Earl King—the singer, guitarist and master songwriter whose music was recorded by Professor Longhair, Fats Domino, Dr. John, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan and many more—is Tipitina’s latest tribute-night honoree.
Following Tip’s fetes to Professor Longhair and Dr. John in 2018 and 2019 respectively, Covered in Earl! A Tribute to Earl King takes place November 24. Music director George Porter Jr. will lead an all-star lineup including Ivan Neville, Deacon John Moore, Walter “Wolfman” Washington, Jon Cleary, Anders Osborne, Tony Hall, Brint Anderson, Stanton Moore, John “Papa” Gros and Anjelika “Jelly” Joseph. The house band features Herlin Riley, David Torkanowsky, Kyle Roussel, Chris Adkins, Tony Dagradi, Brad Walker, Tracy Griffin and Jeff Albert.
By the way, Brint Anderson’s 2015 release is titled Covered in Earl. (Read the review here.)
Earl King, photo by Dave Glass
When Tipitina’s approached Sonny Schneidau about producing another tribute, the former talent buyer at Tipitina’s and House of Blues immediately picked King.
“Earl was such a dynamic performer,” said Schneidau. “And he was active for a lengthy amount time, from the Dew Drop to his years with Black Top Records. Earl was always the highlight of the Blues-A-Rama shows Black Top produced. The other thing is we lost him too early. As New Orleans music grew in stature throughout the world, I think, had Earl had lived longer, he would have gotten more of his due.”
Schneidau ranks King among the city’s great songwriters.
“He’s somewhat under-recognized, but he’s got a tremendous catalog,” said Schneidau.
King’s compositions include his early 1960s proto-funk songs “Come On (Let the Good Times Roll)” and “Trick Bag” and 1955’s “Those Lonely, Lonely Nights,” a mournful ballad cited as a predecessor to swamp pop. He also composed Professor Longhair’s Mardi Gras standard “Big Chief,” Willie “Tee” Turbinton’s soul classic “Teasin’ You” and Dr. John’s “Let’s Make a Better World.”
King died at 69 from diabetes complications on April 17, 2003. His memorial service at Gallier Hall—held between the two weekends of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival—was an only-in-New Orleans occasion. Dozens of King’s peers from the golden age of New Orleans rhythm and blues attended, including Dave Bartholomew, Irma Thomas, George Porter Jr., Dr. John, Earl Palmer, Aaron Neville, Wardell Quezergue, Allen Toussaint, Raymond Lewis and Cosimo Matassa.
The memorial’s many speakers included producer, arranger, jazz musician and educator Harold Battiste (now deceased). “Whenever I was in the presence of Earl, I felt like I would learn something you couldn’t learn in school or from a book,” said Battiste.
Schneidau selected the songs that will be performed at the tribute.
“Earl’s tunes are going to get a chance to shine,” he said. “That’s a fun part, matching Earl’s songs with the New Orleans artists who’ll bring them life. But I couldn’t do this without George Porter Jr. He’s been the musical director, the rock holding everything together, for all of these tributes. As it turns out, George is a huge Earl King fan. He listens to Earl every day.”
Jeff Hannusch interviewed Earl King for OffBeat in 1999, read it here. In 2001 King received OffBeat’s Best of The Beat Lifetime Achievement Award: read Jeff Hannusch’s tribute here. In 2003 Bunny Matthews wrote a remembrance for OffBeat, read it here.
Covered in Earl! A Tribute to Earl King is at 8 p.m. November 24 at Tipitina’s. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the New Orleans Musicians’ Clinic.
