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RIP Bobby Charles: Americana Legend

1:50 PM GMT 15/01/2010

RIP Bobby Charles: Americana Legend

BOBBY CHARLES, LEGENDARY purveyor of southern fried swamp pop and the man responsible for such rock'n'roll perennials as See You Later, Alligator, Walkin' To New Orleans and (I Don't Know Why I Love You) But I Do, has died after collapsing at his home in Louisiana. He was 71.

Born Robert Charles Guidry on February 21, 1938 in Abbeville, Louisiana, Charles spent his teenage years sneaking into local juke joints to catch live shows by the likes of Fats Domino, Big Joe Turner and Guitar Slim. Hooked on their music, he soon formed his own R&B outfit, The Cardinals. Charles was unable to read music or play an instrument, preferring to let songs simply pop into his head. See You Later, Alligator - a track he wrote after hearing the phrase when leaving a club one night - was quickly picked up by Chess Records and recorded by Bill Haley in December 1955. It eventually reached Number 6 on the Billboard charts.

Despite beginning to write for Fats Domino in 1958, the next decade would be blighted by business wranglings that would see Charles leave the Chess and Imperial labels. He settled in upstate New York in the early '70s, quickly ingratiating himself with rock impresario Albert Grossman and his Woodstock charges, The Band. Signing to Grossman's Bearsville label and enlisting the talents of Dr John, Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Garth Hudson and Richard Manuel, Charles began work on his self-titled solo debut in 1971. (MOJO pays tribute to that laid-back, southern classic here). Forever the reluctant performer, Charles refused to promote the record, immediately assuring it underground classic status. Happily, Rhino re-issued the album last year.

Over the years, Charles's songs have been recorded by the likes of Ray Charles, Etta James, Delbert McClinton, Kris Kristofferson and Joe Cocker to name but a few. His latest album, Timeless, was co-produced with this old friend Mac Rebennack and is due for release on February 23.

"We were very close for 40, 50 years," said Rebennack. "We started writing stuff together in the '70s. He was very easy to work with and a special guy."

A full obituary will appear in a future issue of MOJO magazine.

Ross Bennett

Posted by Ross_Bennett at 1:50 PM GMT 15/01/2010

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Bobby Charles

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  • It's been a bad week.Mick Green and Bobby Charles gone. both men I much admired. There ain't that much talent around these days for us to loose these originals. Both will be sadly missed by us old rockers.

    Posted by John Freeman at 4:07 PM GMT 15/01/2010 Report Abuse

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  • Hey Mojo, Jay Reatard died two days ago. Get with the program and write something already.

    Posted by MemphisPunk at 7:36 PM GMT 15/01/2010 Report Abuse

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  • Hey Mojo, Jay Reatard died two days ago. Get with the program and write something already.

    Posted by MemphisPunk at 7:37 PM GMT 15/01/2010 Report Abuse

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  • Hey Mojo, Jay Reatard died two days ago. Get with the program and write something already.

    Posted by MemphisPunk at 7:37 PM GMT 15/01/2010 Report Abuse

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  • Bon voyage, Bobby. You must be in a good place now.
    I bought that album in 71 and ever since it comes around regularly and I play the hell out of it for a few days (sometimes I even spin my ol' vinyl copy). I'll certainly be doing it again now.

    Posted by Paul Bandey at 10:21 PM GMT 17/01/2010 Report Abuse

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  • RIP Booby Charles.
    Keep swamp groovin' in the sky man.

    Posted by Andy C at 1:32 AM GMT 19/01/2010 Report Abuse

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  • vymESkk

    Posted by crOArH at 8:34 PM GMT 17/04/2010 Report Abuse

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