Bobby Charles - The Imperial Singles (1958-1959)

Compilation
Bobby Charles was an American singer-songwriter.

After his departure from Chess Records, Bobby Charles was then signed to Imperial, aged only twenty. He released six singles on Imperial, all of which are included here alongside their respective b-sides. Though Bobby's own recordings didn't turn out to be massive chart toppers, it was the songs he wrote for other artists that gave him the most success. Whilst with Imperial, he wrote three songs for New Orleans R&B legend Fats Domino - "Before I Grow Too Old", "Walking To New Orleans" and "It Keeps Rainin'". Of these three, it was "Walking To New Orleans" that was the most successful, becoming a massive cross-over hit in 1960 and charting at #6 on the pop charts. He also wrote songs for Clarence 'Frogman' Henry, the highest-charting being "But I Do" (#4).
Bobby Charles was surely going places as a songwriter, but his own releases from this period never had much to show sales-wise. Perhaps it was because Imperial didn't know how to market him - he was a white boy singing rhythm & blues, but was being marketed as a teen idol like his label mate Ricky Nelson. In 1963 Imperial was sold to the major label Liberty, and Charles was left to fend for himself.

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