Saturday night at 9 PM Chickie Wah Wah is the place to be when an all-star group of New Orleans musicians will gather to celebrate the tunes one of the greatest American songwriters, Louisiana’s own Bobby Charles.
Guitarists Dave Malone (The Radiators, Raw Oyster Cult) and Jake Eckert (The New Orleans Suspects, Dirty Dozen Brass Band) will lead the band. The rhythm section will feature keyboardist John Gros (Papa Grows Funk), bassist Reggie Scanlan (The Radiators, New Orleans Suspects), and ace session drummer Doug Belote. Special guests are expected to appear.
Born Robert Charles Guidry in southwest Louisiana’s Cajun Country, Bobby Charles was an early purveyor of a hybrid musical style known as “swamp pop.” His first songs to hit the charts were “See Ya Later, Alligator,” which was immortalized by Bill Haley and Comets, and “Walkin’ To New Orleans,” which became one of Fats Domino’s signature songs and has since been recorded by hundreds of artists.
Charles was much better known as a songwriter than a performer. He collaborated with Rick Danko of The Band on “Small Town Talk” and Willie Nelson on “Promises, Promises (The Truth Will Set You Free).” “(I Don’t Know Why I Love) But I Do,” which Charles wrote with Clarence “Frogman” Henry, was on the soundtrack of the Tom Hanks film, Forrest Gump.
The list of artists who covered his songs reads like a who’s who of musicians in a wide range of genres including Joe Cocker, Lou Rawls, Ray Charles, Tom Jones, Kris Kristofferson, Etta James, Junior Wells, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, and Bo Diddley.
