Chess New Orleans

Producers: Paul Gayten; Leonard Chess, Phil Chess; Allen Toussaint.
Compilation producer: Andy McKaie.
Principally recorded in New Orleans between 1953 and 1965. Includes liner notes by Don Snowden.
Digitally remastered by Erick Labson (MCA Music Media Studios, North Hollywood, California).
Personnel: Edgar Blanchard, Earl Johnson , Oscar Wills (vocals, guitar); Clifton Chenier (vocals, accordion); Auguste Dimes DuPont (vocals, alto saxophone); Edgar "Big Boy" Myles (vocals, trombone); Eddie Bo, Eddie Bocage, Jimmy Crawford , Paul Gayten, Art Neville (vocals, piano); Charles "Hungry" Williams (vocals, drums); Slim Saunders (vocals, background vocals); Clarence "Frogman" Henry, Rod Bernard (vocals); Ernest McLean, Al Forman, Larry Guidry, George Davis, Alfred August, Walter Nelson, Justin Adams , Phillip Walker, Roy Montrell, Snooks Eaglin (guitar); Dave Lastie, Robert Parker (saxophone, tenor saxophone); Clarence Ford, Carlo Marino, Fred Kemp, Harry Simontaux, Alfred Bernard, James Rivers, Raoul Prado, Lionel Prevost (saxophone); Warren Hebrew, Manuel Crusto, Lee Allen, Nat Perrilliat (tenor saxophone); Red Tyler (baritone saxophone); Wardell Quezergue (trumpet, piano); Charles Boudreaux, Dalton Rousseaux, August Fleuri, Eddie Nash (trumpet); Carol Joseph (trombone); Edward Frank, Warren Myles, Ed LeBlanc, Jimmy "Handy Man" Jones, Allen Toussaint, Willie Tee (piano); Earl Palmer , Ray Thomasine, Kenneth Theriot, Eugene Jones, Eric Warner, Wilson Semien, Alonzo Stewart, Smokey Johnson, John Boudreaux (drums); Gerri Hall (background vocals).
Audio Remasterer: Erick Labson.
Recording information: 09/1953-??/1965.
Photographers: Tom Keller; Dave Booth.
The Chicago-based Chess label isn't often associated with the New Orleans rock and R&B scene of the '50s, but its dalliances there produced a handful of hits including Clarence "Frogman" Henry's "Ain't Got No Home" and Bobby Charles' "See You Later Alligator" and "Time Will Tell." Chess New Orleans is a two-disc set that collects 44 hits, misses, album tracks, and previously unreleased recordings from the Chess vaults, including cuts from the subsidiary labels Checker and Argo, and distributed sides like Rod Bernard's hit "This Should Go On Forever." Certain artists, such as Bobby Charles, Clarence Henry, Sugar Boy Crawford (maker of the first version of "Iko Iko," titled "Jock-A-Mo"), and Paul Gayten, are well represented with up to a half dozen tracks each. The selections run the gamut from straight rock and R&B to Clifton Chenier's accordion-driven Cajun sides to regional novelties like the Hawketts' "Mardi Gras Mambo." Chess New Orleans is not a representative regional or hits anthology but revives many worthwhile rarities for collectors. ~ Greg Adams