Two Louisiana music deaths

Music deaths continue with two Louisiana-based friends of the Woodies roots music group among the latest.

Margaret Lewis appeared at two Tales From The Woods events in 2008 and 2010 and was one of the highlights on both occasions. Maggie recorded rockabilly records for the Shreveport-based Ram label in the late fifties before moving on to songwriting, with 'Reconsider Me' her best known song. She was instrumental in reviving the Louisiana Hayride in Shreveport after marrying Alton Warwick and in 1998 she released an album on the Ram label called Maggie Lewis-Warwick and the Thunderbolts. Her 2008 appearance at the 100 Club was great. I wrote at the time: 'It was an American visitor who stole the show. Margaret Lewis from Shreveport, Louisiana, writer of country soul classics such as 'Reconsider Me' and 'I Almost Called Your Name', and reviver of the famous Louisiana Hayride, performed three numbers and went down a storm. Kicking off with 'Shake A Leg,, a rockabilly number she said she had almost forgotten, she then went on to perform her own 'Reconsider Me' (a song I love by Johnny Adams) quite brilliantly, before finishing with a lively version of 'Midnight Special'.
After her appearance at the 2010 show (pictured above) I wrote:' Once again this dimunitive lady made a big impression with a series of rockabilly numbers, including 'Good Rockin' Tonight' and her own 'Shake A Leg', plus her big hit 'Reconsider Me'. Margaret sounds just as good as ever and added a welcome piece of US authenticity in this otherwise UK-centric show.' More recently, at the Ponderosa Stomp in 2017, Maggie took part in a conference session about Ram Records along with Alton Warwick and Bobby Page of swamp pop band the Riff Raffs. Many Woodies will have fond memories of visiting the Louisiana Hayride with Maggie a few years ago. The photo below shows Margaret with Kenny Bill Stinson at Jazzfest in 1997.

The other Louisiana artist to have died over the weekend is rockabilly singer Jay Chevalier. His best known songs included 'The Ballad of Earl K Long', former Louisiana State Governor, which was banned initially as being too political, and 'Come Back To Louisiana'. He recruited Grace Broussard to his show at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas and she, along with Dale Houston, recorded the number one hit 'I'm Leaving It Up to You'. When Jay appeared at the Ponderosa Stomp in 2007 he sang with Grace (in Dale's place) and he appeared again in 2008 and 2011. In 2010 he put on a solo show especially for the touring Woodies at Peaches Record Store in New Orleans (pictured below).

The most widely publicised recent death is that of Scott Walker, at the age of 76. The Walker Brothers never did much for me despite some decent covers of songs such as 'Make It Easy On Yourself' and 'The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Any More'. I regarded them as second division Righteous Brothers, but there's no denying their popularity or their good looks. Scott Engel's early work is much praised but when he moved into more individualistic esoteric music as a solo artist he lost much of his fan base and his career eventually suffered.
A couple of other deaths to mention: David White, who co-wrote Danny and the Juniors' 'At The Hop', and Al Hazan, who, in a varied music career, topped the UK charts as B Bumble and the Stingers on 'Nut Rocker'.