Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

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CHARLES, Bobby

(b Robert Charles Guidry, b 21 February 1938, Abbeville LA; d 14 January 2010) Singer, songwriter. Tipped off by a local record dealer, Leonard Chess interviewed him over the phone and signed up Chess the label's first white artist, dropping his Cajun surname; he toured with Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley; then Bill Haley's cover of his 'See You Later, Alligator' was a huge hit in 1956. His swamp pop records for Chess were compiled on Bear Family in 2010, the album called See You Later, Alligator. More songs were 'I Don't Know Why (But I Do)' for Clarence 'Frogman' Henry, 'Before I Grow Too Old' and 'Walking To New Orleans' for Fats Domino, 'The Jealous Kind' (Joe Cocker, Ray Charles), 'Tennessee Blues' (Gatemouth Brown, Doug Sahm, Tracy Nelson). He recorded with Paul Gayten in New Orleans, and later for Imperial.

He worked with Eddy Raven c.1964; turned to country music on Jewel, then a Bearsville LP Bobby Charles '72 (backed by The Band, and including 'Before I Grow Too Old'), reissued '88 as Small Town Talk. He appeared in but was mostly edited out of The Band's film, The Last Waltz, but his duet with his friend Dr. John (Mac Rebennack) on 'Down South In New Orleans' was heard on the soundtrack album. There was an album in Europe '87 called Clean Water, and Wish You Were Here Right Now '95 on the Canadian label Stony Plain, guests including Domino, Neil Young and Willie Nelson. Last Train To Memphis 2003 (included Domino, Willie, Young, Geoff Muldauer) and Timeless (2010, co-produced by Rebennack) were released on his friend Jim Bateman's Rice 'n' Gravy label.

His tunes were memorable, and his lyrics often had depth to them, what Stephen Stills called 'complex simplicity'. He never chased stardom as a performer, often turning down gigs, preferring to present his material in the studio, often writing about social issues, such as saving the Louisiana wetlands. Rebennack said, 'The words would hit so many nerves, and you could tell where the chords go just from his singing the melody.' He never learned musical notation, so that there was a 'happy chaos' around him, said guitarist Sonny Landreth: 'There's an edge in working that way, I think, that got captured on the records.' Which is perhaps why so many people loved to work with him. [Quotes from an article by Barry Mazor in the Wall Street Journal]