Henry Roeland Byrd, better known as Professor Longhair, cemented his reputation as a piano legend of New Orleans with one song he first recorded in 1949, "Go to the Mardi Gras," which is replayed every year in the city when Mardi Gras time rolls around. You can give a listen here: youtube.com/watch?v=0wAMr3V5lN4
'Fess had a few more hits in the 1960s—notably, "Big Chief" and "Tipitina"—but he fell into obscurity as the 60s progressed. In 1970 some blues aficionados found him working as a janitor in a record shop, nursed him back to health, and got him into a recording studio. His performance at the New Orleans Jazz Fest in 1971 was wildly received and marked the second coming of his career. In the years that followed he played Newport, Montreux, toured Europe, played a concert hosted by Paul McCartney aboard the Queen Mary, and was hailed as a great guru mentor by Dr. John, Fats Domino, Allen Toussaint, James Booker, Huey Smith and others. In 1979 he recorded tracks for a lively & brilliant new album, Crawfish Fiesta, but sadly, he passed away in January 1980, shortly before the album was released.
In the spring of 1975, Fess played a concert on the blacktop out back of my high school in New Orleans—Ben Franklin Senior High, which was then located uptown, in the old Carrollton Courthouse, down by the river near the intersection of S. Carrollton and St. Charles Avenues. I was one of the yearbook photographers and shot a couple rolls of film of the event, but the pictures were too late to make it into the yearbook and got filed away, unused.
Recently, seeing news items about the Professor (2018 being the 100th anniversary of his birth), I remembered the pictures and found the proof sheets—rolls 57 & 58—and negatives which had been waiting patiently in glassine envelopes for 43 years. Carefully digitized, the negatives have very satisfying sharpness and tonal detail, and with the images on the computer I was able to Do Them Up in ways I could only dream of back in darkroom days. Click the picture above to see the results. (And proofs of the full collection of photos from the event can be seen here: photos.app.goo.gl/4XA9vZYSLLM8sS6J8)
I scoured the web trying to identify the band members. The drummer is Edward "Sheba" Kimbrough, the guitarist is "Big Will" Harvey, and I believe the bass player is his son, Will Harvey, Jr.
New Orleans in the 1970s...a happenin' place to grow up. The band at the senior prom the year before was the Meters!
Further reading, etc.
New Yorker article, "The Still-Burning Genius of Professor Longhair":
www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-still-burning-piano-genius-of-professor-longhair
Fess talking about learning piano, and playing "Tipitina":
youtube.com/watch?v=q763H0MBOrA&t=28m36s
"Big Chief," from Montreux Jazz Fest 1973 (w. the Meters)
An over-the-top outrageous performance!!
youtube.com/watch?v=kX8rgN_jndE
Brief interview from 1969:
youtube.com/watch?v=VI-HyV6-mrU
Biographies:
musicrising.tulane.edu/discover/people/39/Henry-Professor-Longhair
www.rockhall.com/inductees/professor-longhair
Fess with the Meters on PBS Soundstage, 1974:
Walk Right In youtube.com/watch?v=ET_ZoFpsutA
Whole Lotta Lovin' youtube.com/watch?v=CK0sI5WcORI
Everyday I Have the Blues youtube.com/watch?v=zOcncAwlyT4
Tipitina youtube.com/watch?v=Yj6AXu7_psY
Big Chief youtube.com/watch?v=I09FChrTDJw
More with the Meters:
Hey Little Girl youtube.com/watch?v=7yYJPqKlEFo
Bald Head youtube.com/watch?v=HZNxSOQtQp8
A track with same band as in photos (plus harmonica):
Mojo Working youtube.com/watch?v=Jp_xuBm7nRs
Robert Christgau reviews:
robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=Professor+Longhair
Buy:
Rock 'n' Roll Gumbo CD
Crawfish Fiesta CD
'Fess Up DVD
Tech notes: The original pictures were taken using Nikon FTn and Canon FTb cameras with 50 and 200mm lenses, shot on Kodak Plus-X film which was push-processed to EI 200. The negatives were digitized by photographing them with a DSLR camera equipped with a macro lens.
