Saturday, March 21, 2009

RIP Eddie Bo


The Explosions - Hip Drop (Pts. 1 & 2)

The bad part about having a vintage soul blog is that multiple times throughout the year I have to report the passing of yet another fine artist. New Orleans singer/pianist/songwriter/producer/label owner Eddie Bo has passed away at age 79. Bo's long career cut across R&B, soul and funk, and it's the latter category for which he's probably best known, thanks to his 1969 hit "Hook and Sling" and scads of other gems that are highly-favored by funk fans. A quick survey of my links section will give you a taste of "Hook and Sling," "Check the Bucket" and others, but I'll feature the femme funk classic "Hip Drop," which he wrote and produced for the Explosions for the tiny Gold Cup label. Everything about this record is right: the singalong line "Hip Drop, come on and Hip Drop," to Juanita Brooks' strong lead vocal, to some nice drum breaks, to the goofy interjections (by Eddie maybe?) of "I tried the Hip Drop and I liked it!" and "Mr. Whipple - he can do the Hip Drop, too!" It's just a funky good time that is one of my favorite Bo productions.

RIP Eddie Bo. Your contributions to New Orleans music and to funk were immense and are apprciated among the rare soul community.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

He'll be missed!

Anonymous said...

Eddie will be missed! He was a true New Orleans legend.

MFS Equipe ♪ said...

This is sad and bad...

MFS Equipe ♪ said...

I get this notice with a reference at The Stepfather Of Soul on our blog on http://myfavouritesound.wordpress.com/

Thank you very much.

Pier

youngblood said...

I saw Eddie Bo perform at the Tipatina's in the French Quarter (pre-Katrina) and he was the consumate New Orleans R&B musician. Just Eddie and his piano playing the classics like "Walkin' the Dog." It was my 2nd all time favorite NOLA show with #1 being the legendary Luther Kent at the Dry Dock Cafe in Algiers on a foggy night in Dec. 2006.