A Case Of Mysterious Musical Alter-Egos

"I'm Going Home" (E. Bocage)
Marie Boubarere, Nola 731, 1967
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"I Know" (B. George)
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No one seems to know much of anything about Marie Boubarere, who seemingly had just this one 1967 release, both sides of which were recorded at a public performance, likely in New Orleans. The label fine print states, "Arr by Wardell", which doesn't refer to pirate noises. That's Wardell Quezergue, one of the principals of Nola Records and a name you've encountered a lot around here, if you've been keeping up (or, if you haven't, use the search box above). A busy behind the scenes contributor to the HOTG music scene for over four decades, he arranged the songs on this single; and it is quite possible that his big band, the Royal Dukes of Rhythm, is backing the singer, as suggested by the large horn section and tight playing. If so, then we're also probably hearing Smokey Johnson on drums.

In those days, commercially released recordings of actual live performances, as opposed to studio sessions overdubbed with crappy sounding fake audience noises, came out rarely in the Crescent City, especially on 45. At the moment, the only other that springs to mind, "Close Your Eyes" by Willie Tee, appeared on the Nola-affiliated Hot Line label (#910) that same year. Nola 731 is a well-balanced, high quality live recording for the time; and the relative lack of audience chatter leads me to believe that this was a concert performance, rather than something caught at a club venue. Anyway, it was a nice showcase for the quite pleasing voice of Ms Boubarere, not that it got her any lasting attention.

I had not heard these cuts until they were comped by Funky Delicacies/Tuff City on their double CD, Wardell Quezergue: Sixty Smonkin' Soul Senders, in 2002, and did not find a copy of the single until last year. After looking around in vain for any shred of background material on the unknown singer, I turned to the record itself for clues. Of course, one side is a nice enough cover of the classic Barbara George hit, "I Know", while the other features the much more obscure "I'm Going Home", an Eddie Bo(cage) composition that had been first recorded a couple of years earlier, also on Nola, by Betty Taylor, a singer equally as obscure as Marie Boubarere. I did a post on that original recording in October, 2005 and have reactivated the audio so you can refer to it.

On first consideration, it struck me as a little odd that "I'm Going Home" was chosen as one of the sides, not that it's a bad song. It's just that Taylor's original was not a well-known record, probably even back then; but, I figured Nola had the publishing rights and just wanted to put one of their own songs on the flip side. Since it had been several years since I listened to the Taylor record, I cued up her "I'm Going Home"* for comparison and was immediately struck by the fact that the original arrangement had been followed very closely by Quezergue on Boubarere's version. After listening back and forth between the two a few times, I had a bigger revelation: not only are the arrangements close, Marie Boubarere sounds just like Betty Taylor with the added energy of singing onstage. It made perfect sense. Marie Boubarere recorded the live version of "I'm Going Home" because she did the original.

Now let me backtrack and admit that I was originally going to post this record because I had noticed that the Nola Records discography in the R&B Indies lists this single and shows the name of Marilyn Barbarin ** in parentheses under Marie Boubarere's, implying they were the same person. Ms Barbarin, who later sang in the Explosions vocal group on several highly prized Eddie Bo productions, made her recording debut in 1967 on Nola #741, "One Little Word" b/w "Just A Teenager"; and as the latter title suggests, she was very young at the time. As much as I wanted it to be so, I did not hear a match between Barbarin's youthful voice and the more mature singing of Marie Boubarere. Besides, Barbarin's first record came out shortly after Boubarere's. No way were they the same person. I need to ask Mr. McGrath of the Indies why he coupled the two names. Anyway, dissuaded from that false lead, I turned instead to my comparison of this record with Betty Taylor's.

Using only my increasingly decrepit ears (and a decent set of headphones and studio monitors) as my guide, I'll do a limb-climb and declare that Marie Boubarere is Betty Taylor, or vice versa. Listen for yourself to both versions of “I’m Going Home”; and I'll think you'll agree. So, instead of two mystery singers who recorded for Nola, we now have one, who used two names*** for reasons unknown. And maybe neither is her actual name. Another unanswered question that lingers is why she had no further releases, at least under her dual identities. As I said, her voice, while not quite exceptional, is certainly worth hearing. This is probably another example of the fate of female singers in New Orleans, who could not get the opportunities that their male counterparts had, resulting in far fewer records coming to us from the distaff side - sad to say. I would have liked to hear more from Ms Whomever. Instead, we're left with two versions of "I'm Going Home" and their flip sides on two worthy Nola singles under two different names, which marked a double career cul de sac for a solitary singer who well may remain an enigma by any name.

* Taylor's version can be also be found on the Night Train/Tuff City compilation, New Orleans Popeye Party.

** Note: Marilyn Barbarin is still active on the New Orleans music scene. I was extremely fortunate to hear sing at Jazzfest this year with the New Orleans Rhythm Conspiracy, who have a new CD out, which I hope to review at some point.

*** [6/11/2008 - UPDATE: I found the current 45 hole photo by accident today while looking for something else in the Wardell Quezergue: Sixty Smonkin' Soul Senders CD booklet, which I had neglected to re-read prior to this post. Ooops. Besides having that promo shot, the notes say that Ms Boubarere's former name was DuBarry, and that name was written on the back of the photo. Going with that gem of a clue, I have found that Marie DuBarry recorded "Never Trust A Man" b/w "Why", around 1965/1966 on the White Cliffs label, which was run by Cosimo Matassa. Though I have never heard laid eyes on that record, it appears that Wardell Quezerque was involved with the project. He co-wrote the B-side with Adolph Smith, who also wrote the A-side. That's the only activity I've dug up on short notice for Ms DuBarry. Of course, now we have three names to work with, two of which at least sound Creole French. But, I am starting to suspect that Boubarere was just a play on DuBarry - all in good, well-endowed fun - rather than her married or maiden name. Just a hunch. Where did Betty Taylor come from? Stay tuned. . . .]

All Nite Hot Buns...And Hatchets

While I've been familiar with the three songs in this post for many years and had along the line noticed some linkage among them, my decision to group them together for a post came about by accident, the usual haphazard modus operandi around here, it seems. My plans for better researched, more "in depth" features keep getting pushed aside in favor of this or that whim of a hunch, arcane digression, or diverting rhythmic tangent, which is why no one will ever accuse me of committing scholarship on HOTG. So, you might want to pass on by, if you are seeking citations for your doctoral dissertation.

But, back to the tenuous threads at hand...and the music, of course, eventually. My inspiration for this goose-chase came about when I recently bought a copy of Paul Gayten's single, "The Hunch" b/w "Hot Cross Buns". Back in the 1980s, I had first encountered the songs on the MCA LP (and later CD) compilation of Gayten's Chess sides, Chess King of New Orleans. Hearing "Hot Cross Buns" again reminded me that it has several things in common with another instrumental side, "All Nite Long" (Part 2), on Robert Parker's first 45. I've always dug Part 2 since first hearing it, also in the 1980s, on a Rounder CD collection of sides from the Ron label (where it was mis-identified as Part 1). On that cut, Eddie Bo dropped in some random, amusing vocal commentary during the stop-time pauses, which, as you will hear, is very much like what Billy Davis did on Gayten's side. Of course, fans of New Orleans grooves will also recall that Bo later did some memorable spoken vocalizing on another more well-known instrumental two-parter, "Pass the Hatchet", by Roger & the Gypsies. So, suddenly I had the convergence of these three tunes in my head, and an excuse to do a post on their connections - real or imagined. You be the judge.

Luckily (for all of us), there have already been some good things posted on other blogs about these artists and two of the tunes; and I have found some other useful likns to lay on you. So, I won't have to do a lot of background in-filling. My friend and occasional cohort, Red Kelly, recently featured an older side by Paul Gayten as his 2008 mystery contest track over at Soul Detective, and did a nice bio of the multi-talented singer/pianist/writer/producer to boot. Last year, Red also featured Parker's "All Nite Long" (Part 2) on his The B-Side blog with an outstanding career overview on the artist. In addition, the esteemed Larry Grogan posted "Pass The Hatchet" on Funky16Corners several years back, and, by sheer coincidence, has recently put up a mind-blowing Eddie Bo-themed podcast leading off with the song. Plus, more details about the hatchet-men were revealed in an essential Offbeat article on the guy and band who recorded the song, Earl Stanley and the Stereos, a/k/a Roger & the Gypsies. So, I trust you'll open some new windows and study up, as I will be discussing the sides assuming that you have done your homework.



"Hot Cross Buns" (Gayten - Cooper - Davis)
Paul Gayten, Anna 1106, 1959
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"All Nite Long" [Part 2] (Parker-Bocage-Rebennack)
Robert Parker, Ron 327, 1959
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Both of these B-side novelty instrumentals came out during the last part of 1959. The notes to the MCA Paul Gayten LP/CD compilation specify the recording date for Anna 1106 as September 29, 1959; and one would assume it was released fairly shortly after that. The R&B Indies show it as the last release of that year on Anna in fact, which doesn't narrow the actual date down much. Checking the notes to Rounder's We Got A Party! The Best Of Ron Records, Volume 1 [alas, there never was a Volume 2], I found out only that "All Nite Long" was committed to tape in the fall of 1959. Was it just a big coincidence that these two songs, which had the same kind of stop-time structure interjected with high-pitched, jivey comments, appeared within a few weeks or months of each other? I rather suspect that part of "Hot Cross Buns" inspired "All Nite Long" (Part 2); but proof is hard to come by.

Hot Cross Buns" and the A-side, "The Hunch", were cut in New York City and featured Gayten on piano, co-writer and producer Roquel "Billy" Davis doing the vocals on "Buns", and other unknown musicians. I don't know why NYC was the venue for the sessions, since Anna Records was a Detroit-based label and Gayten was working out of New Orleans at the time, doing full-time production/A&R work for Chess Records on local artists (working with Bobby Charles, 'Frogman' Henry, and Eddie Bo, among others), and infrequently recording for the company himself. Though I am not clear on how Gayten and Davis got together, I assume that the Chess connection probably had something to do with it, as Davis had earlier written some hit songs for Chess artists; and, since Chess was distributing Anna releases, they didn't mind Gayten doing a little something-something with Davis. "The Hunch" was a quick cover of a tune the Bobby Perterson Quintet had out on the V-Tone label that was getting airplay and hot regional sales. The Anna version got enough favorable response itself to hit a not too shabby #68 on the Hot 100 chart. Gayten followed-up in 1960 with "Beatnik Beat" b/w "Scratch Back" (Anna 1112); but it was a non-starter. That was the extent of his work for Davis, who soon went on to join Chess himself and help them build a successful R&B/soul division.

A pleasant enough little bounce in the bakery, "Hot Cross Buns" was surely considered a throwaway flipside, because the sole purpose of that 45 was to steal some of the thunder from the original version of "The Hunch" and make a quick couple of bucks - a common ploy in the music business back then. "Buns" strikes me as a not very substantial, but fairly entertaining, in-joke. It has a simple central guitar-driven riff and a stylized hybrid R&B/rock/pop arrangement employing a lightly Latinized swing beat accented by trendy (for 1959) bongos, a stop-time structure, and some instrumental soloing. Gayten's signature back o'town New Orleans piano pounding throughout seems kind of out of place in the production, which may be why it is somewhat low in the mix. But, what interessts me here as it relates to the other fetured sides, are Davis' vocal toss-off during the musical pauses, playing around with the” buns” double-entendre, and likely making the song too suggestive for 1950s airplay, anyway. Today, though, they'd have the Pillsbury Doughboy dancing to it on TV (and, if that ever happens, I want my conceptual cut, by the way).

Meanwhile, back in the Crescent City, Eddie Bo, who had been recording sides for Chess under Gayten's direction in 1957 and 1958, started working for Joe Ruffino's new local Ric and Ron labels in 1959, as an artist, writer, producer, arranger, bandleader and pianist. Having played on sessions and gigs previously with tenor saxophonist Robert Parker, Bo recruited him for the Ric/Ron house band; and, before long, Parker got to record two singles on his own under Bo's supervision, starting with the double-sided "All Nite Long". While Parker and local DJ Larry McKinley got writers' credit on Part 1, Part 2 of the same song strangely shows a writing collaboration of Parker, Bo and Mac Rebennack, who was also active in the studio working with Ruffino's artists. McKinley has been said to have produced the record, which pretty much guaranteed at least the A-side would get airplay; but it was Bo made the music work. Because of the popularity of Gayten's version of "The Hunch" at the time, I suspect that it and "Buns" might have caught the attention of McKinley and/or Bo, as they were working up the material for Parker's debut release, leading to the development of a stop-time instrumental number with Bo’s own less suggestive vocalizing in the pauses on Part 2, even seeming to mimic Billy Davis' voice. It's possible, too, I guess, that Bo could have heard an early version or demo of "Hot Cross Buns" through his association with Paul Gayten. You never know.

Whether or not the idea was borrowed, Bo made sure Parker's track cooked; and it leaves Gayten's buns in the dust. Side A/Part 1 of "All Nite Long", which I have left out (as did the Rounder CD) is merely a less engaging warm-up with no vocals, building to where Part 2 kicks in on the flip. And then it gets hot to go, as Parker kicks in with a new sax riff, and the players rise to the occasion, with the three principals taking solos. Rebennack, who so far has been chopping chords on the guitar, uncoils several rounds of slinky runs; Parker blows some real strong lines; and Bo lets loose his funky knuckle-busting to close it out. It's a throw down, rollicking round of rock 'n' roll New Orleans-style with a beat that is not straight. It really doesn't make much difference who stole what when or from whom. There's no comparision. The hometown krewe ruled; and "All Nite Long" made a local splash for Parker as a first-time frontman. On his second and final single for Ron, the song "Across The Tracks" introduced his easy-going vocal style to the world, but did not fare as well with the public. After that, Parker did a couple of extremely low profile singles, one on Imperial, "Mash Potatoes All Nite Long" b/w "Twistin' Out In Space", and the other for the Booker label, "The Laughing Monkey" b/w "Let's Do The Thing", before hooking up with Wardell Quezergue and Nola Records, striking national paydirt with an outstanding original, "Barefootin'".



"Pass the Hatchet (Part I)" (R. Leon, Jr., R. Theriot, E. Oropeza)
Roger & The Gypsies, Seven B 7001, 1965
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"Pass the Hatchet (Part II)"
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As I said, "Pass The Hatchet" is included here due to the Eddie Bo connection, specifically his added vocal contributions over the insistent strip club bump and grind groove and trance-inducing ostinato riffs. The combination conjures up the murky, spooky mondo bizarro atmosphere of some sleazy zombie hooker movie (note: your hallucination may vary) - in other words, a New Orleans record through and through. Prior to finding a copy of the single I could afford (!), my vinyl source for years was Part I, featured on the 1970 Instant various artists compilation LP, Solid Gold (a/k/a All these Things).

While it has generally been known that guitarist/bassist Earl Stanley (Earl Stanislaus Oropeza) and his band, the Stereos, actually cut the track, Michael Hurtt brought to light in his Offbeat article on Stanley (linked above) that Earl oversaw the creation of the instrumental and recorded it at his small production studio, Thunder Recording, that he ran with his partner, Ray Theriot. Working from just the central riff and song title that his cousin, Roger Leon, Jr., had brought to him, Stanley and band fleshed it out, came up with their down and dirty arrangement pretty much on the fly, and laid the tune down on tape in short order. As he recounted to Hurtt, other co-conspirators on the session included Li'l Joe Lambert on drums, Nicky Bodine on bass, Art Sir Van on piano (it's barely discernible), and Hector Nieves on the up-front maracas.

Such was the go-for-it method to Stanley and the Stereos' studio madness. They wrote and recorded countless tracks that way just to see if something good and sellable might crop up, using various assumed band names and a revolving cast of players and/or or singers for the projects. On "Pass The Hatchet", because his cousin had instigated the song and played rhythm guitar on the recording, they became Roger & the Gypsies when Stalnely took the master tape to Joe Banashak, owner of numerous labels including Instant and Alon, to see if he would put it out.

Banashak agreed to give the oddball little tune a shot and leased the master for his newest imprint, Seven B. Thinking the song still needed something to make it stand out, Banashak asked Eddie Bo, who he ran into at Cosimo's studio, to spice it up; and the result was a re-mixed version onto which Bo had overdubbed his attention-grabbing grunts, shouts, and other hatchet-inspired, tree-chopping interjections - a vocal tactic similar to what he had done six years earlier for Robert Parker. The record, which was the second release on Seven B (#7001), came out in 1965 and became a local #1 radio hit that sold well in the area but did not break out nationally, due, Banashak concluded, to the aftermath of the Watts Riots in Los Angeles (surely not the best time for an African-American to shout on the radio about passing out hatchets!). As a result of its popularity, Stanley and his band gigged off the record as Roger & the Gypsies for over a year.

This hometown success was enough motivation for Banashak to hire Eddie Bo to record, produce and write for Seven B and some of his other labels, too, resulting in more classic, but not very commercially successful recordings over the next few years. Stanley was able to place several of his other productions with Banashak, resulting in one-off singles for singers Kathy Savoy (Instant), Art Van, and Lenny McDaniel (both for Seven B). But, by far, "Pass The Hatchet", done as a bit of spontaneous fun in the studio, has been Earl’s most well-received number. Growing over the years into a cult classic, it gained more attention through a late 1980s cover version by underground faves Tav Falco and Panther Burns, and through inclusion on several film soundtracks, New Orleans music collections, and, recethly, has graced at least one TV commercial.

Rockie's Riccasha

The dapper Mr. Charles at Jazzfest 2008
(photo by Dan Phillips)

Although I missed Rockie Charles' performance at this year's Ponderosa Stomp, I caught him on the first Saturday of Jazzfest, playing in the Blues Tent. Sitting there soaking it in (and prior to actually getting soaked in an afternoon storm), I remembered I had wanted to feature his first single here, and stuck a mental "Post-It" to my grey matter to start work on it when I got home. After a second weekend of serious festing and a week's decompression back at work, I've finally actually gotten around to it.

My introduction to singer, guitarist, and songwriter Rockie Charles Merrick was via a promo of his 1996 Orleans Records CD, Born For You, sent to me by label-owner/producer Carlo Ditta when I was doing my radio show in Memphis. Chock full of Rockie's sometimes meandering, always quirky but enjoyable tunes - mainly slow to mid-tempo soul with touches of blues - the CD put him at least briefly into the spotlight in New Orleans and marked his re-emergence on the local music scene after several decades absence during which he worked as a tugboat captain on the Mississippi River and as a self-employed oyster fisherman. You can read more of Charles' interesting history in the liner notes to the CD, which were written by author Jeff Hannusch, who expanded upon them for a chapter on Charles in his 2001 book, The Soul of New Orleans. Through those pieces I learned that Rockie had made several fairly obscure records back in the mid-1960s and early 1970s. It took me over a decade to find any of the vinyl; and, as far as I know, none of those sides have ever been compiled on CD.

While the Born For You CD never much excited me rhythmically (except for the wonderfully wacky "Festus Believe In Justice", which sounds like a lost Ry Cooder outtake), it was well-produced with good musical support; and Rockie delivered his songs with soul and grit. Some at the time likened his vocals to Al Green (there is a passing similarity in tonality); but Rockie's singing and songwriting reminded me more of the more offbeat stylings of the great Earl King, who was a friend of Charles back in the early 1960s. Besides being a recording artist, King had begun producing various sessions around town in those days and would often hire Rockie to play guitar, but never got around to cutting a record on him. After being turned down by producers Allen Toussaint and Dave Bartholomew, Rockie finally got the opportunity to record on his own from another fledgling producer and label-owner he knew, Senator Jones.


(with appropriate patches of black mold...)

"Riccasha" (Rockie Charles)
Rockie Charles & The Lavonics, ca 1967
(Tune in to HOTG Internet Radio)

[UPDATE 4/25/2011: You can currently hear this track on YouTube, thanks to Colby.]

I spotted this single on an eBay auction last year; and, boy, was I confused. At first, I didn't get that "Riccasha", which was the side listed, was supposed to be pronounced "ricochet". And, when I consulted Hannusch's pieces on Rockie Charles to refresh my memory about Charles' singles, I found that he consistently referred to the Black Patch sides as "Mr. Rickashay" and "Sinking Like A Ship". To add to the confusion, the R&B Indies discography strangely titled the side "My Rickashay" on its Black Patch discography (such as it is). These people were messin' with my mind; but at least I figured out how to pronounce it! Since "Sinking Like A Ship" was a match for the other side of the single up for bid, I threw caution to the wind and went for it, and lucked out because I was the only one who did - not much demand as yet for the Rockie Charles back catalogue.

Black Patch has a rightful claim to serious obscurity in that, as noted on the label, it was a division of Shagg Records, one of Senator Jones' early micro-companies, which only had five releases of its own. But that seems a lot, considering that this 45 is the only issue listed for Black Patch. In those days, Jones had a label for nearly every occasion, which I am sure allowed him to at least stay one step ahead of his creditors as he pursued the elusive hit, which Rockie Charles' debut record certainly was not. As Charles told Hannusch, "The record didn't turn out the way I thought it would and didn't sell." So, Senator Jones and Rockie Charles ricocheted off on their separate ways.

Too bad nobody heard it, though, because "Riccasha" is a killer little tune. It was the B-side; but I find it to be by far the stronger of the two tracks. The drummer is a force of nature! His short, upbeat drum intro quickly revs up the energy for this dance tune; and, then, drums and bass lock into a pulsing groove duel that propels the entire song to the fade, overcoming the minor distraction of some out of tune instruments in the mix, including a cheesy sounding organ and some strangely voiced horns, which give the track a "garage" feel. Rockie's vocal sound is well-seasoned with a definite Otis Redding influence; and his phrasing is spot on.

I still don't know why Hannusch and Rockie call this "Mr. Rickashay". The lyrics cleverly address the ricochets of relationships and the dancefloor, but never mention a Mr. Rickashay or even Mr. Rockie Shay. I guess Hannusch had not seen a copy of the single; and maybe Rockie mis-remembered the title. Or, perhaps there was a later pressing with that title, though I have not uncovered one in my subsequent searches and get the feeling that one very limited pressing was all Senator Jones was good for. There's always the distinct possibility that Jones messed up the title, maybe due to a severe shortgage of dictionaries in New Orleans at the time. Maybe that's part of what Rockie meant: the record did not turn out they way he expected, because one side had a mangled title no one could pronounce.


(...from water damage...)

"Sinking Like A Ship" (Rockie Charles)
Rockie Charles & The Lavonics, ca 1967
(Tune in to HOTG Internet Radio)

So here's the flip - the actual A-side. This surely is another part of the reason why this record did not set sail on commercial waters, or even float. Musically, the tune might not quite be sinking; but it does no more than tread water, repeating the same two chords and weak little riff until it fades. What holds it together and keeps it going is the kick-ass drumming. That drummer doesn't let the open-ended, going-nowhere song stop him from having a field day. As on the far groovier "Riccasha", the drums here not only inject a strong dance beat into the proceedings, but let fly with some fancy fills, rolling turnarounds, and broken-up segments, never losing the groove.

Charles gives himself no melody to work with and ends up more rapping the lyrics than singing, trying to force a little soul into it by saying "Lord, have mercy" every other line. And those lyrics, seeming to go on way longer that the actual three minutes running time, tell a tale, if I follow it, of a captain who builds a ship, sets to sea, floats around for 40 days, rams an iceberg, jumps overboard with the crew in cold waters full of whales and sharks, and tries to swim back to Liverpool (?), but drowns. With all that, the storyteller is trying to say to his baby, with unintended humor, that he's "sinking like a ship". If his overly extended metaphor is not in fact tortured, it has certainly been water-boarded. The point of the exercise would surely have been as lost on his baby as it is on us. But, I find that if I just follow the drummer, "Sinking Like A Ship" seems far less like a disaster.

I have no idea if the Lavonics were a real band or just a fabricated name for the musicians on the session - never heard of them, and can find no other references to them. The bands Charles gigged with were the Eagles early on, and, in the 1960s, the Gadges Soulful Band (Gadges was pronounced "gauges", by the way - remember the great dictionary shortage). Whoever they were, props to the Lavonics' drummer and bassist.

All things considered, Rockie Charles' debut on Black Patch 711 is a fun record to listen to, and does not deserve to be consigned to perpetual oblivion or just become some collectors' cult fetish item (wink, wink, nudge, nudge). I hope to feature some of his other singles at a later date, if they are even half as interesting and entertaining. Though, as his discography attests, he hasn't had much of a recording career until much later in life, Rockie is one of a long line of engagingly eccentric creators and performers from New Orleans. His work may be far from the mainstream, but is worth seeking out in the far more fascinating and mysterious musical backwaters of his hometown.

[Update 3/14/2010: Rockie passed away on March 12, 2010 due to cancer. He was 67. For more details, read his obituary at nola.com, and note their uncredited use of my label shot from this post!!]

[Update 5/7/2012: Rockie's neice, Rhonda, has informed me/us in the comments that she has set up a wiki on him and would appreciate any assistance in adding to the information she is accumulating there.]

ROCKIE CHARLES DISCOGRAPHY (incomplete)
"Sinking Like A Ship"/"Riccasha" -Black Patch 711- ca 1967
"Living In The Good Times"/"Someday I'll Call In Love" -Soulgate 13654- ca 1969
"Show My People Around The Curve"/"Calling Your Name" -Soulgate 6050366- ca 1969
"The President Of Soul, Pt 1"/ Part 2 -Soulgate #? -ca 1970?
Born For You -Orleans CD 1911- 1996
The War Is Over -Rockie Charles CD 001- 2001
Have You Seen My Uncle Steve -self-produced- 2002
It's Party time For the Mardi Gras -self-produced- 2003
I Want First Class -Soulgate- 2007