Classie Ballou RIP + others

As ever there are some music deaths to report. Classie Ballou, who has died aged 84, was in at the very start of zydeco when he played guitar on Boozoo Chavis's first zydeco 45 'Paper In My Shoe' in 1954. Born in Louisiana, he grew up in Waco, Texas, and was brought in by record man Eddie Shuler to play on the record despite never having heard of zydeco. According to John Broven's book 'South To Louisiana' the recording session was not going well until someone gave Boozoo some booze. Eddie Shuler said: 'I couldn't see from the control room but I knew Boozoo was getting saturated. Suddenly there was a colossal crash in the studio but as the take was the best so far I didn't check what had happened until the number was finished. When I opened the door, before me lay Boozoo. He had fallen off his stool but managed to keep his accordian in the air and play on without missing a note.' Boozoo toured with Classie for a while after that and later Classie recorded for Excello and Goldband with singles such as 'Crazy Mambo, 'Confusion' and 'Hey Pardner'. He went on to play with the Joe Turner Band and played guitar on Rosco Gordon's 'Just A Little Bit'. I saw him perform at the Ponderosa Stomp in 2010 and 2011, (pictured above) where he played 'Hey Pardner and 'Confusion'. He also appeared at a swamp pop show in Crowley, La, in 2011, where he played five numbers including 'Crazy Mambo' and 'The Thrill Is Gone'.

Another death is that of Jim Sohns, (75) lead singer and founder member of the Shadows of Knight, a Chicago band who made their name with a cover of Them's 'Gloria'. They overcame a local radio ban on the version by Them as 'the band had slightly altered the song's lyrics, replacing Morrison's original "she comes to my room, then she made me feel alright" with "she called out my name, that made me feel alright".' According to the band 'the Stones, Animals and the Yardbirds took the Chicago blues and gave it an English interpretation. We've taken the English version of the Blues and re-added a Chicago touch." Their follow up, the Bo Diddley song 'Oh Yeah', was a minor hit but the group broke up in 1967 with only Jim Sohns remaining of the original line up. My copy of the above is one of several review copies that I still have from my time as a record reviewer on the Croydon Advertiser in the sixties. By coincidence, when I was in the Vintage record shop in Livorno, Italy, last week I came across a copy of their first LP on the US Dunwich label. I was put off by the price, but maybe now I regret not having bought it. Finally a mention for Bernard Cribbins, aged 93, a talented English actor and comedian who also had two top ten hits in 1962 with 'Hole In The Ground' and 'Right Said Fred' and a smaller hit with 'Gossip Calypso'. RIP to them all.