Search - Bobby Charles :: Walking to New Orleans

The Jewel and Paula years

Kees van der Hoeven | Eindhoven, Netherlands | 12/12/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This cd covers the work Robert Charles Guidry aka Bobby Charles made in 1964-65 for small Louisiana labels.
After his short period of teenage stardom, recording for Chess (his See You Later Alligator was covered by Bill Haley), and after having made some excellent singles for Imperial (they didn't sell and are hard to find nowadays - please make a cd-release out of them!!), Bobby Charles recorded for Jewel and Paula.
In the early 1970s, Charles was put back in the spotlight again by Rick Danko and The Band, and made his self-titled album in 1970 with the classic Small Town Talk.Though not his most fruitful years, this cd still contains some excellent, typical Bobby Charles songs: Preacher's Daughter, I Hope, original 1964 Jewel singles. And Everybody Knows, which is an answer to No One Knows (the Dion DiMucchi song), is a nice song.
Interesting, but of less musical value, are the trials he made for the country market: Oh Lonesome Me, One More Glass Of Wine.
`The Walk' is a cover of the Jimmy McCracklin song.
Then there are 3 unissued demos of classic Bobby Charles compositions in this collection: `See You Later Alligator', a poor 60s re-recording, `The Jealous Kind' (made famous by Joe Cocker and Frogman Henry) and `Walking to New Orleans', the Fats classic."

Bayou Bobby Rocks!

Kees van der Hoeven | 08/09/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Raw talent and emotion in a unique voice that tells a story you'll want to hear."