RIP Bobby Charles

Well I am late to the game with this, but it seems fitting for Bobby Charles, a self proclaimed recluse.  He passed away January 14th, he was 71.

My first exposure to Bobby was when I purchased The Last Waltz Box set.  I actually got the 4 disk set before ever having seen the amazing film, strange I know, but I was totally into The Basement Tapes and my good friend Matt recommended that I dive head first into The Band; it is still one of the best pieces of advice I have followed.  The first non-Band song that grabbed me by the ear hole and hooked me for certain was "Down South In New Orleans".

Down south in New Orleans,
The prettiest girls I've ever seen.
Sparkling eyes, lips so sweet,
we make love to the Rumba beat.
Ship's at anchor, my suitcase packed,
Got a one way ticket, ain't comin' back.
Life's a pleasure, love's no dream,
Down south in New Orleans.

My dark eyed baby, I'm on my way,
Back into your arms to stay.
I'm tired of work, I wanna play.
I'll make sweet love to you night and day.

Down south in New Orleans,
The prettiest girls I've ever seen.
Sparkling eyes, lips so sweet,
we make love to the Rumba beat.
Ship's at anchor, my suitcase packed,
Got a one way ticket, ain't comin' back.
Life's a pleasure, love's no dream,
Down south in New Orleans.

I want to get too loose, on Toulose Street,
I wanna kiss all the Creole girls I see.
Drink all day, dance all night.
Do it wrong, 'til I do it right.

Down south in New Orleans,
The prettiest girls I've ever seen.
Sparkling eyes, lips so sweet,
we make love to the Rumba beat.
Ship's at anchor, my suitcase packed,
Got a one way ticket, ain't comin' back.
Life's a pleasure, love's no dream,
Down south in New Orleans.

"Drink All Day, Dance All Night, Do It Wrong, Til I Do it Right!"
Yup that about sum's it up perfectly....

That city has always enchanted me (More about this soon I promise) and when I heard this simply magical song sung with love by Levon, I was hooked on Bobby's song writing.  I got his Chess Masters collection and while it is good, Bobby will forever be known as a GREAT song writer and just an average performer himself.  I gotta hand it to him though, inventing a catch phrase as cool as "See you later, Alligator.  In a while Crocodile" is pure Boosh!

This is a cool article about a newer album of his, which I will be looking to pick up and here is some lost video of him at The Last Waltz:

I will post a few MP3's after the jump...

Here are a couple of tracks....Rest in Peace Bobby.

See You Later Alligator
http://www.sendspace.com/file/weeyhu

Hey Good Looking
http://www.sendspace.com/file/djt55h