Bobby Charles - Last Train To Memphis (2004)

Bobby Charles was an American singer-songwriter.

Into the latter half of his career Bobby Charles actually began releasing albums (he only ever released one in the first thirty years of his music career!). After 1994's Wish You Were Here Right Now, he released Secrets Of The Heart in 1998, which contained half new material and half old material (the old songs were originally from 1987's Clean Water, and the six new songs I have put on this compilation here). His next collection of new songs had to wait until 2004, and as was now typical for a Bobby Charles album its songs came from a variety of sources spanning several decades. Last Train To Memphis came out as a double CD, and on the surface can be taken as a sprawling double album packed full of brilliant songs. However on closer inspection, all the songs on the second disc can be found on the Clean Water, Wish You Were Here Right Now and Secrets Of The Heart albums. The first disc is also compiled from recordings from all over the place, both old and new, but as none of these songs had actually seen release on an album before, it can be considered 'all new'. To simplify matters, I am just offering you the first disc of 'new' material, as everything on the second disc can be found on previous albums.

The new songs cover the broad territory between R&B and country, and contain some real gems. The list of musicians who can be heard behind him is extensive, which makes sense considering the songs came from such a wide range of sessions. Among those who can be heard are pedal steel man Ben Keith, keyboard player David Briggs, both Dan Penn & Spooner Oldham, guitarists Fred Carter, Jr. and Sonny Landreth, New Orleans R&B man Clarence 'Frogman' Henry, fiddle player Rufus Thibodeux, both Geoff and Maria Muldaur (on seperate tracks over ten years apart), Neil Young and Willie Nelson.

Wish You Were Here Right Now (1994) <|> Homemade Songs (2008) 
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Bobby Charles - Wish You Were Here Right Now (1994)

Bobby Charles was an American singer-songwriter.

1994 saw Bobby Charles release Wish You Were Here Right Now - in nearly forty years in the music business, this was only his third album! It featured a great collection of new songs along with some updated versions of some of his old classics ("The Jealous Kind", "See You Later Alligator" and "Walking To New Orleans"), with some excellent arrangements throughout (many of them highlighted by Sonny Landreth's electric slide guitar). One definite standout was "The Mardi Gras Song", an upbeat New Orleans party number (exactly what the title would suggest). The album also featured a few high profile musical guests, demonstrating the high regard Bobby Charles was held in the music world - Neil Young played some guitar, Willie Nelson co-wrote one of the songs and played guitar, and Fats Domino sang on "Walking To New Orleans" (the song Charles had originally written for Fats back in 1960, with which he had scored a Top 10 crossover hit). The result was a great album, a very welcome addition to Charles' scant discography.

Clean Water (1987) <|> Last Train To Memphis (2004)
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Bobby Charles - I Believe In Angels (1963-1998)

Compilation 
Bobby Charles was an American singer-songwriter.

Compiling a complete discography of Bobby Charles' recorded works is something of a difficult task, as though he released only a few proper albums in his career, a vast number of obscure compilations have been put out over the years, all with overlapping tracklists of confusing origin. I have put together this compilation to tie up a few loose ends.

Here we have tracks from three sources. The first is his 1963 single "Big Boys Cry", a tune written by Eddy Raven, released on his own Hub City label. It's a lovely little pop ditty from a period when Charles wandering from label to label with no success to show for it. I haven't been able to locate either its b-side of the second Hub City single from the same year. The second source gives us the bulk of the material here, all recorded during his Woodstock years in the 70s. These songs are mostly half-finished demos, either outtakes from his 1972 self-titled album or things which were going to be developed on his unfinished second album. These songs all have a lovely rootsy, laid-back charm to them, and feature two of his nicest compositions - "Homemade Songs" and "Done A Lot Of Wrong Things". Also features the single version of "Small Town Talk", the same take as the album version but with overdubbed horns. The third source is the 1998 album Secrets Of The Heart, an odd release which seems to have compiled six older songs from 1987's Clean Water with six new ones. Here are the six '98 recordings, completing this compilation.

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Bobby Charles - Clean Water (1987)

Bobby Charles was an American singer-songwriter.

After his years in Woodstock (which had resulted in one classic eponymous album), Bobby Charles returned to Louisiana. He appeared in 1976 for The Last Waltz, where he performed "Down South In New Orleans" with Dr John, but after that he was not heard of for a very long time, practically going into retirement. In the mid 80s he became interested in environmental issuses, and released the ecology-themed single "Clean Water", complete with a children's chorus chanting the refrain 'let's clean up the waters of the world'. This single, and a couple of others from 1986, was released on his own label Rice N' Gravy. 

In 1987 he combined these singles with some new recordings to make the Clean Water album, a laid-back mix of New Orleans R&B and cajun. Being recorded in the 80s, it wasn't as organic-sounding as his classic 1972 album, and perhaps at times a little too slick, but nevertheless the songs and performances were all top notch. It included two old songs which had been recorded by others years ago - "But I Do" was best known as a 1961 hit for Clarence 'Frogman' Henry, and "Cowboys And Indians" had been recorded by many including Rita Coolidge and Bonnie Bramlett.

It was good to have another album from Bobby Charles (it was his first in fifteen years, and only his second ever in thirty three years in the business!), but unfortunately it was only ever released in Europe and so completely missed his local audience.

Bobby Charles (1972) <|> Wish You Were Here Right Now (1994)
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Bobby Charles - Louisiana Days (1964-1965)

Compilation
Bobby Charles was an American singer-songwriter.

From 1957 to 1963 the young Bobby Charles had seen great successes as a songwriter, having penned such classics as “See You Later Alligator”, “Walking To New Orleans”, “But I Do” and “The Jealous Kind”, for the most part providing hits for New Orleans R&B legends Fats Domino and Clarence ‘Frogman’ Henry.
However he never saw much success with his own singles, and by 1963 was without a record label after Imperial Records had been sold to Liberty and he had been left by the wayside. He was also left feeling bitter about the whole experience, as he had apparently not been paid nearly the amount of royalties he was owed. He was now determined to do things his own way, and after briefly attempting to release a couple of singles on his own label (which he christened Hub City), he met with former talent scout Stan Lewis, who had just launched his own Jewel label. Charles approached him with an offer of working together, and they agreed he could have half of Jewel Records in return for his song writing talents.
He released five singles on Jewel and its ancillary label Paula. They didn’t sell in massive quantities, but were all excellent songs. However when he went to collect his money from Lewis, he found that his contract had been rewritten without his consent and Jewel now belonged exclusively to Lewis. Having had enough of the music business, he gave it up and effectively retired for several years.
This album compiles fifteen recordings from the Jewel and Paula sessions, including the five singles (the a-sides being “Everybody’s Laughing”, “I Hope”, “Ain’t Misbehaving”, “One More Glass Of Wine” and “Worrying Over You”). It’s some great music, a mellow mix of R&B, pop and country, featuring both originals and covers (including Leadbelly's "Goodnight Irene", Don Gibson's "Oh Lonesome Me" and Jimmy McCracklin's "The Walk"). If Charles had released an album during this period it could have been really good. Instead his debut LP would still have to wait until 1972.

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Bobby Charles - Better Days: The Unreleased 2nd Album (1974)

Not released until 2011
Bobby Charles was an American singer-songwriter.

From 1972 to 1975 Bobby Charles lived in Woodstock, where he had originally gone (under an alias) to find somewhere to hide away, as he was on the run for a minor drugs possession charge. When his identity became known, Albert Grossman persuaded him to sign a contract and record, the result being his fantastic self-titled album of 1972. It was recorded at Grossman’s Bearsville Studios just a few miles down the road, which also produced records by The Band, Paul Butterfield’s Better Days, John Hartford, Bonnie Raitt, Karen Dalton, Happy & Artie Traum and others. Charles in particular struck up a friendship with Butterfield and his band, and both the Better Days albums from 1973 featured numerous Bobby Charles songs.
Material for a second album was recorded at Bearsville with producer Paul Rothchild in 1974. However it didn't see the light of day, as Charles fell out with Grossman. He felt that Grossman was taking advantage of him, and managed to escape through a loop-hole in his contract and return to Louisiana, where he lay low for many years. 
His original Bearsville album has been reissued numerous times in recent years, with all sorts of bonus tracks from the Woodstock period, all presumeably recorded at Bearsville. In 2011 it was re-released as part of a box set, which contained thirteen extra tracks which supposedly were going to be the second album.

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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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Bobby Charles - Chess Masters (1955-1957)

Compilation
Bobby Charles was an American singer-songwriter.
 

Born in southern Louisiana in 1938, Robert Charles Guidry got started in the music business when he was young, singing in a band of older musicians called The Cardinals. One of his early songs, “See You Later Alligator”, was heard by Leonard Chess of Chess Records, who recorded Charles and released the single in 1955. It did moderately well on the charts, but was soon covered by Bill Haley & The Comets, whose version became a massive hit. Chess eagerly awaited a follow-up, and invited Charles to Chicago, where they were surprised to find out that he was in fact white (they had assumed he was black). He went on to tour with various big names in the R&B world (including Chuck Berry and Jimmy Reed). By the time he was nineteen he had released seven singles with Chess. However he didn’t part with Chess on good terms, due to the lack of success of his post-“Alligator” singles, and he was demanding from them the royalties he was owed. By 1957 he was without a record label, but that did not last long.
This compilation covers his recordings from the early Chess days. Eighteen tracks including “See You Later Alligator”, other singles, b-sides and more, all recorded before his twentieth birthday.

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Bobby Charles - Bobby Charles (1972)

Bobby Charles was an American singer-songwriter.

After many songwriting successes in the 50s and 60s, Bobby Charles' first solo LP didn't come out until the early 70s, when he moved to Woodstock, looking for a quiet hideout in the mountains. As fate would have it, he was persuaded to record again by Albert Grossman, who was living a few miles away in Bearsville, where he had built an ultra-modern recording studio. The result was a brilliantly laid-back, rootsy mix of rock & roll, rhythm & blues and country. Musicians backing him included Rick Danko, Garth Hudson and Levon Helm of The Band, steel guitarist Ben Keith, members of Paul Butterfield's Better Days (who were living and working in Woodstock at the time), Dr John and producer John Simon. Rick Danko co-wrote the single "Small Town Talk", and also recorded it on his own solo album in 1977. The album also featured "Before I Grow Too Old", a Bobby Charles song that had originally been recorded by Fats Domino back in 1960. It was a brilliant record, sadly overlooked, and endures today as testimony to Charles' genius with it's easy-going, mellow grooves. A great find for fans of roots-rock.
Charles recorded material for a second Bearsville album in 1974, but it never saw release. By then he had seen enough of the music industry, and had been screwed over one too many times, so he returned to his homeland of Louisiana, where he lay low for many years.

|> Clean Water (1987)
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