It is Carnival Time! Mardi Gras & Fat Tuesday are happening and there is no better way to mark the event than featuring the great music of Professor Longhair.
Professor Longhair (Henry Roeland Byrd), also known as Roy "Bald Head" Byrd and also as Fess was born on December 19, 1918 in Bogalusa, Louisiana. He did not learn to play piano (self-taught) until he was in his 30's and even then it was on a piano with missing keys. Many say this helped him shape his style of playing which has Afro-Cuban influences and is also referred to as "rumba-boogie". This really comes through in "Big Chief" which was written by the great Earl King but covered by Longhair in 1964. Much was made of the addition of horns to the composition and it was a New Orleans hit for many years. It is stll a Mardi Gras favorite much like his other signature songs like "Mardi Gras in New Orleans" and "Tipitina".
Fess would fade away for many years and would work as a custodian to help make ends meet before claiming fame again.
How did the "new Longhair" happen? He got on the roster for the 1971 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage festival which led to his playing the Newport Jazz Festival in 1973. He would play at a party Paul and Linda McCartney were throwing on the Queen Mary in 1978 which was recorded and released. His fame was ensured with the release of the album Crawfish Fiesta (1979), which was a big seller for Alligator Records,
To us, the whistling, which is part of many of his songs, really stand out on his 1980 version from Crawfish Fiesta, and is therefore our favorite. The song is about the African-American tradition of dressing as decked out Indians for their Mardi Gras Parade. Indians used to hide slaves and this is a nod to their heroism. The "Big Chief" is the leader.
Me got fire, can't put it outHeap fire water gonna make me shoutI'm goin' down an-a get my squawMe might buy a great big carI'm gonna do ev'rything I couldMe Big Chief, I'm feeling good
Me Big Chief, I got um tribeGot my squaw right by my sideMy Flagboy, he just went byMy Spyboy, he's full of fireMe whole tribe is havin' funWe gonna dance 'til mornin' come
In 1980 he would pass away during the filming of a documentary he was starring in.Crawfish Fiesta shipped out to stores the very day he died.
He lived his last years as a very famous man in New Orleans and today, 32 years after his death he is justly worshipped as a founding father of New Orleans R&B. He is a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Two versions here. The 1980 Crawfish Fiesta version of "Big Chief" and the original from 1964:
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