An amazing boxed set was released recently with very little fanfare. Louisiana legend Bobby Charles has finally been given his due with the multi-disc set The Bobby Charles Story from The Last Music Co. Seven CDs and one DVD telling the story of a songwriter who has been championed by everyone from Bob Dylan, Allen Toussaint and Dr. John to Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello and Glenn Tilbrook.
This set includes everything you need and more, from the early Chess and Imperial singles, to the cult classic Bearsville record with members of The Band, to his very out of print 80's and 90's material like "Clean Water" and "Secrets Of The Heart." The documentary "In A Good Place Now" premieres on DVD in this set.
If you are a fan of New Orleans music, you will have heard Bobby Charles songs on records by Dr. John, C.C. Adcock, Lil' Band O' Gold, Clarence "Frogman" Henry and Allen Toussaint. For me, this set is a treasure trove of brilliance.
The box is available through Proper Music, though it is not yet available digitally.
Cool! Thanks to you I was just enjoying his self-titled 1972 album "Bobby Charles."
ReplyDeleteBobby Charles wrote a whole bunch of great songs, and his vocals are as heartfelt as any. Shannon McNally did a record of Bobby Charles tunes with Dr. John titled Small Town Talk in 2013 that is excellent.
ReplyDeletehttps://kleaveburg.blogspot.com/2013/09/shannon-mcnally-small-town-talk-2013.html
And today's cover is nice but can't really compete with Peter Lewis' original on Moby Grape '69.
Ooh, ooh, that 1972 record he did with (most of) the Band...
ReplyDeleteBoth clips you posted made me say How do I not know who he is ?:His songs passed my notoriously tough 15 second ear test. 5* here
ReplyDeleteBobby Charles is worthy of regular rotation on everyone’s music system. Just dig in and enjoy.
ReplyDelete- Paul in DK
Nice. Bobby Charles kicked ass. I wish he were alive to see this.
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