band passed away on Wednesday, December 9, 2009. He was 61 years old.
Skipper was perhaps best known for a lone single he wrote and recorded for New Orleans-based Rosemont Records. The Mardi Gras song, [...]
Clarinet Player Ralph Johnson Passes Away
Preservation Hall sent out the word earlier today that clarinet player Ralph Johnson - who had played with Jerry Butler, the Impressions, Dr. John, Wallace Davenport, Johnny Adams, Chuck Carbo – died today at the age of 71. According to the Hall:
Musicians teemed through the Sixth Ward district where Ralph Johnson was raised. His father, Son [...]
Obituary: Juanita Brooks (1954-2009)
Juanita Brooks, a jazz and gospel singer perhaps best known for her stint in the extremely popular stage production, “One Mo’ Time”, died unexpectedly September 9, 2009 of complications from back surgery. She was 55.
“I consider her one of the greatest singers to have ever come out of New Orleans,” says bandleader/pianist Lars Edegran, whose [...]
Obituary: Snooks Eaglin
The generation that made the defining records in New Orleans’ rhythm and blues became a little smaller when Snooks Eaglin died February 18 from cardiac arrest. He was 73. Eaglin is remembered for his ability to mimic almost any song after a cursory listen and his unique guitar style. His fretting hand often completed chords [...]
Obituary: Eddie Bo
Still mourning the unexpected deaths of Snooks Eaglin and Antoinette K-Doe, the New Orleans music community suffered yet another bitter blow on March 17 with the sudden passing of Eddie Bo. A dynamic singer, producer and songwriter, Bo was one of the last living links to the New Orleans “Junkers” piano style, a tradition that [...]
Obituary: Antoinette K-Doe, The Mother-in-Law’s Mother
[Early Mardi Gras morning, Antoinette K-Doe passed away after a heart attack. Since editor Alex Rawls wrote about Antoinette and the Mother-in-Law Lounge in our January issue, we felt we’d already said much of what we wanted to say about her. Last issue, she spoke for herself, talking about cooking and being neighborly, so we [...]
Obituary: Snooks Eaglin
Hours before this issue of OffBeat shipped, we learned that Snooks Eaglin passed away on February 18. This is a sad loss, as one of the city’s most idiosyncratic musical thinkers is gone. We’ll do more next month, but for now, we want to remember Snooks with an excerpt from our February 1995 story on [...]
