Legendary artists put new spin on old R&B

By Keith Spera
Music writer/The Times-Picayune
 

The barrelhouse piano, honking saxophones and driving rhythm could have originated in the back room of J&M Recording, the primitive North Rampart Street studio where Fats Domino made rock 'n' roll history 50 years ago.

But this music bounced earlier this week off the thick brick walls of the Boiler Room, a modern recording facility tucked away in an old Gert Town factory.

It recalled the classic J&M sound for good reason. San Francisco pianist Mitch Woods, a dedicated student of New Orleans rhythm and blues, had written a batch of material modeled after Domino's 1950s hits. To best approximate the sound of those recordings, he went right to the source, enlisting some of the surviving players from the original sessions and current members of Domino's band.

They got together to make music Monday and Tuesday and, in the process, made a little history as well.

Assembled in the Boiler Room were Dave Bartholomew, the producer who orchestrated the Domino sessions and co-wrote many of his hits; Herb Hardesty, the saxophonist on those early recordings; and Earl Palmer, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame drummer who put the beat behind Domino, Little Richard and many others. Rounding out the band were bassist Erving Charles, saxophonists Fred Sheppard, Reggie Houston and Clarence Johnson, and guitarist Jimmy Moliere.

"This is a style of music that I've been playing and studying and learning for years," Woods said. "Obviously, I'm 50 years later than when it was put down. What a treat to be able to have some of those guys who created the music still around, and I could play with them.

"The first day, I was nervous -- this is pretty heavy company. But then all the creative juices started flowing. It was beyond my expectations. I knew it was going to be great, whatever happened, because all the ingredients were there."

To Woods, this was the Big Easy version of the Buena Vista Social Club. Just as American guitarist Ry Cooder rounded up several legends of Cuban music for the Buena Vista project, Woods wanted to show that the surviving originators of New Orleans rhythm and blues were still potent.

Oysters and the blues

Palmer's participation was essential. He is perhaps the most recorded drummer in rock history. His hundreds of credits range from the Domino hits of the early 1950s to the "Tom and Jerry" cartoon theme music. He's worked with Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra, Ritchie Valens and Jan and Dean. His playing on Little Richard's "Lucille" and "Good Golly Miss Molly" is considered a key stepping stone in the evolution of rhythm and blues into rock 'n' roll. In January, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in its newly created side-men category.

At 76, Palmer is still recording in Los Angeles; his most recent session was with blues legend B.B. King. The Woods project gave him a reason to return to New Orleans, stock up on oysters and play the sort of rhythm and blues he mastered early in his career.

"I haven't played this kind of stuff in 45 years or so," Palmer said. "I was getting tired -- I'm a lot older now. But you don't ever forget how to do it. It's physical music, of course, but it wasn't that much of a problem. I kept telling the guys, 'There's only one more take in the old man.'

"This wasn't complicated at all, as it shouldn't be. You don't want to complicate this kind of music -- that's what made it last so long."

Palmer and Bartholomew hadn't been in a recording studio together since 1957, the year Palmer moved to Los Angeles. As they joked and reminisced after Tuesday night's session, it was apparent the three still shared an obvious warmth and deep bond.

"We still see each other and keep in touch," Bartholomew said. "They're like family, and I don't forget where I come from."

Bartholomew, who is mostly retired from recording, initially declined Woods' invitation to participate. But when he learned his old friends Hardesty and Palmer were involved, he couldn't resist.

"I had to come," Bartholomew said. "These two guys (Palmer and Hardesty) are my right hand men. If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be nothing. They're responsible for my success."

"This man here made us what we are today," Hardesty said, returning Bartholomew's compliment.

Learning the tricks

As expected, Bartholomew became an integral part of the recording process. Sitting in the main room alongside the musicians, he slipped into his role of conductor and coach, offering suggestions on arrangements and individual parts.

"I arranged a few little things, helping out, raising hell with (Woods), telling him he isn't black," Bartholomew said, laughing. "Trying to teach him how to sing the blues. Telling him how to feel it more, that sort of thing."

Jokes aside, Bartholomew was all business during the recording. "Watching him work," said Boiler Room owner Mark Bingham, "you get a sense of why all those hits happened. You see all the trademark stuff, all the little tricks. What he taught everybody around here is really something. And he's still doing it."

The meaning of some of Bartholomew's old-school expressions were lost on Woods. "He'd say, 'Put a goose egg on it,' and I didn't know what he was talking about," Woods said. "It's a whole note that the saxophones do.

"The chemistry that happened . . . Dave came in and he's like, 'Do this, try this,' " Woods said. "He's a great producer. He knows how to get (the best) out of all the guys, and they totally respect him. And he worked with me on my vocals. He'd say, 'Sing it like Charles Brown,' or 'Do this thing that Fats does.' "

A previously recorded Woods album is slated for release early next year on Blind Pig Records; his contract with that label forbids him from releasing another album for at least nine months, so his New Orleans project likely won't be in stores until late next year.

In addition to the Woods originals, they covered one Domino song, "I'm Ready."

"It came out pretty good," Bartholomew said. "I was very well pleased."

And Woods was ecstatic. "My whole idea was to get the guys who created this music, the same elements, to put in these songs," Woods said. "The songs I wrote were right up their alley. They're like, 'Oh yeah, this is what we do here.' "

© 2000, The Times-Picayune. Used with permission.