James Booker | |
|---|---|
 Booker in 1978 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | James Carroll Booker III |
| Also known as | Little Booker, The Black Liberace, The Bayou Maharajah |
| Born | (1939-12-17)December 17, 1939 New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Died | November 8, 1983 (aged 43) New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Genres | Rhythm and blues,jazz |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instrument(s) | Keyboards, vocals[1] |
| Years active | 1954–1983 |
James Carroll Booker III (December 17, 1939 – November 8, 1983) was an AmericanNew Orleans rhythm and blues keyboardist and singer. Flamboyant in personality and style, and possessing extraordinary technical skill on the piano, he was dubbed "the BlackLiberace."[2]
His 1960 recording "Gonzo" reached No. 43 on theBillboard magazine record chart and No. 3 in R&B, and he toured internationally in the 1970s. After being mainly a rhythm and blues artist, Booker later fused this genre withjazz and with popular music such as that ofthe Beatles, playing these in his signaturebackbeat. He profoundly influenced the New Orleans music scene, where his renditions and originals have been revived and are performed.[3]
Booker's father and paternal grandfather wereBaptist ministers. Both were pianists.[3] He was born inNew Orleans on December 17, 1939, to Ora, née Cheatham and Rev. James "Jimmie" Harald Booker, a New Orleans Baptist church pastor andWorld War Iarmy veteran. Nicknamed "J.C.," Booker was achild prodigy, classically trained on piano from the age of six,[4] and played the organ in his father's churches. Due to Rev. Jimmie Booker's health problems, Ora took her daughter Betty Jean (b. 1935) and son James to live near Ora's sister, Eva Sylvester, inBay St. Louis, Mississippi, temporarily on several occasions. Those stays amounted to around half of Booker's childhood up to the age of 8. He returned permanently to New Orleans in 1948, and enrolled in the fourth grade at a school where he befriended fellow studentsArt Neville,Charles Neville, andAllen Toussaint. By 1949, Booker's parents had separated, and Ora remarried to Owen Champagne of New Orleans.
In 1949 at age 9, Booker was struck by an ambulance in New Orleans, that he said was traveling about 70 miles an hour. According to him, it dragged him for 30 feet (9 metres) and broke his leg in eight places, nearly requiring its amputation.[5] He was givenmorphine, which he later regarded as a cause of his eventualdrug addiction.[5] The accident left him with a permanent limp.
Booker received a saxophone for his 10th birthday in December 1949. He had asked for a trumpet, yet mastered the saxophone despite not having chosen it. But he focused on the piano, and by age 11 was performing blues and gospel organ every Sunday on the New Orleans radio station, WMRY (where his sister had performed). The following year was his last in classical instruction, when Booker learned the entire set of J.S. Bach'sInventions and Sinfonias, performing these at a professional level by age 12.
Rev. Jimmie Booker died in 1953, the year that Booker began high school atXavier University Preparatory School on Magazine Street.Ellis Marsalis Jr. was band director at the school at the time, and noted the highly advanced quality of Booker's playing of Bach. Even as a working musician by his mid teens, he excelled at Xavier, especially in math, music, and Spanish, and graduated in 1957.[6][7] He aspired to become aCatholic priest, yet gave up the idea, deciding to express his faith through music.[8]
As a classical pianist, Booker focused on music of Chopin, Rachmaninoff, andErnesto Lecuona (for example, Malagueña), and memorized solos byErroll Garner andLiberace.He learned some elements of his keyboard style fromTuts Washington and Edward Frank,[9] and was influenced byProfessor Longhair andRay Charles.[10]But another major influence, one who helped inspire Booker's unique style, wasFats Domino. Booker developed abackbeat rhythm that resembles some of Domino's piano playing. Domino and his drummer,Earl Palmer, are considered among the inventors of the early rock and roll backbeat. Booker's version of this rhythm has been called the "Booker groove".[11] Joshua Paxton, however, a New Orleans–based pianist and transcriber of Booker's solos, credits the groove to Booker, not mentioning Domino.[12] Whatever its origin, Booker used this to substitute the original rhythm on a wide variety of popular and folk music. Many examples were New Orleans rhythm and blues, as "Junco Partner",[13] Fats Domino's "All By Myself" and "I'm in Love Again",[14] Lloyd Price's "Lawdy Miss Clawdy", Earl King's "Let's Make a Better World,"[13] and it is the composed rhythm on some of Booker's own pieces, including "Pop's Dilemma."[13] A few were jazz standards, "Tico-Tico" and "On the Sunny Side of the Street", but also pop rock, as inThe Beatles'Eleanor Rigby, and country,Roger Miller's"King of the Road". In the Booker groove there are traces of blues, stride, gospel, and Latin music.
Booker made his recording debut in 1954 at the age of 14, onImperial Records, with "Doin' the Hambone" and "Thinkin' 'Bout My Baby", produced byDave Bartholomew. While these were unsuccessful commercially, Bartholomew subsequently had Booker ghost on piano forFats Domino, to combine his virtuosity with Domino's popular singing.[15][7] This collaboration would be repeated in the late 1960s.[16] During the late 1950s, Booker adopted a flamboyant stage dress.[17] In this way he emulatedLittle Richard as didEsquerita, both of whom recorded in New Orleans. In 1958,Arthur Rubinstein performed a concert in New Orleans. Afterwards, eighteen-year-old Booker was introduced to the concert pianist and played several pieces for him. Rubinstein was astonished, saying "I could never play that ... never at that tempo" (The Times-Picayune, 1958).[18]
From the mid 1950s into the 1960s, Booker played with a series of blues and rhythm and blues bands as partly described in liner notes (byBunny Matthews) to the albumClassified. In interview, he said he "recorded forLeonard Chess — I did 'A Heavenly Angel' with Arthur Booker [no relation]. After that, I recorded forJohnny Vincent's Ace Records. I played withHuey Smith andShirley and Lee. When I graduated high school, I played withJoe Tex. I left Joe Tex to play with Huey Smith."[5] Smith preferred not to be on the road, hence Booker replaced him when touring,[15] and is even said to have impersonated Smith. Booker went on to record on piano withLarry Davis and his blues band in 1958, 1959, and 1960 in Houston, Texas.[19] In January 1960 in Chicago, he recorded on piano withJunior Parker.[19] He recorded on piano with Dave Bartholomew's studio band andEarl King, when King recorded for Imperial records in New Orleans in 1960 and 1961.[20] Booker recorded as pianist withSmiley Lewis in 1960 and 1961, on organ forLloyd Price in 1963,[21][9] and on piano for Shirley & Lee in 1962 and 1963. In March 1962, Booker recorded four titles on the organ with Dave Bartholomew's band in New Orleans, of which two were released.[21]
In the early 1960s, Booker recorded a series of instrumental singles on organ forPeacock Records. These were "Cool Turkey" and "Gonzo" in 1960, "Smacksie" and "Kinda Happy" in 1960 and 1961, and "Tubby," "Cross my Heart" and "Big Nick," dates unknown between 1960 and 62.[21]In 1960, he enrolled as an undergraduate inSouthern University's music department, although he did not remain beyond the fall semester of that year. The professor of music at Southern complained of the pianist's classroom antics. He insisted Booker omit his examination, and that "I'll grade him anyway; he keeps on disrupting my classes with all kinds of craziness and stuff."[22] During the week of December 5, 1960, however, "Gonzo" reached number 43 on the United States (U.S.) record chart ofBillboard magazine. It also reached number 3 on theR&B record chart, and was a favorite song of the authorHunter Thompson.[9] None of Booker's other Peacock organ tracks enjoyed such fame.[9]
Booker continued to tour and performed at New Orleans nightclubs[where?] from 1960 until 1967. Yet he experienced a series of tragedies in the mid 1960s, all during a period of two years. In September 1966, his sister died, at a time when Booker was compelled to go on touring despite this event, compounding loss with a lack of opportunity to mourn. His mother died the following year, in June 1967. Within weeks of her death, he was arrested outside theDew Drop Inn hotel and nightclub for possession of heroin, which he had begun using earlier in the sixties.[23] Being convicted, Booker served a one-year sentence inAngola Prison, where he lost his left eye in an assault. After his release in 1968, he resumed session work in New Orleans, including recording with Fats Domino. In July 1968, he recorded withFreddie King in New York City, tracks that were released in 1969 and 1970.
As Booker became more familiar with law enforcement in New Orleans due to his drug use, he formed a relationship with District AttorneyHarry Connick Sr., who was occasionally Booker's legal counsel. Connick would discuss law with Booker during his visits to the Connick home and made an arrangement with the musician whereby a prison sentence would be nullified in exchange for piano lessons for Connick Sr.'s son,Harry Connick Jr.[24][25]
In 1973, Booker recordedThe Lost Paramount Tapes atParamount Studios inHollywood, California, U.S. with members of theDr. John band, which includedJohn Boudreaux on drums,Jessie Hill on percussion,Alvin Robinson on guitar and vocals, Richard "Didymus" Washington on percussion,David Lastie on sax, and David L. Johnson on bass guitar. The album was produced by former Dr. John band member David L. Johnson and by singer-songwriterDaniel Moore. Themaster tapes disappeared from the Paramount Recording Studios library, but a copy of the mixes that were made around the time of the recordings was discovered in 1992, which resulted in a CD release onDJM Records.
Booker then played organ in Dr. John's Bonnaroo Revue touring band in 1974, and also appeared as a sideman on albums byRingo Starr,John Mayall,The Doobie Brothers,Labelle andGeoff Muldaur throughout this period.[18]
Booker's performance at the 1975New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival earned a recording contract for him withIsland Records.[10] His album with Island,Junco Partner, was produced byJoe Boyd, who had previously recorded Booker on sessions for Muldaur's records.[26] In January 1976, Booker briefly joined theJerry Garcia Band, playing twoPalo Alto, California shows where Garcia was "backing up ... Booker on most numbers."[27]
Several concerts from Booker's 1977 and 1978 European tours were professionally recorded, and some were also filmed for television broadcast. Multiple albums were released from these recordings on a number of record labels. The albumNew Orleans Piano Wizard: Live!, which was recorded at his performance at the "Boogie Woogie and Ragtime Piano Contest" inZürich, Switzerland, won theGrand Prix du Disque. He also played at theNice andMontreux Jazz Festivals in 1978 and recorded a session for theBBC during this time.[28][29] A recording entitledLet's Make A Better World!—made inLeipzig during this period—became the last record to be produced in the formerEast Germany.
In a 2013 interview, filmmaker Lily Keber, who directed a documentary on Booker, provided her perspective on Booker's warm reception in European nations such as Germany and France:
Well, the racism wasn't there, the homophobia wasn't there—as much. Even the drug use was a little more tolerated. But really I think that Booker felt he was being taken seriously in Europe, and it made him think of himself differently and improved the quality of his music. He needed the energy of the audience to feed off.[30]
Keber further explained that Europeans refer to jazz as "the art of the twentieth century" and suggests that the "classical tradition" that is present in the continent led to a greater understanding of Booker among audiences. Keber states that Booker was "concert-hall worthy" to European jazz lovers.[30]
From 1978 to 1982, Booker was the house pianist at theMaple Leaf Bar in theCarrollton neighborhood of uptown New Orleans. Recordings during this time, made byJohn Parsons, were released asSpiders on the Keys andResurrection of the Bayou Maharajah.[31] Following his success in Europe, Booker was forced to adjust to a lower level of public recognition, as he performed in cafes and bars. Keber believes this shift was "devastating" to Booker, as he was aware of his own talent.[30]
Booker's last commercial recording, made in 1982, was titledClassified and, according to producerScott Billington, was completed in four hours.[31] By this time, Booker's physical and mental condition had deteriorated. He was also subject to thesocial stigma that affected people who used illicit drugs and those with mental health issues during this era of American history.[10][30]
At the end of October 1983, filmmaker Jim Gabour captured Booker's final concert performance for a series on the New Orleans music scene. The series, entitledMusic City, was broadcast on Cox Cable and included footage from theMaple Leaf Bar in New Orleans and a six-and-a-half-minute improvisation called "Seagram's Jam."[32]
Booker died aged 43 on November 8, 1983, while seated in a wheelchair in the emergency room at New Orleans'Charity Hospital, waiting to receive medical attention. The cause of death, as cited in the Orleans Parish Coroner's Death Certificate, was renal failure related to chronic abuse of heroin and alcohol.[33]
Booker's death was mourned by music lovers and numerous admirers have emerged in the time since. Harry Connick Jr.,Henry Butler, and Dr. John, among others, recorded songs with titles and musical styles referencing Booker. Connick explained his mentor's piano-playing style in an interview: "Nothing was harder than that. It's insane. It's insanity." and called him "the greatest ever."[32][34]
Dr. John described Booker as "the best black, gay, one-eyed junkie piano genius New Orleans has ever produced."[35]
Transcriptions by Joshua Paxton (withTom McDermott and Andy Fielding) of Booker's playing are available inThe James Booker Collection andNew Orleans Piano Legends, both published by theHal Leonard Corporation.[36][37] Paxton explained the significance of Booker in a 2013 interview:
From a musician's perspective or piano player's perspective, he matters because he figured out how to do things no one had ever done before, at least in a rhythm-and-blues context.... Basically he figured out ways to do a lot of stuff at the same time and make the piano sound like an entire band. It's Ray Charles on the level of Chopin. It's all the soul, all the groove, and all the technique in the universe packed into one unbelievable player ... I can now say with certainty that it's a pianistic experience unlike any other. He invented an entirely new way of playing blues and roots-based music on the piano, and it was mind-blowingly brilliant and beautiful.[32]
The influential New Orleans musician, composer, and producerAllen Toussaint also praised Booker, applying the term "genius" to him:
There are some instances in his playing that are very unusual and highly complex, but the groove is never sacrificed. Within all the romping and stomping in his music, there were complexities in it that, if one tried to emulate it, what you heard and what excited you on the surface was supported by some extreme technical acrobatics finger-wise that made his music extraordinary as far as I'm concerned. And most of all, it always felt wonderful ... He was an extraordinary musician, both soul wise and groove wise ... He was just an amazing musician.[32]
Booker's vocal ability is also a subject that has been covered since his death. New Orleans pianist Tom McDermott, who has also studied the work of Booker, stated that he is "so moved" by Booker's vocals, as "you could feel the desperation in a way that few singers could impart." McDermott believes that Booker's skillful combination of vocal virtuosity with a magnificent emotional power superseded the singing ofFrank Sinatra.[32]
Patchwork: A Tribute to James Booker is a 2003 release consisting of a compilation of his songs, performed by various pianists.[31] Released in 2007,Manchester '77 consists of a live performance recorded in October 1977 at The Lake Side Hotel,Belle Vue, Manchester, UK, with theNorman Beaker Band in support for two songs.[38] In late 2013, Rounder Records announced the forthcoming release of a double-CD deluxe version ofClassified, Booker's final studio recordings.[32]
Writing forPopMatters in 2014, George de Stefano said: "And then there's James Booker, whose stature in New Orleans musical history can be gauged by the various nicknames bestowed on the gifted, troubled, openly gay musician: the Bayou Maharajah (the title of a new documentary film about the pianist), the Piano Pope, the Ivory Emperor, the Piano Prince of New Orleans. Booker himself coined at least one of these monikers—the Bronze Liberace."[1]
A feature-length documentary about Booker titledBayou Maharajah: The Tragic Genius of James Booker, directed by Lily Keber, premiered at theSXSW festival on March 14, 2013.[39] Keber raised funds on theKickstarter website to complete the film, as she needed to cover licensing costs to include all of the "concert footage, home movie, funky photo and unreleased audio" that she uncovered across the U.S. and Europe. Between December 2012 and January 2013, the Kickstarter campaign received US$18,323 from 271 backers—Keber's goal was US$15,000—who responded to the director's motivation: "After so many years of simmering in obscurity, it's time for James Booker to be introduced to the world!"[40]
The film documents Booker's life, from his Baptist upbringing through to his solitary death at Charity Hospital. In addition to coverage of Booker's significant influence upon Connick and his collaborations with prominent artists, Keber also documents the musician's heroin use and the deterioration in his mental health. In its review of the documentary,All About Jazz refers to Booker as a "jazz genius". Worldwide distribution of the film was undertaken by Cadiz music on August 6, 2016.[41] As of September 1, 2016, the film is available for streaming on Amazon.com and Netflix. The DVD was released[42] on October 14, 2016, in Europe and North America.
Keber's film was shown in May 2013—in the "Golden Rock Documentary" category—at the Little Rock Film Festival that is held annually on the banks of theArkansas River inLittle Rock, Arkansas.[43] TheOxford American magazine bestowed the 2013 Best Southern Film Award to Keber at the Little Rock festival and praised the film as "one of the most culturally important documentaries made in recent years". Keber explained her introduction to Booker in a subsequentOxford American interview:
When I played Booker's album, the first thing that I noticed was what bizarre song titles it had—stuff like "Coquette" and "Piano Salad." I didn't know what "piano salad" meant. I had no idea what to make of the music either. I know how to listen to something like the Neville Brothers or Irma Thomas, but Booker's music I didn't even know how to listen to. It was like a different language.[30]
In June and August 2013, the film was part of the program of theMelbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) and producer Nathaniel Kohn attended as a representative. Kohn participated in a brief interview and explained the importance of the research process:
Research was key to discovering Booker and his music. He died in 1983 and many of the people who knew him are either dead or reaching that certain age when memories start to fade. So we talked to a lot of people and those conversations led to boxes of old photographs and tapes, video and music libraries in the States and in Europe, and the vaults of television stations, record companies, and museums. Over three years of research went into this production.[44]
Keber's documentary was also the opening night film at the Southern Screen Film Festival inLafayette, Louisiana, on November 14, 2013. A question and answer (Q&A) session with Keber followed the screening.[45]
(Albums listed are with James Booker as main artist. For a complete discography which includes Booker's other album credits, see "External Links".)
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