Eddie Bo
Encyclopedia
Edwin Joseph Bocage (September 20, 1930 – March 18, 2009) was an American
singer and New Orleans-style pianist
. Schooled in jazz
, he was known for his blues
, soul
and funk
recordings, compositions, productions and arrangements. He debuted on Ace Records in 1955
and released more single records than anyone else in New Orleans other than Fats Domino
.
. The Bocage family was involved in the traditional jazz community with cousins Charles, Henry and Peter
, who played with Sidney Bechet
, contributing to jazz orchestras before World War II
.
Eddie graduated from Booker T. Washington High School before going into the army. After his army stint, he returned to New Orleans to study at the Grundwald School of music. There he learned piano, music theory and to sight read, and arrange music. It was at this time that he was influenced by Russian classical pianist Horowitz
and was introduced to bebop
pianists Art Tatum
and Oscar Peterson
.
Like a lot of other local musicians Eddie frequented the premier blues venue in town, the Dew Drop Inn on LaSalle Street. Eddie began playing in the New Orleans jazz scene and went under the name of Spider Bocage, later forming the Spider Bocage Orchestra. He made a switch to R&B after deciding it was more popular and brought in more money. 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
.
, was “I’m Wise” which Little Richard later recorded as “Slippin’ and Slidin'”. Eddie also wrote “My Dearest Darling” for Etta James
which put her at the top of the R&B charts and “In The Same Old Way” for Tommy Ridgley
.
In the soul era he recorded the renowned “Pass The Hatchet” under the nom de disque, Roger and the Gypsies for Joe Banashak’s Seven B label as well as Fence of Love and SGB (Stone Graveyard Business) under his own name.
In 1969, at the height of funk
, he penned and sang “Hook and Sling” (Scram Records) which reached No. 13 on the R&B charts in that year. It was his biggest hit since “Check Mr Popeye” and was recorded in just one take. The next year saw another hit with “Check Your Bucket” on his own Bo-Sound imprint.
He produced and arranged records by such artists as Al "Carnival Time" Johnson
, Art Neville
, Chris Kenner
, Chuck Carbo
, Irma Thomas
, Johnny Adams
, Mary Jane Hooper, Robert Parker
, and The Explosions. (The Vibrettes 'Humpty Dump' on Lujon is commonly incorrectly attributed to Eddie Bo, due to the similarity of the drumming style with James Black).
Eddie Bo worked and recorded for more than 40 different record labels, including Ace, Apollo, Arrow, At Last, Blue-Jay, Bo-Sound, Checker, Chess, Cinderella, Nola, Ric (for which his carpentry skills were used to build them a studio), Scram, Seven B, and Swan.
In the 1970s Eddie, absorbed in the renovation business, disappeared from the music scene only to rise up again at the end of the decade with two albums, “Another Side of Eddie Bo” and “Watch for the Coming,” which he produced himself. In the 1980s and 1990s he recorded with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band
and resurrected his Bo-Sound label. He joined Willy DeVille
play on two DeVille records, Victory Mixture
and Big Easy Fantasy
, and he toured with DeVille as well. He later joined up with Raful Neal
and Rockin’ Tabby Thomas
playing and recording under the names The Louisiana Legends, The District Court and The Hoodoo Kings.
He bought a doctor's office and salon on Banks Street which he and his manager converted into an eatery for Bo’s fans called "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
. Due to Bo’s carpentry and bricklaying skills he took on the task of completing the hurricane damage repairs himself.
Eddie Bo died on March 18, 2009 of a heart attack.
while Bo was playing in Karachi
, Pakistan
. Bo was also named New Orleans' music ambassador to Pakistan
.
His song "Hook & Sling" was featured on the breakbeat
compilation Ultimate Breaks and Beats
.
He won many music awards including two Lifetime Achievement awards from the South Louisiana Music Association and Music/Offbeat Best of the Beat.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer and New Orleans-style pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
. Schooled in jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, he was known for his blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
and funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
recordings, compositions, productions and arrangements. He debuted on Ace Records in 1955
1955 in music
-Events:*January 1 – RCA Victor announces a marketing plan called "Operation TNT." The label drops the list price on LPs from $5.95 to $3.98, EPs from $4.95 to $2.98, 45 EPs from $1.58 to $1.49 and 45's from $1.16 to $.89...
and released more single records than anyone else in New Orleans other than Fats Domino
Fats Domino
Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino, Jr. is an American R&B and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter. He was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Creole was his first language....
.
Early life
Eddie Bo came from a long line of ship builders with the male members of his family being bricklayers, carpenters and masons by day and musicians by night. Eddie's mother was a self-taught pianist in the style of friend, Professor LonghairProfessor Longhair
Professor Longhair was a New Orleans blues singer and pianist...
. The Bocage family was involved in the traditional jazz community with cousins Charles, Henry and Peter
Peter Bocage
Peter Edwin Bocage was a New Orleans jazz musician.Best known as a cornet player, he also played violin professionally, as well as sometimes trombone, banjo, and xylophone...
, who played with Sidney Bechet
Sidney Bechet
Sidney Bechet was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer.He was one of the first important soloists in jazz , and was perhaps the first notable jazz saxophonist...
, contributing to jazz orchestras before World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Eddie graduated from Booker T. Washington High School before going into the army. After his army stint, he returned to New Orleans to study at the Grundwald School of music. There he learned piano, music theory and to sight read, and arrange music. It was at this time that he was influenced by Russian classical pianist Horowitz
Horowitz
Horowitz , also transcripted as Horovitz/Hurwitz/Gurvich/Gurevich, is a surname that has its origin in the Yiddish name for the town of Hořovice in Bohemia, near Prague...
and was introduced to bebop
Bebop
Bebop differed drastically from the straightforward compositions of the swing era, and was instead characterized by fast tempos, asymmetrical phrasing, intricate melodies, and rhythm sections that expanded on their role as tempo-keepers...
pianists Art Tatum
Art Tatum
Arthur "Art" Tatum, Jr. was an American jazz pianist and virtuoso who played with phenomenal facility despite being nearly blind.Tatum is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time...
and Oscar Peterson
Oscar Peterson
Oscar Emmanuel Peterson was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. He was called the "Maharaja of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, "O.P." by his friends. He released over 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, and received other numerous awards and honours over the course of his career...
.
Like a lot of other local musicians Eddie frequented the premier blues venue in town, the Dew Drop Inn on LaSalle Street. Eddie began playing in the New Orleans jazz scene and went under the name of Spider Bocage, later forming the Spider Bocage Orchestra. He made a switch to R&B after deciding it was more popular and brought in more money. In the 1950s he and a group of New Orleans musicians toured the country supporting singers Big Joe Turner
Big Joe Turner
Big Joe Turner was an American blues shouter from Kansas City, Missouri. According to the songwriter Doc Pomus, "Rock and roll would have never happened without him." Although he came to his greatest fame in the 1950s with his pioneering rock and roll recordings, particularly "Shake, Rattle and...
, Earl King
Earl King
This article is about the musical artist. For the Earl King convicted of murdering a ship's officer, see Earl King, Ernest Ramsay, and Frank Conner...
, Guitar Slim
Guitar Slim
Eddie Jones , better known as Guitar Slim, was a New Orleans blues guitarist, from the 1940s and 1950s, best known for the million-selling song, produced by Johnny Vincent at Specialty Records, "The Things That I Used to Do"...
, Johnny Adams
Johnny Adams
Laten John Adams , known as Johnny Adams, was an American blues, jazz and gospel singer, known as "The Tan Canary" for the multi-octave range of his singing voice, his swooping vocal mannerisms and falsetto...
, Lloyd Price
Lloyd Price
Lloyd Price is an American R&B vocalist. Known as "Mr. Personality", after the name of one of his biggest million-selling hits...
, Ruth Brown
Ruth Brown
Ruth Brown was an American pop and R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, composer and actress, noted for bringing a pop music style to R&B music in a series of hit songs for Atlantic Records in the 1950s, such as "So Long", "Teardrops from My Eyes" and " He Treats Your Daughter Mean".For these...
, Smiley Lewis
Smiley Lewis
Smiley Lewis was an American New Orleans rhythm and blues musician. The journalist, Tony Russell, in his book The Blues - From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray, stated "Lewis was the unluckiest man in New Orleans...
, and The Platters
The Platters
The Platters were a vocal group of the early rock and roll era. Their distinctive sound was a bridge between the pre-rock Tin Pan Alley tradition and the burgeoning new genre...
.
Recording career
His first released record was in 1955 for Johnny Vincent’s Ace Records. In 1961, Eddie had a hit with the novelty dance song “Check Mr Popeye”. His next release, in 1956 on Apollo RecordsApollo Records
Apollo Records may refer to:* Apollo Records - US based company* Apollo Records - US based company* Apollo Records - US based company* Apollo Records - Belgian-based company* Apollo Records - US based company...
, was “I’m Wise” which Little Richard later recorded as “Slippin’ and Slidin'”. Eddie also wrote “My Dearest Darling” for Etta James
Etta James
Etta James is an American blues, soul, rhythm and blues , rock and roll, gospel and jazz singer. In the 1950s and 1960s, she had her biggest success as a blues and R&B singer...
which put her at the top of the R&B charts and “In The Same Old Way” for Tommy Ridgley
Tommy Ridgley
Tommy Ridgley was an American R&B singer and bandleader in New Orleans, Louisiana.-Biography:Born Thomas Herman Ridgley, he released his debut single "Shrewsbury Blues" in New Orleans in 1949The success of Shrewsbury Blues lead to Ridgley being billed as the 'Shrewsbury Kid' for a number of years...
.
In the soul era he recorded the renowned “Pass The Hatchet” under the nom de disque, Roger and the Gypsies for Joe Banashak’s Seven B label as well as Fence of Love and SGB (Stone Graveyard Business) under his own name.
In 1969, at the height of funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
, he penned and sang “Hook and Sling” (Scram Records) which reached No. 13 on the R&B charts in that year. It was his biggest hit since “Check Mr Popeye” and was recorded in just one take. The next year saw another hit with “Check Your Bucket” on his own Bo-Sound imprint.
He produced and arranged records by such artists as Al "Carnival Time" Johnson
Al "Carnival Time" Johnson
Al "Carnival Time" Johnson is an American singer and piano player best known for the Mardi Gras song "Carnival Time".- Early life and career :...
, Art Neville
Art Neville
Art Neville is an American singer and keyboardist from New Orleans.-History:Neville is a part of one of the most famous musical families of New Orleans, the Neville Brothers...
, Chris Kenner
Chris Kenner
Chris Kenner was a New Orleans R&B singer and songwriter, best known for two hit singles in the early 1960s, that became staples in the repertoires of many other musicians.-Biography:...
, Chuck Carbo
Chuck Carbo
Hayward "Chuck" Carbo was an American R&B singer , best known for his time as a vocalist in the New Orleans group The Spiders.Carbo sang with his brother, Leonard "Chick" Carbo, in The Spiders, who recorded for Imperial Records in the 1950s and scored a string of hits on the U.S. Black Singles chart...
, Irma Thomas
Irma Thomas
Irma Thomas is an American Grammy Award-winning soul and rhythm and blues singer from New Orleans. She is known as the "Soul Queen of New Orleans"....
, Johnny Adams
Johnny Adams
Laten John Adams , known as Johnny Adams, was an American blues, jazz and gospel singer, known as "The Tan Canary" for the multi-octave range of his singing voice, his swooping vocal mannerisms and falsetto...
, Mary Jane Hooper, Robert Parker
Robert Parker
Robert Parker may refer to:*Robert Parker , English Puritan scholar and divine*Sir Robert Parker, 1st Baronet , English politician; Member of Parliament for Hastings, 1679–1685...
, and The Explosions. (The Vibrettes 'Humpty Dump' on Lujon is commonly incorrectly attributed to Eddie Bo, due to the similarity of the drumming style with James Black).
Eddie Bo worked and recorded for more than 40 different record labels, including Ace, Apollo, Arrow, At Last, Blue-Jay, Bo-Sound, Checker, Chess, Cinderella, Nola, Ric (for which his carpentry skills were used to build them a studio), Scram, Seven B, and Swan.
In the 1970s Eddie, absorbed in the renovation business, disappeared from the music scene only to rise up again at the end of the decade with two albums, “Another Side of Eddie Bo” and “Watch for the Coming,” which he produced himself. In the 1980s and 1990s he recorded with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band
Dirty Dozen Brass Band
The Dirty Dozen Brass Band is a New Orleans, Louisiana, brass band. The ensemble was established in 1977 by Benny Jones together with members of the Tornado Brass Band...
and resurrected his Bo-Sound label. He joined Willy DeVille
Willy DeVille
Willy DeVille was an American singer and songwriter. During his thirty-five year career, first with his band Mink DeVille and later on his own, Deville created original songs rooted in traditional American musical styles. He worked with collaborators from across the spectrum of contemporary...
play on two DeVille records, Victory Mixture
Victory Mixture
Victory Mixture is a 1990 album by Willy DeVille. The album consists of cover versions of New Orleans R&B and soul classics by DeVille’s musical idols...
and Big Easy Fantasy
Big Easy Fantasy
Big Easy Fantasy is an album by Willy DeVille and the Mink DeVille Band. It was released in Europe on the French New Rose label in 1995. The album is a mixture of studio tracks and concert recordings made in New York and Paris. The "big easy" of the album's title refers to New Orleans...
, and he toured with DeVille as well. He later joined up with Raful Neal
Raful Neal
Raful Neal was an American, Louisiana blues singer, harmonicist and songwriter.Born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and reared by his aunt and uncle on a tenant farm in Chamberlin, West Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, United States, Neal took up the blues harp at age 14, tutored by a local player named...
and Rockin’ Tabby Thomas
Tabby Thomas
Tabby Thomas also known as Rockin' Tabby Thomas is an American Chicago blues musician...
playing and recording under the names The Louisiana Legends, The District Court and The Hoodoo Kings.
He bought a doctor's office and salon on Banks Street which he and his manager converted into an eatery for Bo’s fans called "Check Your Bucket" after his 1970 hit. Like Bo’s home and recording studio it was hit by Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
while Bo was on tour in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Due to Bo’s carpentry and bricklaying skills he took on the task of completing the hurricane damage repairs himself.
Eddie Bo died on March 18, 2009 of a heart attack.
Family
Eddie Bo is survived by two sisters, Gloria Bocage-Sterling who lives in Oakland, California. Lisa Bocage-Howard and two brothers,Oliver and Cornelius,and eight children: Valeri Ann Bocage, CEO & Founder of Powerful Women International in San Francisco, California, Edwin Joseph Bocage, Jr., Owen David Bocage, Nancy Marie Bocage-Siegel, Cheryl Bocage-Joseph, Tanya Bocage-Sales, Sonjia Bocage-Anderson, Tomekia Bocage-Jones. He is also survived by many grandchildren and great grandchildren.Awards and recognitions
May 22, 1997 was declared "Eddie Bo Day" in New Orleans by mayor Marc MorialMarc Morial
Marc Haydel Morial is an American political and civic leader and the current president of the National Urban League. Morial served as mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana from 1994 to 2002. He is married to Michelle Miller, who has won awards as a CBS News Correspondent.- Early life and educations...
while Bo was playing in Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. Bo was also named New Orleans' music ambassador to Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
.
His song "Hook & Sling" was featured on the breakbeat
Breakbeat
In 1992, a new style called "jungalistic hardcore" emerged, and for many ravers it was too funky to dance to. Josh Lawford of Ravescene prophesied that the breakbeat was "the death-knell of rave" because the ever changing drumbeat patterns of breakbeat music didn't allow for the same zoned out,...
compilation Ultimate Breaks and Beats
Ultimate Breaks and Beats
Ultimate Breaks and Beats was a series of 25 compilation albums released from 1986 to 1991 by Street Beat Records...
.
He won many music awards including two Lifetime Achievement awards from the South Louisiana Music Association and Music/Offbeat Best of the Beat.
Discography
- 19881988 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1988.-January-March:* January 1 – André Rieu's Johann Strauss Orchestra plays its first concert....
Check Mr. Popeye (RounderRounder RecordsRounder Records, originally of Cambridge, Massachusetts, but now based in Burlington, Massachusetts, is a record label founded in 1970 by Ken Irwin, Bill Nowlin and Marian Leighton-Levy, while all three were still university students...
) - 19931993 in musicThis is a summary of significant events in music in 1993.-January–February:*January 8 – The U.S. Postal Service issues an Elvis Presley stamp. The design was voted on in February 1992....
New Orleans Piano Riffs for DJs (Tuff City) - 19961996 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1996.-January:* January – At the trial of two American teenagers, Nicholaus McDonald and Brian Bassett, for the murder of Bassett's parents and young brother, defense lawyers attempt to lay the blame for the murders on the fact...
Back Up This Train - 19951995 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1995.- January–February :*January 18 – Jerry Garcia crashes his rented BMW into a guard rail near Mill Valley, California, USA, but is not injured in the accident....
Eddie Bo And Friends (Bo-Sound) - 19961996 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1996.-January:* January – At the trial of two American teenagers, Nicholaus McDonald and Brian Bassett, for the murder of Bassett's parents and young brother, defense lawyers attempt to lay the blame for the murders on the fact...
Oo La La, Mardi Gras (Bo-Sound) - 19971997 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1997.-January:*January 9 – David Bowie performs his 50th Birthday Bash concert at Madison Square Garden, New York City, USA with guests Frank Black, The Foo Fighters, Sonic Youth, Robert Smith of The Cure, Lou Reed, and Billy...
A Shoot From The Root (Soulciety) - 19981998 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1998.-Events:*January 28 – "Weird Al" Yankovic gets LASIK surgery to cure his myopia...
Hole In It (Soulciety) - 1998 Nine Yards Of Funk (Bo-Sound)
- 20012001 in musicSee also:* 2001 in music Record labels established in 2001-Events:*January 1**Comeback of Guns N' Roses in House of Blues**Hum disbands.*January 17 – Bass player Jason Newsted leaves Metallica after 14 years with the band....
We Come To Party (Bo-Sound) - 20072007 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2007.-January:*January 1 - George Shearing is knighted for services to music in the Queen's New Year Honours List. Evelyn Glennie becomes a Dame...
Saints, Let's Go Marching On In (Bo-Sound)
External links
- Official website
- Annotated Eddie Bo Discography
- [ Biography on Allmusic]