James Booker
Certainly one of the most flamboyant New Orleans pianists in recent memory, James Carroll Booker III was a major influence on the local rhythm & blues scene in the '50s and '60s. Booker's training included classical instruction until age 12, by which time he had already begun to gain recognition as a blues and gospel organist on radio station WMRY every Sunday. By the time he was out of high school he had recorded on several occasions, including his own first release, "Doing the Hambone," in 1953. In 1960, he made the national charts with "Gonzo," an organ instrumental, and over the course of the next two decades played and recorded with artists as varied as Lloyd Price, Aretha Franklin, Ringo Starr, the Doobie Brothers, and B.B. King. In 1967, he was convicted of possession of heroin and served a one-year sentence at Angola Penitentiary (referred to as the "Ponderosa"), which took the momentum out of an otherwise promising career. The rediscovery of "roots" music by college students during the '70s (focusing primarily on "Fess" by Professor Longhair) provided the opportunity for a comeback by 1974, with numerous engagements at local clubs like Tipitina's, The Maple Leaf, and Snug Harbor. As with "Fess," Booker's performances at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festivals took on the trappings of legendary "happenings," and he often spent his festival earnings to arrive in style, pulling up to the stage in a rented Rolls Royce and attired in costumes befitting the "Piano Prince of New Orleans," complete with a cape. Such performances tended to be unpredictable: he might easily plant some Chopin into a blues tune or launch into a jeremiad on the CIA with all the fervor of a "Reverend Ike-meets-Moms Mabley" tag-team match.
Booker's left hand was simply phenomenal, often a problem for bass players who found themselves running for cover in an attempt to stay out of the way; with it he successfully amalgamated the jazz and rhythm & blues idioms of New Orleans, adding more than a touch of gospel thrown in for good measure. His playing was also highly improvisational, reinventing a progression (usually his own) so that a single piece would evolve into a medley of itself. In addition, he had a plaintive and seering vocal style which was equally comfortable with gospel, jazz standards, blues, or popular songs. Despite his personal eccentricities, Booker had the respect of New Orleans' best musicians, and elements of his influence are still very much apparent in the playing of pianists like Henry Butler and Harry Connick, Jr.
© Bruce Boyd Raeburn /TiVo
Discography
17 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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The Lost Paramount Tapes
Blues - Released by DJM Records on Mar 11, 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
True (Live At Tipitina's - 04/25/78)
James Booker, Tipitina’s Record Club
Jazz - Released by 501 RECORD CLUB on Dec 3, 2021
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Spiders On The Keys (Live At The Maple Leaf Bar, New Orleans, LA / 1977-1982)
Jazz - Released by Rounder on Sep 15, 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Resurrection Of The Bayou Maharajah (Live At The Maple Leaf Bar, New Orleans, LA / 1977-1982)
Jazz - Released by Rounder on Jul 22, 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
New Orleans Piano Wizard: Live!
Jazz - Released by Rounder Records on Nov 27, 1977
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Classified (Remixed & Expanded Edition)
Blues - Released by Rounder Records on Jan 1, 1982
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Let's Make a Better World! Live in Leipzig
Blues - Released by Black Sun Music on Jan 1, 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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United, Our Thing Will Stand: Live At Tipitina's 1976 (Live)
Soul - Released by Night Train International on Jan 1, 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
At Onkel Pö's Carnegie Hall, Hamburg 1976, Vol. 1 (Live)
Jazz - Released by Jazzline on Mar 1, 1976
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Piano Prince of New Orleans
Blues - Released by Black Sun Music on Jan 1, 1976
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
King Of The New Orleans Keyboard
Blues - Released by jsp on Mar 1, 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
James Booker: Manchester '77
Blues - Released by Document Records on Jun 1, 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
A Taste of Honey: Live In New Orleans, 1977
Soul - Released by Night Train International on Jan 1, 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Blues & Ragtime from New Orleans
Blues - Released by Black Sun Music on Jan 1, 1976
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gonzo: More Than All The 45's
Soul - Released by Night Train International on Jan 1, 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo