Snooks Eaglin
, born Fird Eaglin, Jr.
(January 21 1936 [1] [2] [3] [4] – February 18 2009 [5]), was a guitarist and singer in New Orleans. He has also been referred to as Blind Snooks Eaglin
in this early years.
His vocal style is reminiscent of Ray Charles; indeed, in the 50s, when he was in his late teens, he would sometimes bill himself as "Little" Ray Charles. He is generally regarded as a New Orleans R&B artist playing a wide range of music from blues, rock 'n' roll, jazz, country to Latin music. In his early years, he also played some straight-ahead acoustic blues.
His ability to play a wide range of songs and his ability to perfectly understand and make the tunes his own earned him the nickname the "human jukebox." Eaglin claimed in interviews that his musical repertoire included some 2,500 songs.
At live shows, he did not usually prepare set lists, and was unpredictable, even to his bandmates. He played songs that come to his head, and he also took requests from the audience.
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SNOOKS EAGLIN TICKETS
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Career
Childhood
Eaglin lost his sight not long after his first birthday after being stricken with
glaucoma, and spent several years in the hospital with other ailments. Around the age of five Eaglin was given a guitar by his father, which he taught himself to play by listening to and playing with the radio. Being a mischievous young man, he was given the nickname "Snooks" after a radio character named
Baby Snooks.
Early years
In 1947, at the age of 11, Eaglin won a talent contest organized by radio station WNOE by playing "Twelfth Street Rag".
Three years later, he dropped out of the school for the blind to become a professional musician. In 1952, Eaglin joined the Flamingoes, a local 7-piece band started by
Allen Toussaint. The Flamingoes didn't have a bass player, and according to Eaglin, he played both the guitar and the bass parts at the same time on his guitar. He stayed with The Flamingoes for several years, until their dissolution in the mid-50s.
As a solo artist, his recording and touring were inconsistent, and for a man with a career of about 50 years, his discography is rather slim. His first recording was in 1953, playing guitar at a recording session for
James "Sugar Boy" Crawford.
The first recordings under his own name came when
Harry Oster, a folklorist from
Louisiana State University, found him playing in the streets of New Orleans. Oster made recordings of Eaglin between 1958 and 1960 during seven sessions which later became records on various labels including
Folkways,
Folklyric, and
Prestige/Bluesville.
[8] These recordings were in folk blues style, Eaglin with an acoustic guitar without a band.
1960s onto the 70s
From 1960 to 1963, Eaglin recorded for
Imperial. He played electric guitar on Imperial sessions with backup from a band including
James Booker on piano and
Smokey Johnson on drums. He recorded a total of 26 tracks which can be heard on
The Complete Imperial Recordings
CD. Much of the material on Imperial were written by
Dave Bartholomew. Unlike the Harry Oster recordings, these works on Imperial are New Orleans R&B in the style for which he is widely known today. After Imperial, in 1964, he recorded alone at his home with a guitar for the Swedish Broadcasting Corporation, released as
I Blueskvarter 1964: Vol.3
.
[9] For the remainder of the 1960s, he apparently made no recordings.
His next work came on the Swedish label Sonet in 1971. Another album
Down Yonder
was released in 1978 featuring
Ellis Marsalis on piano. Apart from his own work, he joined recording sessions with
Professor Longhair in 1971 and 72 (
Mardi Gras in Baton Rouge
). He also played some funky guitars on
The Wild Magnolias' first album recorded in 1973.
Black Top and later years
He joined Nauman and Hammond Scott of
Black Top Records in the 1980s which led to a recording contract with the label. Eaglin's Black Top years had been the most consistent years of his recording career. Between 1987 and 1999, he recorded four studio albums and a live album, and appeared as a guest on a number of recordings by other Black Top artists, including
Henry Butler,
Earl King, and
Tommy Ridgley.
After Black Top Records closed its doors, Eaglin released
The Way It Is
on Money Pit Records, produced by the same Scott brothers of Black Top.
Death
Eaglin died of a heart attack at Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans on
February 18 2009.
He had been diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2008 and had been hospitalized for treatment.
He was scheduled to make a comeback appearance at the
New Orleans Jazz Fest in Spring of 2009.
For many years, Eaglin lived in St. Rose in the suburbs of New Orleans with his wife Dorothea. Though he did not play many live shows, he regularly performed at
Rock n' Bowl in New Orleans, and also at the New Orleans Jazz Fest.
Discography
Original albums
- 1971 The Legacy of the Blues Vol. 2
(Sonet)
- 1978 Down Yonder - Snooks Eaglin Today!
(GNP Crescendo)
- 1987 Baby, You Can Get You Gun!
(Black Top)
- 1989 Out of Nowhere
(Black Top)
- 1992 Teasin' You
(Black Top)
- 1995 Soul's Edge
(Black Top)
- 1996 Soul Train from 'Nawlins: Live at Park Tower Blues Festival '95
(P-Vine)
:(Released in 1997 in the U.S. as
Live in Japan
[Black Top])
- 2002 The Way It Is
(Money Pit)
Compilations
Harry Oster recordings
- 1961 That's All Right
(Prestige/Bluesville)
- 1991 Country Boy Down in New Orleans
(Arhoolie)
- 1994 New Orleans Street Singer
(Storyville)
- 2005 New Orleans Street Singer
(Smithsonian Folkways)
Imperial
- 1995 The Complete Imperial Recordings
(Capitol)
References and notes
- Blues Access: Snooks Eaglin
- Snooks Eaglin: Allmusic biography
- Line notes to the 1987 album "Baby, You Can Get Your Gun!"
- Some sources including most of the obiturary articles claim he was born in 1937.
- The Times-Picayune: New Orleans guitarist Snooks Eaglin dies at 72
- ''OffBeat Magazine'', February 1995 issue "Snooks Eaglin on Parade"
- ''Blues & Soul Records Magazine'' No. 8, Mar. 31, 1996 (Blues Interactions) "Snooks Eaglin Interview"
- ''Blues & Soul Records Magazine'' No. 6, Sept. 20, 1995 (Blues Interactions) "Snooks Eaglin Story & Discography"
- Jefferson Records: I Blueskvarter Vol. 3
- Assosiated press: R&B, jazz guitarist Snooks Eaglin dies at age 72
- offBeat: The WeeklyBeat Jan. 29, 2009